Spotlight on our people
The School of Mathematics and Statistics at UNSW is a lively place with a diverse group of staff and students. Want to know more about them?
Here, we spotlight the staff and students of the School. What drew them towards mathematics and statistics? What attracted them to UNSW? Do they fit the stereotype of a mathematician or maths student?
Here, they reveal their adventures in mathematics and statistics鈥
Staff Members
Spotlight on Zdravko Botev
Zdravko Botev聽is a Lecturer in Statistics. What attracted him to his role in the School? Why does he enjoy teaching UNSW students? And why does the study of probability fascinate him? Find out here!
Spotlight on Thomas Britz
Thomas Britz聽is a lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Statistics. In this interview, he reveals that he enjoys all aspects of his job, talks about some cool things that students have taught him, and discusses his research in Combinatorics.
Spotlight on Chris Goodrich
Chris Goodrich is a Scientia Fellow in the School of Mathematics and Statistics. In this fascinating interview, he reveals聽what first drew him towards聽maths, some of the applications of his research, his hope that his聽forthcoming book will shake up calculus teaching.
Spotlight on Shane Keating
Growing up in a tiny village in Ireland,聽Shane Keating's interest in maths was first sparked by games such as chess and cards. That initial spark has led to a career spanning three continents, fascinating research in mathematical oceanography, and a position as a lecturer in maths at UNSW.
Spotlight on Libo Li
Libo Li聽is a young researcher and lecturer in the School who recently attracted an Early Career Research Grant. In his interview, he reveals his international upbringing, academic role models, and a very interesting hidden talent!
Spotlight on Anna Romanov
Anna Romanov is a Lecturer in the School. In her interview, she describes her path to becoming a mathematician, shares what she enjoys most about outreach, discusses her current research, reveals her approach as the Pure Maths Seminar organiser, and more.
Spotlight on Vera Roshchina
Vera Roshchina聽joined the School in 2018. In her interview, she discusses her path to academia, the varied approaches to teaching and research she's experienced in different countries, what she loves about UNSW, and more.
Spotlight on Jan Zika
尝别肠迟耻谤别谤听Jan Zika聽tells us what first ignited his interest in oceanography and climate science, reveals the current challenges of his research, divulges his academic role models, and shares some tips for travelling to his childhood stomping ground, Tasmania.
Students
Spotlight on Daniel Altman
Advanced Mathematics student聽Daniel Altman聽is one to watch! He's started to amass quite a collection of prizes for his outstanding academic performance. In his interview, Daniel reveals what he likes about maths, the challenges of studying it, his interests away from uni, and more.
Spotlight on Peter Ayre
If you could wake up tomorrow and be any mathematician from any point in history, who would you want to be? This is just one of the questions that Honours (Pure Maths) student聽Peter Ayre聽was subjected to in his interview. We get the scoop on his highlights 鈥 and challenges 鈥 of doing Honours, his plans for after uni, and why maths continues to engage and motivate him.
Spotlight on Michela Castagnone
Honours (Adv Maths) student聽Michela Castagnone聽got her first taste of uni life as a high school student at our Girls Do the Maths workshop. She reveals what fascinates her about maths, the highlights of her studies at UNSW, and what she believes will help increase female participation in maths.
Spotlight on Dorothy Cheung
BCom/BSc (Advanced Mathematics) student,聽Dorothy Cheung, speaks about her experiences studying maths at UNSW, her Girls Do The Maths Scholarship, and her advice for young girls who are interested in mathematics.
Spotlight on Merry Chu
Merry Chu is in her fourth year of a Commerce/Science double degree and is this year鈥檚 President of UNSW Mathematics Society!
Merry reveals what鈥檚 on the cards for MathSoc in 2022 and divulges some of her plans as President.
She also opens up about her favourite study spot, how she landed on her particular degree, what鈥檚 on the horizon post graduation, and more...
Spotlight on Kathryn Dalton
Kathryn Dalton聽is our 2021 Data Science and Decisions Ambassador. She talks to us about her hobbies, what led her to study data science, her Ambassador experiences, and her tips for staying focused and happy during long stretches of online learning.
Spotlight on James Gao
Fifth-year Advanced Maths/Actuarial student聽James Gao聽is MathSoc's President for 2020. He opens up about his dream job, why he loves maths, and聽MathSoc's plans to help students stay connected in the COVID-19 era.聽
Spotlight on Melinda Mortimer
Melinda Mortimer聽recently finished her Honours year in Statistics. She discusses her fascinating research which has applications to neuroscience, what led her to study maths聽& stats, the highlights of聽her studies, and her next move.聽聽
Spotlight on Varun Nayyar
BSc (Mathematics)/BEngineering student聽Varun Nayyar聽opens up about his transition from medicine to his current degree, his student exchange in California, his Faculty Research Scholarship, and his master plan for the future.
Spotlight on James Nichols
James Nichols聽speaks about his experiences as a postgrad research student in the School. We get him to spill on his role models, his PhD journey, what first enticed him to study maths, his interest in music, and his next move.
Spotlight on Sabarina Shafie
PhD student聽Sabarina Shafie聽reveals the interesting way she first got into maths, gives some pointers on travelling to her home country Malaysia, divulges her hobbies, and opens up about some of the challenging & rewarding aspects of postgrad study...
Spotlight on Abirami Srikumar
Abi Srikumar聽is a PhD student who聽recently finished up her Honours year with us. In her interview she compares聽her research experiences, reveals a relative's influence on her mathematical journey,聽discusses her strategies for online study, and聽shares聽highlights of her time at uni... and more!聽
Spotlight on Ellen Wang
Final year Data Science and Decisions student聽Ellen Wang聽talks to us about DataSoc's upcoming plans, her dream job, why working with data is rewarding, and more!聽
Spotlight on Alina Young
Fourth-year Bachelor of Advanced Maths / Computer Science student聽Alina Young聽talks to us about her favourite courses, balancing her uni demands with her hobbies, her experiences as a Science Ambassador, and more...
Spotlight on Alex Zhu
Alex Zhu (Honours student), has just completed聽an Honours year in Statistics, as part of his degree in Actuarial Studies and Advanced Mathematics.
He speaks to us about his聽intriguing Honours research project, the collaborative team work of the past year, what first ignited his love for maths and science, his involvement with MathSoc,聽some future plans for his research and himself - and more!
Read on to learn more about Alex...
Visitors and Former Staff Members
Spotlight on Clara Grazian
Clara Grazian聽is a former member of staff. She worked in the School of Mathematics and Statistics from 2019-2022.
She reveals how she fell in love with statistics, what excites her about teaching, the things she misses about her hometown in Italy, and why she thinks UNSW is unique.
Spotlight on Byron Jacobs
Dr Byron Jacobs聽visited the School in early 2015. He opened up about his academic career in South Africa, his research on PDEs and image processing, the work he collaborated on at UNSW, and what kindled his interest in mathematics.
Spotlight on Thanom Shaw
Thanom Shaw聽was our 2014 Visiting Teaching Fellow. The SCEGGS high school teacher says that spending聽that year聽immersed in studying and teaching university level maths at UNSW was a "dream come true" and a "professional development opportunity not so easy to come by".
Spotlight on Joanna Wang
Joanna Wang聽is a former member of the School. Her interest in statistics evolved during her first year of uni, and she agrees with Google鈥檚 Chief Economist that stats is 鈥渟exy鈥 because data is 鈥淓VERYWHERE鈥.
She's been collaborating on research into helmet safety, and says the mix of teaching and research is 鈥渆xactly what I wanted鈥.