23 June 2016

5 million DKK to research in statistical methods

Research grant

VILLUM FONDEN supports three MATH researchers work to explore new statistical models for analysing large amounts of data in complex systems - like the biological cell, the brain, traffic systems or social networks.

Hansen, Lauritzen & Peters

Professor Niels Richard Hansen, Professor Steffen Lauritzen and Associate Professor Jonas Peters explain the project as follows:

Science, industry and business are transformed these years by a data revolution, where empirical and data driven models are taking over decision making. The most challenging applications involve large systems with complicated interactions, where model building from first principles is difficult. Examples include the biological cell, the brain, traffic systems and social networks.

Causal questions are the most important to answer: What happens if we intervene and how can we intervene to achieve a goal?

The mathematical language of causality is well developed and based on probabilistic graphical models, but the methodology for inferring causal models is incomplete. This is particularly so for dynamical systems or when some aspects of the system are unobservable.

Pretending that we have complete data is the easy solution, but we have a limited understanding of when this is adequate and when we can do better.

The purpose of the research project is to answer how and to what extent causal effects can be estimated from incomplete data.