Compass Annual Conference

Kevin Parry, Director of Data
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Kevin leads the delivery of the ICO’s Enterprise Data Strategy - as well as its data and analytics function, which is focused on making the ICO an exemplar of responsible innovation using data and analytics. He was previously Chief Data Officer at Dwr Cymru Welsh Water. Kevin is also Chair of the Data Science Academy Advisory Board at Cardiff University, and holds an MSc Operational Research, Applied Statistics and Risk.

Colm Connaughton, Director
London Mathematical Laboratory (LML)
Colm has an academic background in theoretical physics and is Director of the LML, an independent institute for research in mathematical sciences. He is emeritus professor of applied mathematics at the University of Warwick and was formerly co-PI and deputy director of the EPSRC Complexity Science and Mathematics for Real World Systems CDTs. Until 2022, he co-organised the UK Data Science for Social Good Summer Fellowship programme.

Kiran Dhanjal-Adams, Kew Future Leader Fellow
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Kiran is a computational ecologist, and uses a suite of statistical and deep learning tools to answer questions around monitoring, mapping and conserving biodiversity. She has a PhD from the University of Queensland and has previously worked at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the Swiss Ornithological Institute and the Max Planck Institute, before starting her current role at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Marc Sarazin, Senior Data Scientist
Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Marc modernises statistical production systems that produce the nation’s most high-profile statistics through the use of Generative AI and software engineering best practices. He previously undertook research at the Universities of Edinburgh and Louvain (UCLouvain, Belgium), where he specialised in network science applications in educational settings. He holds a DPhil (PhD) from the University of Oxford.

Alex Bowring, Senior Mathematical Consultant
Smith Institute
Alex specialises in statistical modelling, machine learning, and optimisation - and has worked on a range of high-impact technical projects with a focus the energy sector, helping to drive a brighter tomorrow for the economy, society and the environment. He previously completed an Early Career Research Fellowship in Neuroimaging Statistics at the University of Oxford, where he also obtained a DPhil in Population Health. 

Alice Kendal, Senior Data Scientist
Trilateral Research
Alice specialises in responsible AI, developing sociotechnical AI and machine learning approaches to address challenges such as organised crime, child exploitation, human trafficking and air pollution, working closely with experts in ethics, linguistics and societal issues. She holds an MSc in Mathematical Modelling (Climate Science) and brings previous experience from both industry and research.

09:30

Registration and Welcome refreshments  

10:00 

Introduction from the Compass CDT Director

10:15 

Compass student research talks

• Samuel Perren - 'Network Meta-analysis with Class Effects: a Practical Guide and Model Selection Algorithm'

• Ollie Baker - 'Rates of Convergence for Entropy Limits of Soft Random Geometric Graphs'

• Yuqi Zhang - 'Multiscale Detection of Multiple Change Points in High-dimensional Factor Models'

• Kieran Morris - 'Benamou Brenier Optimal Transport on Discrete Domains'

11:15 

Break and refreshments

11:30 

Compass student lightning talks

• Emma Tarmey - 'Confounder handling in real-world epidemiology using the OpenSAFELY NHS Data Platform'

• Ben Anson - 'Matmul at Scale'

• Daniel Gardner - 'Genetic Data: How Far Can We Go?'

• Daniella Montgomery - 'Simulating Local Ancestry in Bacterial Pathogens'

• Sam Bowyer - 'Robust Uncertainty Quantification for LLM Evaluations'

• Sherman Khoo - 'Fun with CLIP Embeddings'

• Rachel Wood - 'How to Help Others Use Data Science for Social Good'

12:30 

Lunch and poster session 

14:00 

Spotlight speaker presentations

14:55

Break and refreshments

15:15

Guest speaker presentations

16:05

Discussion panel

16:50 

Closing remarks (17:00 close)