The Random Sample

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...

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 Sev...

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...

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...

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 Prof...

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 t...

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 Prof...

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 ques...

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 imp...

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...

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...

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...

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 Sta...

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 statist...

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 Sam...

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...

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 O...

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 oppor...

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 Re...

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 stati...

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...

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,...

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 podc...