Events

We are very excited to announce an exciting Public Lecture Programme (PLP) event that we are hosting on 20 November with Dr Federica Fragapane. Federica is an independent information designer. Over the years, she has designed data visualisations for Google, UN, the Publications Office of the EU, BBC Science Focus, Atmos. Federica will be virtually joining this discussion about data visualisation and Dr Marta Foresti and Dr Francesca Panero will be in person at the event to be her discussants, alongside our very own Professor Irini Moustaki who will chair the event.  There will be a talk between all three discussants and then a short Q&A segment.  After that, there will be a drinks and nibbles reception until 9pm. All of those who attend the talk are welcome to the reception.  

The talk will explore the design process and motivations behind data visualization projects, characterized by different usage contexts, responding to various needs, and with differing levels of experimentation. It will focus on the visual languages used to shape information and stories and delve into how visual words in data visualizations can be alive and sometimes political. 

Designing data visualizations will be likened to writing, reflecting on the usage of visual alphabets to convey information. As in writing, the choice of words is essential, this principle will be applied to the language of data visualization, exploring the process behind decisions to use organic visual languages to reflect the living presence behind the data and, in some cases, the fragility of the data itself. 

The talk will explore how different visual words have been used to visualize information and stories covering various topics such as migration, the climate crisis and its solutions, and inequalities. The aesthetics of such representations will be discussed as an important element: an invitation to readers to spend time on the data and the stories, with the hope of achieving the main goal: communication.

You can find out more about our speakers and how you can attend this event here. 

The Challenges in Categorical Data Analysis (CCDA) workshop is a biennial event organised by academics who work with categorical data. It aims to present new developments in categorical data analysis and foster collaboration among researchers with expertise in this field. Our very own Professor Fiona Steele will be a keynote speaker at this event. Participation is by invitation only.

Find out more about this event here.

We will hold out annual Alumni Careers panel on Tuesday 22 October 2024. Six amazing alumni will speak to our Statistics students about their time at LSE, give out advice during a Q&A panel chaired by Dr James Abdey, and then join our students for networking drinks and nibbles.

Our MSc students will have a wonderful weekend away from 11-13 October to Cumberland Lodge in Windsor. Cumberland Lodge is a former royal residence and our students will escape the bustle of London for a weekend of exploring beautiful grounds, bonding with fellow students and strengthening their team skills! Students will get the chance to socialise and relax in the beautiful grounds of Windsor Great Park. The event will be attended by academic staff and PhD students from the Department of Statistics also.

To celebrate students’ arrival in the Department of Statistics, all new BSc, MSc and MPhil/PhD students are invited to a games night at the private Kingpin Suite in Holborn. Students can enjpy playing bowling, Ping-Pong and on a selection of arcade games!

The Department of Statistics had a drinks reception for Undergraduate and MSc graduates to celebrate all of their hard work and enjoy canapes, music and drinks with family, friends, peers and teaching faculty. There was a professional photographer present to capture this special time and photos have been uploaded to Flickr and they can be downloaded for free! Keepsakes were also be provided to say congratulations. We are very proud of you all!

This two day in person event was an opportunity to find out more about the Department's research. It took the form of a series of short talks and provided an overview of the research activities of the Department's four research groups: Data Science, Probability in Finance and Insurance, Social Statistics and Time Series and Statistical Learning. The presentations were accompanied by a poster session for students on 20 June, combined with a reception.

Find out more on our Research Showcase webpage!

To help celebrate the end of term, the Department of Statistics held an event at NQ64 in Soho for all BSc and MSc Statistics students!

Details are as follows:

Date: Thursday, 13 June 

Time: 7pm – 10pm (The venue closes at 03:00, and students are welcome to stay late).

Location: London Soho, 53-54 Berwick St, Soho, W1F 8SP 

Dress Code: While the venue has no specific dress code, students/PSS are expected to be appropriately dressed at all times. No workout or sportswear and no caps. 

To help celebrate Mental Health Awareness week, we had a wonderful dog therapy session for all our staff and students to attend! Many dogs from The Cuddle Club company came along to this theraputic event and they were so well behaved, beautiful and made our staff and students feel relaxed during the busy exam period. 

One student said: 

"The recent dog therapy session organised by our department was a delightful experience. Spending time with the therapy dogs provided a much-needed break from our studies and it also served as a reminder of the importance of self-care and mental well-being. It's wonderful to see our department prioritising initiatives like this to support students' holistic development. Thank you to everyone involved for organising such a heartwarming event!" —— Cici Tang.

Statistics students were invited to our MSc Summer Term event 'Ping Pong Party' at The Venue in Saw See Hock building. Students enjoyed a social afternoon of music, food, drinks and ping pong with peers and lecturers!

Our inaugural student ball took place on 15 March 2024 at the Waldorf Hilton! 

Students celebrated their time at LSE and nearing the end of Winter term with their Statistics student community! 

Students enjoyed the following on the night at a subsidised cost: 

• A welcome drink on arrival
• ️A three course sit down meal
• Half a bottle of wine per person or soft drinks during dinner
• Entertainment throughout the evening
• A photobooth
• ️Drinks token to use on a alcoholic or non alcoholic drinks
• A professional photographer capturing the evening
• A DJ and a dancefloor 

Our dress code was Dress To Impress and students felt able to express themselves in a way that that feel comfortable with. 

Take a look at our wonderful promo video of the event!

This year our Alumni Mixer event took place in the purpose built Alumni Centre on LSE campus.  This event was for our MSc and 3rd year BSc Statistics students to come along and ask any burning questions they had and to network! 

We had 15 amazing Statistics alumni in attendance at this informal drinks reception! Nibbles and drinks were available.  You can find photos of the event at our Flickr page. 

This WCA event included a talk titled “The decline in natural capital and why it matters”. The talk was delivered by external guest speakers Ian Trim. 
Ian is currently undertaking a PhD at Anglia Ruskin University’s Global Sustainability Institute.  He has 20 years’ experience in developing and delivering low carbon and sustainability programs in both the public and private sector. Prior to Guidehouse, where he works part time now,  Ian spent a decade in the UK Government including acting as the UK’s lead negotiator on carbon markets at the Paris COP, and leading the development of domestic policy focused on industrial and household energy efficiency. From 2011 to 2014, Ian worked for the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Moscow as the UK’s lead in Russia on climate and environment issues.”

The talk was ollowed by a catered networking opportunity between LSE Undergraduate Statistics students, WCA members and IFOA representatives. 

The event included a prize giving ceremony for the WCA Prize which is not a school prize and awarded by the WCA and is given to Undergraduate students from their penultimate year, awarded for outstanding / excellent achievement. 

Adam French (Stats Alum!) joined the Department of Statistics on 21 February to talk all things entrepreneurships! This event was for UG Statistics students only. 

Adam is a Partner at venture capital firm Houghton Street Ventures, where he invests in businesses founded by London School of Economics alumni and students. Additionally, he is a Non-Executive Director at the UK Fintech industry body Innovate Finance.

Prior to this, Adam was a co-founder of fintech unicorn Scalable Capital, which operates in the online investment space. Scalable currently employs over 450 people, has raised over $350m in venture capital funding and manages investments for over 1 million clients. Adam graduated from the LSE in 2007 with a BSc in Business Mathematics and Statistics.

Nibbles and drinks were available.

We hosted our first BSc Students Town Hall meeting on Friday 2 February 2024. The purpose of this meeting was to provide an opportunity for students on our BSc programmes to come together to discuss and share your experiences/feedback on your programme to date. We listened to your feedback and answered any questions/concerns students had about the programmes and time at LSE. The Town Hall meeting was an open-discussion forum where the Department worked together with students to create new educational initiatives, to improve existing educational provisions, and to build a strong learning community.  

This meeting was be led by Dr Pik Liew and joined by our Deputy Head of Department (Prof Wicher Bergsma), other BSc Programme Directors (Dr Sara Geneletti and Dr Christine Yuen), and first-year academic mentor (Dr Gelly Mitrodima).   

All students on our BSc programmes were encouraged to take part in this conversation.

Each term students are invited to attend an informal social lunch organised by the department. This event is free of charge and an opportunity for them to socialise with peers and faculty members.