International Society for Bayesian Analysis

Two Postgraduate Research Fellowships in Statistics (Fixed 3 Year Term)
Salary: £27,578 to £33,884
University of Southampton; University of Glasgow

In the UK, air pollution is estimated to reduce average life expectancy
by around 6 months, with corresponding equivalent health cost of £19
billion annually. Estimation of the effects of air pollution on human
health is a complex task for a number of reasons: misalignment of health
and air pollution data in both space and time; the existence of
spatio-temporal correlation; and the presence of confounding factors.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is funding a
large interdisciplinary project to develop statistical methodology to
address these issues. The main goal of the project is to combine
spatio-temporal models for pollution and health data into a single large
hierarchical Bayesian model. Two Research Fellow (RF) positions in
Statistics are available as part of this exciting collaborative project,
which will involve air quality modellers, climate scientists,
epidemiologists and statisticians at the Universities of Southampton and
Glasgow, and at the Met Office. One RF position will be within the
Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute (S3RI) and
Mathematics at the University of Southampton and the second position
will be in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of
Glasgow.

Applicants for the positions should have, or be about to obtain, a PhD
in statistics, or have equivalent research experience. Preference will
be given to applicants with a background in Bayesian statistical
modelling, especially spatial/spatio-temporal modelling, and Markov
chain Monte Carlo.

The RF in Southampton will be supervised by Dr Sujit Sahu while the RF
in Glasgow will be supervised by Dr Duncan Lee and Prof Richard
Mitchell. Both fellows will work closely with each other and the project
partners. In addition, they will benefit from advice from the Visiting
Researcher on the project, Prof Alan Gelfand (Duke University, USA).

The main role of the Southampton RF will be to develop new statistical
methodology for estimating uncertainty in the levels of major air
pollutants, and in an aggregate index, under spatial and temporal
misalignment of multivariate data and at multiple resolutions. Work with
Glasgow will then develop a single integrated Bayesian framework for
combining pollution and health models. Informal enquiries regarding this
position may be made to Dr Sujit Sahu, telephone +44 (0) 23 8059 5123,
email: S.K.Sahu@soton.ac.uk.

The main role of the Glasgow RF will be to develop new statistical
methodology to capture the spatio-temporal correlation structure in
areal-unit health data, utilising Gaussian Markov Random Field models
and then to work with Southampton on the integrated model. Informal
enquiries regarding this position may be made to Dr Duncan Lee,
telephone +44 (0) 141 330 4047, email: Duncan.Lee@glasgow.ac.uk.

Both the positions are fixed-term for 3 years and will commence on 1
October 2012, or as soon as possible thereafter. The appointed salary
will be determined by the relevant University, depending on the
successful candidate's skills and experience.

The closing date for applications for the Southampton position is June
26, 2012 and it is June 29 for the Glasgow position. Interviews are
likely to be held in the week beginning July 2, 2012. Candidates who
wish to apply for both positions should submit separate applications to
each university with a clear statement of their preference, if any.

To apply for the Southampton post, please visit www.jobs.soton.ac.uk or
alternatively telephone 023 8059 2750 for an application form. Please
quote vacancy reference number 119712WT on all correspondence. To apply
for the Glasgow post please visit http://www.gla.ac.uk/about/jobs/ job
reference number E20219.

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