The event, held in the Attlee Suite, Portcullis House, showcased the work of some of the UK’s most promising early-career scientists, engineers, technologists and mathematicians – enabling members of both Houses of Parliament to review outstanding university research.
Organised by the Parliamentary & Scientific Committee, the STEM for Britain initiative awards prizes for the posters which best communicate high level research, including in the mathematical sciences, to a general, non-specialist audience.
The experience of attending the judging session in the heart of Westminster, and of presenting his poster to the judges, entrants and other attendees, including MPs and Peers, was a valuable one, as Ollie explained on his return:
“There was such a wide range of research on display, and it was useful to hear cross-disciplinary opinions on my work. I also got the chance to meet, and present my poster to, my local MP.
“It’s great to see there are people working in parliament with a genuine interest in the mathematical sciences, who want to support the translation of academic research into real use cases.”
The poster that Ollie presented summarised the recent PhD research he has conducted under the supervision of Carl Dettmann, Professor of Applied Mathematics and Director of the School’s Institute for Probability, Analysis and Dynamics.
Titled ‘Improving the Design of Wireless Networks for More Efficient Compression’, it outlined how their findings could be applied in industry, to enable efficient power allocation, ensuring more economical and environmentally sustainable wireless communications.
Commenting on Ollie’s success in being selected as a finalist, Professor Oliver Johnson, Head of the School of Mathematics and Professor of Information Theory, said:
“It’s great to see Parliament supporting the work of early-career researchers, and to see the mathematical sciences recognised alongside other important disciplines. We are delighted to have a student representing Bristol at this level. Being a finalist is testament to Ollie’s hard work and talent, and to the importance of the research he and his supervisor are undertaking.”
Ollie is based in the School’s EPSRC-funded Centre for Doctoral Training in Computational Statistics and Data Science (Compass). This 4-year PhD programme exposes students to the insights of collaborators from across the University of Bristol, as well as to the work of government agencies, and industry and third sector partners operating across various sectors.
“We are focused on providing opportunities for our PhD students to see their studies in the wider context of UK and global research and innovation,” says Professor Nick Whiteley, Director of Compass, and Head of the Institute for Statistical Sciences.
“Throughout the year, our partners and invited speakers demonstrate the key role that data science and statistics play in the research landscape, and in helping to meet the ambitions set out in the government’s research principles, strategic themes and priority areas. Ollie’s work being recognised by STEM for Britain reiterates how integrated and important our field is.”
“We are very proud of his achievement, which sits alongside other Compass successes from the past few months, including Emma Tarmey’s co-authoring of a pilot study, published in the world's longest running journal on sexual health, Kieran Morris’s preprint on binomial distributions, and three students presenting research at NeurIPS 2025 in San Diego.”
Since its inaugural year in 1997, the STEM for Britain initiative has been helping politicians to understand more about science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the UK. The annual finals provide them with an opportunity to speak with some of the country’s best researchers.
This year’s Mathematical Sciences Gold Medal winner was Torin Fastnedge, a University of Oxford postgraduate student, for his research undertaken with Professor Chris Breward - who previously delivered a Compass CDT workshop in his capacity as Scientific Director of the Knowledge Exchange Hub for Mathematical Sciences - and Professor Ian Griffiths.