Download further particulars - School of Mathematics

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
RESEARCH POST in FORENSIC STATISTICS, ref 3001899
FURTHER PARTICULARS
Applications are invited for a post-doctoral research post in forensic statistics within the School of
Mathematics, and as part of the Joseph Bell Centre for Forensic Statistics and Legal Reasoning, to
research and develop software for the investigation and evaluation of scientific evidence to combat
trafficking in illegal materials. Applicants should have a good Honours degree in a mathematical
subject and a PhD in statistics or related subjects. The post is funded by the EPSRC programme in
‘Technologies for crime prevention and detection’ with Dr. C.G.G. Aitken as the Principal Investigator,
Dr Qiang Shen (Informatics) and Mr. Burkhard Schafer (Law) as co-investigators. The research will
be in collaboration with law enforcement agencies. Some details of the proposed work are given in an
Annex to these particulars.
Informal enquiries about the position may be made to Dr. C.G.G Aitken: telephone 0131 650 4877, fax
0131 650 6553, e-mail [email protected]., web page: http://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/~cgga
Fixed term: 22 months (available from 1st October 2004)
Salary: £18,893 - £28,279 p.a. (under review)
Closing date: 11th June 2004
1.
The School of Mathematics
The School of Mathematics forms part of the College of Science and Engineering in the University and
encompasses Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Operational Research and Statistics. At
present, it has forty-one members of teaching staff, together with several advanced and postdoctoral
fellows (EPSRC, NERC, Royal Society, Seggie-Brown and SHEFC funded) and a number of
postdoctoral research assistants. Established Chairs are held by Professor E G Rees (Chair of
Mathematics), Professor D F Parker (Chair of Applied Mathematics) and Professor A Carbery (Colin
MacLaurin Chair). In addition, there are eight other Personal Chairs and Dr. C.G.G. Aitken, the PI on
the proposal, has been appointed to a Personal Chair in Forensic Statistics w.e.f. October 1st, 2004.
Professor Sir Michael Atiyah OM, FRS, who is resident in Edinburgh, is an Honorary Professor, as is
Professor John Toland, FRS (University of Bath and Scientific Director of the International Centre for
Mathematical Sciences - see below). The School has close links with Biomathematics and Statistics
Scotland (BioSS) and the Edinburgh Parallel Computation Centre (EPCC).
Location. The School is housed in the James Clerk Maxwell Building (JCMB) on the King's
Buildings site. (The postal address is School of Mathematics, James Clerk Maxwell Building, The
King's Buildings, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ.) The JCMB also houses parts of the Schools
of Informatics and Physics, the James Clerk Maxwell Library, BioSS, the University Computing
Service (EUCS) and EPCC. Almost all Schools in the physical, biological and engineering sciences
are within a few minutes walk.
Research. Research in the School covers a wide range of disciplines, with ratings of 5* (Pure), 5
(Applied) and 4 (Stats/OR) in RAE 2001. Staff have many active national and international
collaborations. There are no formal research groups and interactions between staff are encouraged.
The main areas of activity can be summarised as follows.
Statistics and Probability: Research activity includes Bayesian inference, computer-intensive methods
and resampling, distribution-free methods, directional data analysis (especially the statistics of
rotations), discriminant analysis, risk and multivariate analysis, stochastic simulation and stochastic
modelling, together with applications in forensic science, mathematical and statistical evaluation of
evidence, the earth sciences, agriculture, biology and ecology. There is a strong link with the Faculty of
Actuaries, which is supporting a lecturer in the School who has interests in the applications of
stochastic differential equations in economics and finance.
Pure Mathematics: Research includes algebra (noncommutative algebra, quantum algebras,
commutative algebra); analysis (harmonic analysis, hyperbolic pdes, dynamical systems, spectral
theory, stochastic analysis); geometry and topology (differential and algebraic geometry, twistor
theory, integrable systems, algebraic topology); logic (model theory, with links to algebra, geometry,
number theory, asymptotics and parts of theoretical computer science); and algebraic number theory.
The School is a node in the two EU networks HARP (harmonic analysis) and EDGE (differential
geometry).
Applied Mathematics: Current research activity in applied mathematics includes mathematical
astronomy, geo-fluid dynamics, nonlinear waves, fluid dynamics, materials, and techniques such as
exponential asymptotics, complex variable methods and parallel computation.
Mathematical Physics: Research here includes classical and quantum integrability, as well as geometric
and algebraic aspects of string theory. Mathematical physicists within the School have close ties with
the mathematical physicists at Heriot-Watt University, together with whom they form the Edinburgh
Mathematical Physics Group (EMPG).
Operational Research: The OR group is interested in all computational aspects of optimization,
including applications in areas such as finance, agriculture, telecommunications and the energy
industries, as well as stochastic optimization, reliability and maintenance.
Seminars: The School runs a Colloquium series on topics of general mathematical and statistical
interest and seminar series in statistics (jointly with Napier University), algebra (jointly with HeriotWatt University), analysis, applied mathematics, geometry, mathematical physics (jointly with HeriotWatt University), operational research, probability and topology.
Undergraduate Teaching. The School was classified as "Excellent" in the most recent SHEFC
Teaching Quality Assessment exercise. It has responsibility for teaching Pure and Applied
Mathematics, OR and Statistics to students of the honours programmes (BSc or MA) in Mathematics,
joint honours in Mathematics and Statistics and several other joint honours programmes.
Postgraduate Teaching. The School currently has about thirty research students working for PhD or
MPhil degrees in all the main areas of Mathematics and Statistics and offers a one-year MSc (by
Research). It also offers one-year taught MScs in Operational Research and (jointly with Heriot-Watt
University) Financial Mathematics; together, these taught MSc programmes have over 50 students
enrolled per annum.
Libraries. The mathematical and statistical collection of the University is housed in the James Clerk
Maxwell Library. This library also administers the Edinburgh Mathematical Society collection and the
computer science, meteorology and physics collections of the University. King's Buildings also has
extensive libraries for Biology, Chemistry, Engineering and Geology.
Computing. Edinburgh University is a major centre of expertise for large scale computing and the
newly established UK E-Science Centre is located in Edinburgh. The School is well equipped, all staff
offices having a networked computer and local printer, and a full range of software packages is
available. It also has two PC-based teaching laboratories. The School has one full-time and one parttime Computing Officer, whilst the University’s Computing Services provide mainframe services,
external links and general support services.
International Centre for Mathematical Sciences (ICMS; http://www.ma.hw.ac.uk/icms/). The
School is a co-founder, with Heriot-Watt University, and major participant in ICMS. ICMS organises
meetings, workshops and instructional conferences, bringing eminent participants to Edinburgh from
around the world.
Joseph Bell Centre for Forensic Statistics and Legal Reasoning (JBCFSLR;
http://www.cfslr.ed.ac.uk/). This Centre, grant-aided by SHEFC, exists to research the interface of
statistics, law, forensic science and artificial intelligence. It is a collaborative venture involving the
School of Mathematics, the Centre for Law and Society and the Artificial Intelligence Applications
Institute of the University of Edinburgh, the Division of Law and Social Sciences of Glasgow
Caledonian University and the Lothian and Borders Forensic Science Laboratory. There is currently
one research fellow in the Centre based at King’s Buildings. The Centre hosts international workshops
and seminars in its areas of interest.
A Brief History of the School Colin MacLaurin was one of several eminent early Professors of
Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. In the 20th century, G Chrystal, Sir Edmund Whittaker,
AC Aitken and A Erdelyi occupied the Chair of Mathematics when there was only a single professor in
the Mathematics Department. A separate Department of Statistics was formed in 1966 with DJ Finney
as Professor of Statistics and Head of Department while also Director of the AFRC Unit of Statistics.
In the sixties the Colin MacLaurin Chair of Mathematics and the Chair of Applied Mathematics were
founded. The Departments of Mathematics and Statistics were geographically brought together in
1975 with the move to JCMB from the central city site and were amalgamated into one Department in
1991. This became the School of Mathematics within the College of Science and Engineering in 2002
when the University saw a major restructuring.
2.
The University and the College of Science & Engineering
Information relating to University of Edinburgh is available on http://www.ed.ac.uk/ . The College of
Science and Engineering (http://www.scieng.ed.ac.uk) has approximately 4,300 undergraduate
students and 1,200 postgraduate students, 325 academic and 375 research staff, and a research income
of about £20 million per annum. The College comprises seven schools: Biological Sciences,
Chemistry, Engineering and Electronics, Geosciences, Informatics, Mathematics and Physics.
The College provides an excellent environment for both fundamental and inter-disciplinary research.
Over 94% of staff submitted are in units rated 5 or 5* in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. As
well as strongly supporting fundamental core science, the College is promoting a number of crossdisciplinary initiatives such as the Centre for Materials Science and Engineering, the Centre for Science
in Extreme Conditions and the Centre for Environmental Change and Sustainability. Several
neighbouring research institutes are associated with the University and offer collaborative research
opportunities. The Institute of Astronomy, housed in the Royal Observatory Building, is within a few
minutes walk. The Roslin Institute and the NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (Edinburgh) are
only a few kilometres away.
3.
Candidates
Candidates should have a good Honours degree in a mathematical subject and a PhD in statistics or
related subjects.
4.
Terms and Conditions of Appointment
Salary details are noted at the beginning. Duties will comprise research relating to the proposal as
described in the Annex. See attached information relating to conditions.
5.
Application Procedure
Please complete and return the Application Form together with your curriculum vitae, and the names
and addresses of three referees to Dr. C.G.G. Aitken, School of Mathematics, JCMB, King's
Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ by the closing date of 11th June 2004. Please complete the equal
opportunities form and return in the separate prepaid envelope. We cannot guarantee to consider late
applications
For those who wish to apply on-line, please follow the on-line application procedure at
http://www.jobs.ed.ac.uk/
Please quote the relevant reference number as noted above.
6.
Further information
Further enquiries, including requests for further details, may be made to Dr. C.G.G. Aitken, telephone
0131 650 4877, Fax 0131 650 6553 or Email: [email protected].
Additional information relating to the School may also be found on http://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/
Footnote
These particulars are issued by Human Resources, 9-16 Chambers Street,
Edinburgh. They are intended to represent an accurate description of the duties at the
time of writing, although this accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The University reserves
the right to vary these particulars or make no appointment at all. Neither in part or in
whole do these particulars form any contract between the University and any
individual.
ANNEX:
The objectives are the development of robust procedures in three areas:
a) the development of sampling protocols, including sample size and quantity estimation;
b) the evaluation of evidence through the calculation of a (Bayesian) likelihood ratio for multivariate
random effects data where robust estimation procedures are needed, particularly in regions of very
small probability;
c) feature selection methods to reduce the problems of estimation in high dimensions;
subject to the satisfaction of legal requirements.
Priorities are
i)
development of appropriate statistical procedures for (a), (b) and (c) in consultation with
forensic scientists in the UK, Switzerland and Poland to ensure applicability;
ii)
transformation of these procedures into robust software for implementation by investigation
teams with testing by those consulted in (i)
The aim is the development of software for the use of forensic scientists and other investigators to aid
in the investigation and evaluation of scientific evidence, through the use of statistical modelling of the
uncertainty in such evidence. Statistical modelling enables there to be a clear statement of underlying
assumptions and of the conditioning for the probabilities. The main application will be evidence used
for the detection and prosecution of trafficking in illegal materials,
The research will be undertaken over a twenty-two month period in The University of Edinburgh's
School of Mathematics under the principal supervision of a statistician with research support from
members of the Schools of Informatics and of Law. There will be regular collaboration with members
of law enforcement agencies within Scotland and some travel to liaise with forensic scientists in
Switzerland and Poland.