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Statistics and Operational Research Cluster
INTRODUCTION
The evidence submitted to the international panel of the recent International Review of Mathematics and Statistics (IRM), resulted in the field of statistics being highlighted as one of the strengths of the mathematical sciences in the UK, while the separate International Review in Operational Research acknowledged OR —and Healthcare modelling, in particular— to be very strong in a global context.
Several strong research groups exist in Cardiff in Operational Research and Statistics, but there is an urgent need to strengthen representation throughout Wales. By generating collaboration in research, for example, with the existing groups in the Business/Management and the Medical School areas at Swansea, the Statistics/OR cluster will strengthen representation outside Cardiff.
Membership from those outside HEIs, such as industry, business and commerce, is essential if the institute is to meets its aims. Strong links already exist in some areas and these will be further strengthened by focused activities targeted at widening membership and involvement.
The cluster's day-to-day running is coordinated by the steering committee which includes:
• Prof Paul Harper (Cardiff), Cluster Co-ordinator [email]
• Prof Jeff Griffiths (Cardiff) [email]
• Prof Anatoly Zhigljavsky (Cardiff) [email]
• Dr Mark Kelbert (Swansea) [email]
• Dr Malcolm Beynon (Cardiff) [email]
• Professor Frank Dunstan (Cardiff) [email]
Please contact Prof. Harper for more information on our activities, any suggestions to be included in the Cluster mailing list.
CLUSTER MEMBERS
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In addition we have a number of industrial members who act as a point of contact for passing on cluster information to their employees. These include:
| Paul Allin | Office for National Statistics | Chair, South Wales RSS |
| Martin Brand | Office for National Statistics | Head of Methodology |
| Kate Chamberlain | Welsh Assembly Government | Chief Statistician |
| William Dowsland | Gower Optimal Algorithms | Director |
| Jonathon Gray | Wales Centre for Health | Director of Healthcare Improvement |
| Gareth John | Health Solution Wales | Director |
| Alan Roderick | Corus Group | Senior Operational Research Engineer |
Engaging with industry is critical also to the success of our cluster, and many academic members in our cluster have well established links to industry given the applied nature of our topics.
CLUSTER EVENTS
• The cluster runs a weekly seminar series. Topics of seminars are varied and have included vehicle routing problems (delivered by Prof. Richard Eglese, OR Society President-Elect), simulation of cardiac pathways in Wales, metaheuristics, joint modelling of longitudinal and competing risks data, and applications of submodular optimisation to scheduling with controllable processing times.
• A cluster two-day workshop on “Statistical Modelling in Consumer Research” (led by Professor Zhigljavsky) took place 27-28 August 2008 (http://smicr.cf.ac.uk/).
• WIMCS part-sponsored a PhD Symposium on OR for Healthcare Modelling which was held in January 2009 at the Millennium Stadium. 26 PhD students attended.
CLUSTER NEWS
Download the latest cluster newsletter here (PDF)
• The Centre for Optimisation and Its Applications has recently been established and is an interdisciplinary centre which encourages joint research and applied projects among members of the Schools of Mathematics, Engineering, Computer Science and Business. It also encourages increased awareness of the rapidly growing field of optimisation through publications, conferences, joint research and student exchange. The Director of the Centre is Professor Anatoly Zhigljavsky.
• LANCS. A £13M initiative brings Cardiff University together with the Universities of Lancaster, Nottingham and Southampton to develop world-leading work in the field of Operational Research. Operational Research uses advanced analytical methods, including mathematical and computer modelling, to arrive at the best solutions to complex problems. It is widely used in healthcare, industry, finance and defence. Operational Research techniques are used, for example, in airport scheduling, road traffic management, freight logistics and numerous other areas of modern life. The initiative by the four Universities - together known as ‘LANCS’ - is supported with a Science and Innovation Award from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). LANCS will bring about a significant expansion of the national research base in Operational Research to build new research capacity and help UK industry to compete in the global market. http://www.wimcs.ac.uk/news_items/news_item_0003.html
LINKS
• The OR Society
http://www.theorsociety.com/
• The Royal Statistical Society
http://www.rss.org.uk
• The Centre for Optimisation and Its Applications
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/maths/subsites/coia
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