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Probability and Statistics
Statistics and probability are the complementary disciplines of the science of uncertainty. That is, they deal both with systems that are intrinsically uncertain, such as the choice of a gene passed at random from parent to child, and with systems we believe not to be random but which are too complicated to model exactly, such as the climate.
There is uncertainty in almost every aspect of everyday life and, despite its reputation for exactness, in the scientific world too. Probability and statistics give us tools to handle this uncertainty in a principled manner.
The Probability and Statistics group in Bristol carries out research on many aspects of this science: modelling of random phenomena, methods for the analysis of data, and computational techniques for performing this modelling and analysis. The applications of this research are many and varied, ranging from the analysis of solar flares to robot navigation, from the behaviour of socially organised animals to traffic queues and from genetic research to signal processing.
Extracting signals from noisy gene expression data requires novel statistical techniques.
Our research is internationally recognised, receives the top rating from the national funding council, and is funded by a wide range of public and commercial organisations. It includes both fundamental work on the core of our disciplines, and inter-disciplinary collaboration with researchers in other subjects, both in Bristol and beyond. All of our work is mathematically rigourous, and all is ultimately stimulated by its potential in understanding the world around us.