Frank Hansford-Miller Fellowship 2025

About the Fellowship

The Frank Hansford-Miller Fellowship is offered biennially by the Western Australian Branch of the Statistical Society of Australia as a way of fostering links between our society and the UK statistical society. Frank left a bequest to the WA Branch to finance and help foster such links between WA and the UK. Prior to retiring at the age of 65 he attended many meetings of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) of which he was a member, where he was known to take an active part in discussion of read papers as presented in the RSS. On retiring he came to Perth, Western Australia to be with his wife’s family, including three nephews. Frank subsequently took up tutoring statistics on a casual basis at UWA, and later at Murdoch University and the then Western Australian Institute of Technology before it became Curtin University. Frank also became an active member of the Statistical Society of Australia Western Australia branch. Frank’s passion was Applied Statistics and its relevance to society and to the life of the country that he was in, firstly in the UK, and secondly in his adopted country of Australia.

The Frank Hansford-Miller Fellowship supports the appointment of a fellow from the UK to visit Perth, usually for a period of two weeks, and deliver an invited talk. For 2025, this visit shall be coordinated with the Australian Statistical Conference (ASC2025). The fellow is also encouraged to present a workshop, and visit universities and/or institutes in Perth.

What is Expected of the 2025 Fellow?

It is expected that the appointed fellow will:

• Deliver a talk on their stated area of expertise at ASC2025*.
• Engage in collaborative activities such as: (1) meet with Early Career and Student Statisticians (e.g., informal dinner); (2) visit WA universities and/or research institutes.
• Ideally present a workshop on their preferred topic at ASC2025*.

What is Expected of the Nominator?

Nominators must be WA Branch members and be prepared to:

• Arrange with their university/institution for the researcher to be appointed as a visiting fellow/professor/scholar and provide documents to support their visa application.
• Host the fellow during their stay ensuring they have an office, etc.

The FHM Subcommittee can provide an example itinerary and will support the host with arranging visa documents through their university or research institution.

Selection Criteria and Process

Candidates must be nominated by SSA WA Branch members. Researchers in all areas of statistics are eligible to be nominated, however a background in Applied Statistics is preferred. The successful candidate will be:

• able to visit Perth for a period of approximately two weeks around ASC2025;
• currently based in the UK;
• active in research;
  
• interested in beginning or strengthening ties with WA.

Nominations should include a short description addressing the above criteria and include a two page CV from the candidate. Please note that in 2025 the candidate is expected to attend ASC2025 in Perth as part of their proposed visit.

Remuneration

The Fellow will receive up to A$7,000 to cover the cost of economy airfare, accommodation, daily allowance, and travel insurance. It is important to note that no responsibility will be taken by the WA Branch of the SSA for any medical costs incurred during the course of the visit or thereafter. The timing of payments and amounts will be discussed with the successful candidate.

Deadline

Applications for the 2025 Fellowship must be received by the Chair of the FHM Subcommittee before 5:00 PM AWST on 13 December 2024.

FHM Subcommittee

The FHM Fellowship is overseen by a subcommittee of the WA Branch of the SSA:

• Dr Brenton Clarke, Murdoch University (Chair) (b.clarke@murdoch.edu.au)
  
• Professor Nicola Armstrong, Curtin University
• Emeritus Professor Ross Maller, The Australian National University
  

Past FHM Fellows

• 2023 Professor Guy Nason, Chair in Statistics, Imperial College London.
  
• 2021 Dr Manuel Herrera, Research Associate in Distributed Intelligent Systems, University of Cambridge.
• 2019 Professor Cathryn Lewis, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology & Statistics, King’s College London.
• 2017 Dr Mark Girolami, Now Professor, University of Cambridge and the Alan Turing Institute.
• 2015 Professor Adrian Bowman, Department of Statistics, University of Glasgow.
• 2013 Dr Janet Godolphin, Royal Holloway College, University of London (Now Associate Professor, University of Surrey).

*Previous fellows have given talks/workshops to the WA Branch of the Statistical Society of Australia.