Statistics, Physics and Population Dynamics (GREENMANCU20SCIO)

Population dynamics are concerned with how sets of entities (e.g. cells) change through time. Such changes can be mediated by internal factors (such as mutations in a cell) or externally (environmental factors), and require stochastic techniques to model their behavior. Techniques from statistical physics are also concerned with similar questions, although the populations tend to involve smaller individuals (e.g. particles). This PhD project will draw from both stochastic techniques (birth-death processes) and statistical physics (field theory) to analyze the evolution of cellular populations, both from a genetic perspective (mutations) and environmentally (evolution of resistance).

You will join active research groups at UEA; the statistics and data science group, and the computational biology group. You will learn rigorous techniques from statistics and physics, and use state-of-the-art computer systems to simulate and analyze population models.

The candidate will have a statistics, mathematics or physics based degree; 2.1 or above or Masters. Programming experience (e.g. Matlab, R or C++) will also be useful. This PhD project will suit an applicant interested in a scientific career in applied statistics, statistical physics or mathematical biology.

For more information on the supervisor for this project, please go here: https://people.uea.ac.uk/c_greenman

This is a PhD programme.

The start date of the project is 1 October 2020.

The mode of study is full-time. The studentship length is 3 years.

Entry requirements:

Acceptable first degree in Mathematics, Physics or Statistics.

The standard minimum entry requirement is 2:1.