We are pleased to introduce the invited speakers:
Thu 30th Oct
Bayesian Inference for Ranks
Arnoldo Frigessi, University of Oslo, Norway
Arnoldo Frigessi is a professor of statistics at the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Oslo and is the director of Statistics for Innovation, one of the Norwegian centres of excellence for research-based innovation. Frigessi has developed statistical methodology motivated by specific problems in science, technology, industry and society. He has designed stochastic models to study mechanisms, dynamics and patterns of dependence of systems. Inference is often Bayesian and based on computationally intensive stochastic algorithms, like MCMC. Currently, he has research collaborations in genomics, veterinary infectious diseases, insurance and climate research.
Slides
Video
Abstract
Analysis of rank data has received renewed interest recently, due to novel applications in the era of big data. In this lecture we will present a Bayesian approach to rank estimation, based on Mallows models with any right-invariant metric, thereby allowing for greatly extended flexibility compared to present methods. Data can be full rankings of all items, just the top-t rankings, or a series of pairwise comparisons. Our examples come from various areas, including sport and genomics. This is joint work with Øystein Sørensen, Valeria Vitelli and Elja Arjas.
Fri 31th Oct
The DNA query language DNAQL
Jan Van den Bussche, Universiteit Hasselt, Belgium
Jan Van den Bussche is a professor in databases and theoretical computer science at Hasselt University, Belgium. He obtained his PhD under the supervision of Jan Paredaens at the University of Antwerp in 1993. His research interests are in the theoretical foundations of data management systems, with a focus on query language aspects in diverse context such as logic, object orientation, temporal databases, spatial databases, document databases, typechecking, pattern mining, provenance, cloud computing, and DNA computing. He has served as program committee chair for ICDT 2001 (London) and for PODS 2006 (Chicago) and has served during ten years as council chair for ICDT.
Video
Abstract
This talk presents an overview of our work on databases in DNA performed over the past four years, joint with my student Joris Gillis and postdoc Robert Brijder. Our goal is to better understand, at a theoretical level, the database aspects of DNA computing. The talk will be self-contained and will begin with an introduction to DNA computing. We then introduce a graph-based data model of so-called sticker DNA complexes, suitable for the representation and manipulation of structured data in DNA. We also define DNAQL, a restricted programming language over sticker DNA complexes. DNAQL stands to general DNA computing as the standard relational algebra for relational databases stands to general-purpose conventional computing. We show how DNA program can be statically typechecked. Thus, nonterminating reactions, as well as other things that could go wrong during DNA manipulation, can be avoided. We also investigate the expressive power of DNAQL and show how it compares to the relational algebra.
Fri 1st Nov
Lessons from the crowd: Citizen Science and Big Data
Chris Lintott, University of Oxford, UK
Chris Lintott is an astronomer at the University of Oxford where he is also a Research Fellow at New College. His own work focuses on the formation and evolution of galaxies and he is Principal Investigator for Galaxy Zoo, the world’s most successful citizen science project. He leads the team of scientists, web developers and educators who build and operate the Zooniverse, a platform which has allowed more than 900,000 participants to discover planets, read ancient papyri and explore the Serengeti. His citizen science work was recognised in 2011 with the award of the Royal Society’s Kohn Award, and in 2014 by the American Astronomical Society’s Beatrice Tinsley award. A passionate advocate of the public understanding of science, he is best known as co-presenter of the BBC’s long-running ‘Sky at Night’ program, and as co-author (with Patrick Moore and Queen guitarist Brian May) of books including ‘Bang’, which has been translated into more than a dozen languages.
Video
Abstract
Citizen science – the involvement of hundreds of thousands of volunteers in the scientific process – has proved a creative and capable response to the increasing size of scientific datasets. Volunteers in programs run by Zooniverse.org, the world’s largest and most successful collection of online science projects, have discovered planets, transcribed ancient papyri, and monitored animals in the Serengeti. Zooniverse PI Chris Lintott will reflect on the lessons learned when your data analysis needs millions of people, and will talk about some of the recent advances that allow for more efficient classification and smoother combination of human and machine effort.
