The Random Sample

In this episode, The Random Sample switches things up a bit. The people who usually ask the questions on this podcast, our hosts, are actually our guests.We explore why these researchers wanted to also become podcasters and what they've learnt along the way by hosting this podcast. Our hosts turned guests for this episode are: Rose Crocker is an applied mathematician with the Australian Institute of Marine Science; Cynthia Huang is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics at Monash University; Dr James Nichols is a mathematician and lecturer at the Australian National University; Dr Sevvandi Kandanaarachchi is a Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO.  Our host for this episode is Peter Taylor, a Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at The University of Melbourne.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's hard to imagine a time before Wi-Fi – or what we'd do without it. Especially, if you're under the age of 25. But thanks to the work of some brilliant Australian scientists, wireless internet is a part of our everyday lives. Our guest for this episode is Professor David Skellern, one of the Australian scientists who won the race in the late 1990's to get functioning wireless technology to market. In their words, they had cut the wires that computers needed to talk to each other. Professor David Skellern shares his research and life journey with us, taking us back to his early days working in radio astronomy. Then, how he combined that experience with his love of mathematics, and his background as an electronic engineer, to eventually get to a point where he knew Wi-Fi was possible. Finally, how he helped bring that idea to fruition. It's a fascinating journey!  Our host for this episode is Dr James Nichols, a mathematician and Lecturer at the Australian National University.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode of The Random Sample introduces you to three brilliant statisticians! The three have been selected to present the inaugural Horizon Lectures at the upcoming Australian Statistical Conference next month. The Statistical Society of Australia established the Horizon Lecture awards for this year's conference to recognise emerging leaders in Australia's statistics community, and their contributions to advancing statistical practice. The three awardees are Dr Marijke Welvaert with the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, Assoc. Professor Andrew Zammit Mangion from the University of Wollongong, and Assoc. Prof Margarita Moreno-Betancur with the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. It's a fascinating discussion about the importance of statisticians, the communication of statistics, and how statistics is evolving with the emergence of data science, machine learning and AI. Our host for this episode is Dr Sevvandi Kandanaarachchi, a Senior Research Scientist with CSIRO.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is still a lot of work to do before Australian girls and women have an equal opportunity to learn, work and engage in STEM. So says the Australian Government's Department of Industry, Science and Resources. The Department's 2023 STEM Equity Monitor shows that: Women make up 37% of enrolments in university STEM courses. Only 15% of STEM-qualified jobs are held by women. Only 23% of senior management and 8% of CEOs in STEM-qualified industries are women. To tackle the serious issue of gender equity in STEM, Science and Technology Australia (STA) created the Superstars of STEM program in 2017. Its aim is to break the stereotypes about who can – and already does - work in STEM. In this episode, STA CEO Misha Schubert tells how the Superstars of STEM program equips brilliant diverse STEM experts with advanced communication skills and opportunities so they can be role models and media experts for others to see. We also talk to a current and past Superstar of STEM about what the program has meant to them. They are: Dr Muneera Bano, Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO's Data 61. Dr Melissa Humphries, Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer and Mathematical sciences at the University of Adelaide. Our host is Rose Crocker, an applied mathematician with the Australian Institute of Marine Science.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Saturday, October 14th, Australians head to the polls to decide the Voice to Parliament Referendum. In this episode, we're not looking at the referendum, but rather the polling around it. Plus, what makes referendum polling different to polling in a regular election. Our guest is Professor Simon Jackman from the University of Sydney. Professor Jackman has three decades of experience researching, teaching, and communicating about political science and data science in the United States and Australia. Until last year, Simon led the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Before that, he spent 20 years at Stanford University.  He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Society for Political Methodology. Our host is Cynthia Huang, a PhD Candidate at Monash University in the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever seen something on the news or in your social media feed and think, what are the odds of that happening? University of Toronto Professor Jeffrey Rosenthal is the author of the book, “Struck by Lightning – the Curious World of Probabilities”. In it, he explores how we should look at the randomness all around us and in the world, and why we overestimate the chance of some things happening, while underestimating others. Plus, he talks about the challenge of communicating these statistical and mathematical ideas to a broader audience. Our hosts are Cynthia Huang and Tim Macuga.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For many of us, we rely on social media to get a lot of the information we're interested in. But how does all that information move across these different platforms? It's a question that researchers in the data and mathematical sciences at The University of Adelaide have been studying for years. Included in that research is the study of how misinformation and disinformation spreads on social media. Our guests for this episode are Professor Lewis Mitchell, Director of the Adelaide Data Science Centre, and Bridget Smart, who recently completed a Masters at The University of Adelaide. As part of her research, she worked to understand and model the processes behind malicious activity in our online social networks. They also talk about some of their latest research, which includes the spread of disinformation in the Russia-Ukraine war. Plus, why the mathematical and data sciences are so important in examining this problem, and how recent changes to social media, specifically, Twitter, could change that research. Our host is Rose Crocker, an applied mathematician with the Australian Institute of Marine Science.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's something weird to think about. Can fluids think? No, we're not talking about a liquid metal shape-shifting creature like what we saw in Terminator 2. We're asking, can fluid systems make computations? In this episode, we chat with Professor Eva Miranda, head of the Laboratory of Geometry and Dynamical Systems at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Spain. She's on a mission exploring one of math's most famous open problems – the existence of solutions of the Navier-Stokes equation, which governs the flow of fluids such as water and air. Since the 1800's, researchers interested in how fluids flow have turned to Navier-Stokes. To investigate Navier-Stokes, Eva and her colleagues have constructed an abstract mathematical machine, a theoretical fluid computer, if you will. In this podcast, Professor Miranda tells us how a post from Australian Mathematician Terrence Tao inspired her, how she used geometry to construct her fluid computer, and why she believes that Navier-Stokes might not always be physically valid. Our host for this episode is Dr James Nichols.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sometimes interesting research starts with a question faced by industry. That question may lead to other questions – and maybe even shine light on a broader research problem not specific to that industry. Collaboration between academia and industry allows researchers to identify and explore these new and interesting problems. One way that's being done is through Industry PhDs. In this podcast, we explore what an industry PhD is, how it's different than a traditional PhD, and what it's like to collaborate with industry partners as you pursue a PhD. Our host is Dr Sevvandi Kandanaarachchi, a Senior Research Scientist with CSIRO.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a special edition of The Random Sample! We're on the road at the World Statistics Congress taking place from 15-20 July in Ottawa, Canada. The Congress is put on by International Statistical Institute (ISI) and is the largest congress worldwide for statisticians and data scientists. In this podcast, we hear from Stephen Penneck, ISI President; Kerrie Mengersen, ISI Vice President; Anil Arora, Chief Statistician for Statistics Canada; Eric Rancourt, Asst. Chief Statistician & Chief Data Officer for Statistics Canada; and John Bailer, former ISI President and host of the “Stats & Stories” podcast. Our host for this episode is Tim Macuga, Senior Project Officer for the QUT Centre for Data Science and the Australian Data Science Network.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest is Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel, a Professor in the Department of Statistical Science at Duke University in the United States. Mine's work is so much more than just educating students about statistics and data science. She's a big proponent of what she calls ‘open education', the open source sharing of how stats and data science are taught, and innovating the pedagogy. In this episode, we explore how Mine is doing this, and why this type of work is so important. Our host is Cynthia Huang, a PhD Candidate at Monash University in the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For three decades, University of Queensland Professor Hugh Possingham has combined his two passions – mathematics and nature – into a career dedicated to making an impact with conservation efforts around the world. Hugh recently completed a two-year term as Queensland's Chief Scientist. He served as Chief Scientist of the Nature Conservancy, is the former director of four national research centres, and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. His conservation efforts include his lab's development of Marxan which was used to underpin the rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef. Marxan is now the most widely used conservation planning software in the world. In this episode, we explore the importance of mathematics in the field of conservation and the challenges of communicating the maths and science to decision-makers. Our host is Rose Crocker, an applied mathematician with the Australian Institute of Marine Science. BONUS MATERIAL, including a clip where Prof Possingham talks about mentoring: https://www.therandomsample.com.au/podcast/hugh-possingham/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever watch a TV courtroom drama where they question an expert witness? Chances are, you've never seen an actor portray an expert witness who is a statistician. But statisticians can have a big impact inside real courtrooms. Our guest is Professor Ian Gordon, Director of the Statistical Consulting Centre at The University of Melbourne. Among the consulting work he does includes being an expert witness in legal cases. In this episode, we explore how statisticians get involved in legal cases, what that legal work looks like, and we look at some of the big cases Ian has worked on. Our host is Cynthia Huang, a PhD Candidate at Monash University in the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics. Links & bonus material: https://www.therandomsample.com.au/podcast/statisticians-in-legal-cases/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

100 years after Albert Einstein predicted their existence, scientists in 2015 detected gravitational waves for the first time ever. The historic discovery was the culmination of decades of research and hard work. In this episode, we explore the importance of gravitational waves and the theoretical and technological efforts that allowed researchers to finally detect them. Our guest is Distinguished Professor Susan Scott, from The Australian National University, and a senior member of the gravitational wave detection team. Our host is Dr James Nichols, a mathematician and Lecturer at ANU.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We explore the field of discrete optimisation and how industries and companies use it to make decisions for complex problems. Our guest is Monash University Professor Peter Stuckey, a pioneer in constraint programming (CP) which is a powerful approach to solving discrete optimisation problems. Professor Stuckey explains why he believes optimisation is the intelligence behind AI. Our host is Dr Sevvandi Kandanaarachchi.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's one of the most pressing, if not the most pressing, question facing scientists: what impact is climate change having on our planet's future? In this episode, we chat with world-renowned climate researcher Professor Lisa Alexander from UNSW who is helping answer that question with her research to understand and build better climate models. Our host is Rose Crocker.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since its release in late 2022, Open AI's Chat G-P-T has most everyone talking about it, and even trying it. Schools, universities, and businesses are scrambling to figure out how it can be used, or whether to even ban its use. But here at The Random Sample, we'll leave that debate to others, at least for now. Instead, we'd rather take a look under the hood of ChatGPT and see what it really is and how it works, or in some cases, doesn't work! Our guest is Assoc. Professor Simon Angus from Monash University and our host is Cynthia Huang.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a global movement underway to tackle gender equity issues in Data Science. In 2015, Women in Data Science, or WiDS, was created. What started out as a conference at Stanford University has now grown into a worldwide initiative, with events in more than 200 countries, including Australia. In this episode, we chat with the Co-founder and Executive Director of the WiDS movement, Emeritus Professor Margot Gerritsen. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every two years, Australia's applied mathematics community invites a distinguished international academic to speak at universities across Australia. This year, the AMSI-ANZIAM Distinguished Lecturer is Professor Konstantin Avrachenkov, Director of Research at France's National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology, or INRIA. The Random Sample caught up with Prof Avrachenkov at the recently held ANZIAM 2023 Conference in Cairns. Also joining us for this episode is his PhD Supervisor from some 20 years ago, Emeritus Professor Jerzy Filar.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the explosion of data everywhere, how do you prepare for the exciting new careers and jobs of the future, when many of them don't exist yet? With maths, of course! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Fields Medal is the top award in mathematics and for only the second time ever, a woman has won it. In this episode, we explore the problem that Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovksa solved and why it's so important.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Statistical Society of Australia turns 60 years old this year. In this episode, we celebrate this big milestone as we explore what the Statistical Society offers its members, look back at some of its history, and peek into the future, especially with the recent emergence of data science. Our guests are current SSA President Professor Ian Gordon, and SSA Immediate Past President, Associate Professor Jessica Kasza. The host is Cynthia Huang.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the biggest challenges facing scientists in Australia is trying to protect and save a national treasure, the Great Barrier Reef. To do that, though, they need to understand it better. But this is not just a problem for ecologists and marine biologists to tackle. Mathematical and data scientists are heavily involved in the effort to save the reef. In this episode, we explore some of the questions they are tackling, what we're learning because of them, and what the future might hold. Our guests are Dr Juan Ortiz from the Australian Institute of Marine Science and Professor Michael Bode from QUT's School of Mathematical Sciences.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the end of 2021, our Centre, the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers, finishes up. ACEMS brought together researchers across the mathematical sciences, from the theoretical to the very applied. In this episode, we explore the impact ACEMS has had on those sciences, and beyond, to organisations in government and industry. Plus, our most important legacy - the next generation of research leaders and teachers. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mathematics is exciting, enjoyable, and can surprise you, right? To help students to experience that when they do maths in the classroom, ACEMS has helped foster and grow a program called 'MathsCraft'. The program is designed to introduce to students in years 5 to 10 to the ‘doing' of mathematics like, well, a mathematician! In this episode, we talk to three teachers in South Australia who are now introducing MathsCraft concepts into some of their teaching. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thanks to the efforts of ACEMS Chief Investigator Rob Hyndman, the School of Business at Monash University now recognises software as a first class research output. In this episode, we will explore the role of software in the research process, including both the opportunities and challenges for researchers creating it, and whether other universities might follow the lead set by the Monash Business School in recognising the importance of software. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The European Meteorological Society just awarded an ACEMS researcher and her colleague in the Netherlands its top prize for innovation in meteorology. Their project sets out to develop new statistical methods to quality control wind data captured by amateur, or citizen, scientists and integrate that data with wind observations from official weather stations. That could give forecasters and others who need information on the weather a lot more data to base their decisions on. In this episode, we explore how they plan to use stats to bring credibility to crowdsourced weather data. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Monash University Professor of Statistics Di Cook is considered a world leader in Data Visualisation. In this episode, Di shares some of her new, innovative work into Data Visualisation. She also discusses why she is such a big proponent of reproducible research and open-source software. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aurore Delaigle is a professor of statistics at The University of Melbourne, an ACEMS Chief Investigator, and a Fellow of both the Australian Academy of Science and the American Statistical Association Aurore's passion is using statistics to tackle challenging questions that solve real, practical problems. In this episode, we explore some of the different problems she is taking on with her statistical expertise. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does mathematical research look like? If you visit Australia's residential mathematics research institute, you might be surprised by what you see. It's called MATRIX and it's located in regional Victoria. In this episode, we explore the importance of mathematics research, how it's done, and the unique environment MATRIX provides for mathematicians to make their research happen. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever wonder how the impossible becomes possible on the big screen? Not surprisingly, there's a lot of maths and stats that can make amazing things happen in your favourite movies. In this episode, we chat with a man who uses mathematical tools to create that movie magic. It's a must listen for anyone who's ever asked the question in maths class, "when am I ever going to use this stuff?". There are few cooler answers than what you'll hear in this episode! The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Companies from many different sectors are all starting to realise one thing - that mathematics can help them make better decisions. That's the goal of a new ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre. It's called OPTIMA and its aim is to bring cutting-edge optimisation research to industry. In this episode, we explore the field of optimisation and why Centre Director Kate Smith-Miles believes OPTIMA is poised to tackle some very interesting and challenge industry problems. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Safe Blues project was created to see in close to real-time how social mobility and epidemic spread interact. To test its mobile technology, the Safe Blues team has been conducting an experiment in New Zealand at the University of Auckland City Campus. The experiment took a turn, though, when Auckland went into lockdown a few weeks ago. In this episode, we explore how lockdown is both an opportunity and a challenge for this experiment. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest is QUT Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska who led the push to get health organisations to finally recognise the airborne spread of COVID-19. She is now leading an effort to change the way buildings and homes are ventilated to help prevent the spread of not just COVID, but other respiratory illnesses like the flu and the common cold. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thousands of species around the world are being threatened by land clearing to make way for agricultural or urban development. To track land clearing, researchers are now turning to free satellite imagery to try to see what's going on in certain areas. But there's one big problem. At any given time, two-thirds of the earth is covered by clouds. To get around that, an ACEMS team developed new statistical modelling techniques to predict what the clouds are covering up in those images. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When things go your way, or don't go your way, how much of that is luck? Do we overvalue or undervalue a process or a person's performance because of how things eventually turn out? Do we need to take into account things out of our control? In this episode, we explore these questions and look into whether we need to do more to give some people a second chance. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every five years, the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts a national Census. In this episode, we explore what's new with this year's Census, how COVID is impacting it, and what's being done to avoid a repeat of what happened on Census night in 2016. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a world that's more data-driven than ever before, we need people who can analyse and find the hidden stories within the data. In this episode, we explore the future of statistics with two early career statisticians who took very different paths to get where they are now. We also give you a sneak peak at the upcoming Early Career and Student Statistician's Conference. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She is considered one of Australia's greatest mathematicians. Professor Cheryl Praeger turned her passion for the mathematics of symmetry into a long and distinguished career at the University of Western Australia. In this episode, we chat with Cheryl about her career, her mathematics, the many honours she has been given, and her passion for advancing mathematics education and women in STEM. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What can maths do for you? A new children's book aims to give youngsters – and their parents and teachers – a glimpse of what's possible if they study maths. It's called "Wondrous Worlds" and in this episode we chat to the author, ACEMS PhD Candidate Katie Buchhorn. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In May, the mathematical sciences community celebrated international women in mathematics day. To mark the day, ACEMS hosted a panel discussion titled, "The Road Ahead for Women in STEM". Featuring three female leaders in Australian academia, we explored efforts to increase diversity in maths and science. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it take to test a vaccine? Among other things, some very important mathematical and statistical methodology! This episode doesn't tackle the specifics of any of the different COVID-19 vaccines, but rather it explores some of the maths and stats that was needed in their testing. We also hope to make you better consumers of all the news you see and hear when it comes to the different vaccines. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For an eighth straight year, the Pint of Science Festival has just kicked off in Australia. Its aim is to give everyday people a chance to meet and interact with Australian scientists and find out what they're doing is and also, to combat the stereotypes associated with science. In this episode, we'll explore how the festival works, and meet two women who are taking part so that they can change the way people feel about maths and stats! The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The term mathematical modelling takes on a whole new meaning for a group of Australian mathematicians. In this case, they are models. Or should we say, role models. They are part of the just-released “Australian Women of Mathematics” exhibit, launched as part of the 2021 International Women in Mathematics Day celebrations. In this episode, we introduce you to the exhibit, how it came together, and how it shares the stories of the women who are featured. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mathematics has a numbers problem – at least when it comes to gender equity. But what if we could use maths to help fix the problem? That's just what Dr Eugenia Cheng is proposing we do. She's the author of a new book, "X+Y: A Mathematician's Manifesto to Rethinking Gender". In this episode, she describes how a mathematical approach to this issue could be the key to moving forward. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the last decade, a controversy called the 'replication crisis' rocked the scientific community. The crisis centered around the fact that many scientific studies were difficult or even impossible to reproduce. At the heart of the issue is statistical significance. In this episode, we explore the crisis, the questions around significance, and the possible solutions that are being considered. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The International Prize in Statistics is considered the top award in the field of statistics. This year, it was awarded to Harvard Biostatistician Professor Nan Laird. In this episode, we chat with Professor Laird about the award as she looks back on her career. Joining us is one of her former PhD students turned colleague, Harvard Professor Garrett Fitzmaurice. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes to the number of women in mathematics, the numbers are low. In this episode, we explore why that is, the role women are being asked to play in making that change, and why many women are battling imposter syndrome. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you heard someone say they weren't good at maths or hated it at school? Is there such a thing as a 'maths person'? What does a mathematician do? In this episode, we make the case for maths, why it's important students not give up on it too soon and, more importantly, why they should do as much as they can. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Adelaide man, Graeme Denton, recently set a world record for the tallest free-standing soap bubble. It reached up 10.75 metres, or more than 35 feet, from the ground high into the air. ACEMS Chief Investigator Professor Matt Roughan did the maths that verified the record-breaking bubble attempt. In this episode, we talk to Graeme and Matt about the world-record-breaking soap bubble, what needed to be done to mathematically verify it, and what bubbles can teach us about maths and science! The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Data can unlock the answers to a lot of questions. But few researchers are asking some of the questions that QUT Professor Adrian Barnett is. In this episode, we explore some of the interesting problems and questions Adrian has looked into, why he chose them, and why he believes it's more important than ever that we have access to open data sources. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.