Department of Mathematical Sciences

SPT News

Francesco Freni, PhD student

Francesco started in November 2025 as a PhD student in the department’s section for Statistics and Probability Theory.

Jun Yang receives the 2025 Blackwell-Rosenbluth Award

Assistant Professor (tenure-track) Jun Yang has been selected as a recipient of the 2025 Blackwell-Rosenbluth Award, presented by the Junior Section of the International Society for Bayesian Analysis.

Emma Zambolin, PhD student

Emma joined the Statistics and Probability Theory Section on the 15th of September 2025, as a PhD student under the supervision of Line Clemmensen.

Ahcene Boubekki, postdoc

Ahcène Boubekki is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Mathematical Sciences, affiliated since September 2025 with the Section for Statistics and Probability and the Pioneer Centre for Artificial Intelligence.

Harald Kugler, PhD student

Harald Kugler was employed on 1 September 2025 as a PhD student at the Copenhagen Causality Lab (CoCaLa) in the department’s section for Statistics and Probability Theory.

Research funding

Villum Synergy grants to three MATH statisticians

The Villum Synergy grants are awarded to interdisciplinary collaborations between different research disciplines that mutually contribute to each other's fields of study, typically within data-driven Science.

Trine Krogh Boomsma, professor

The Dean has appointed Trine Krogh Boomsma as Professor of Operations Research at the Department for Mathematical Sciences, UCPH, from 1 January 2025.

Christine Winther Bang, postdoc

Christine started working as a postdoc at the Section for Statistics and Probability Theory on 1 January 2025. She will be working with Niels Richard Hansen in the Copenhagen Causality Lab.

Gabriel Niels Damsholt, PhD student

Gabriel started on 1 November 2024 as a PhD student in the Statistics and Probability section with Susanne Ditlevsen as supervisor.

Research dissemination

Livestream about Numbers, coincidences and tipping points

On 5 November 2024, statistician Susanne Ditlevsen will give lectures in cinemas, libraries, public universities, cultural centres, high schools, and schools in cities across the country, including Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Zhihao Wang, PhD student

Zhihao joined the Statistics and Probability Theory section on October 1st 2024 and began his PhD studies under the supervision of Jun Yang.

Johan Larsson, postdoc

Johan Larsson is employed as a postdoc on a Thiele Data Science Fellowship from 3 September 2024, working in the Statistics and Probability section.

Alex Markham, postdoc

Alex joins the section for Statistics and Probability Theory as a postdoc working with Copenhagen Causality Lab on 1 September 2024.

Obituary for Inge Henningsen

Emeritus associate professor Inge Henningsen, who died on 5 August 2024 at the age of 83, played a central role in the statistics group at the department and at the former Department of Mathematical Statistics for many years.

Ulrik Thinggaard Hansen, postdoc

Ulrik Thinggaard Hansen started on 15 July 2024 as a postdoc, working with two of the department’s sections; Statistics and Probability as well as Analysis & Quantum.

Still debate about Ditlevsen's AMOC research

One year after Susanne and Peter Ditlevsen demonstrated that the AMOC ocean current could stop this century, the results are still hotly debated among climate scientists and in the press, with new studies pointing in the same direction and other studies that are critical. Various international media are still addressing the issue.

Sebastian Weichwald, associate professor

The Dean has 1 August 2024 promoted Sebastian Weichwald to Associate Professor in Statistics at the Department of Mathematical Sciences, UCPH.

Line Clemmensen, professor

Line Clemmensen joined the department as Professor of Statistics on 1 June 2024. She will be a part of the section on Statistics and Probability Theory.

Susanne Ditlevsen new president of the Royal Academy

Susanne Ditlevsen, professor of statistics at the Department of Mathematical Sciences, was elected president of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters for the next four years on Thursday 16 May 2024.

Tagea Brandt's travel grant to Susanne Ditlevsen

Susanne Ditlevsen has received the Tagea Brandt Travel Grant 2024, awarded annually since 1924 to female researchers, writers, artists, musicians or actors.

Silvan Vollmer, PhD student

Silvan Vollmer is employed as a PhD student from 1 May 2024 in the department’s section for Statistics and Probability Theory.

Klara Leffler, postdoc

Klara Leffler began as a postdoc at the Data Science Lab and the Statistics and Probability Theory section on the 1st of April 2024.

Bo Markussen, professor

Bo Markussen has been appointed Professor of Statistics at the Department of Mathematical Sciences from 1 March 2024.

Laura Helene Rasmussen, postdoc

Laura Helene Rasmussen began as a postdoc at the Data Science Lab and the Statistics and Probability Theory section on the 15th of December 2023.

Luigi Gresele, postdoc

Luigi was employed on 2 January 2024 as a postdoc at the Copenhagen Causality Lab, working with Prof. Sebastian Weichwald.

Gabriel Damsholt & Siniša Lukić, research assistants

Gabriel and Siniša are hired as part of Susanne Ditlevsen’s research grant project “CUSP”. The project is exploring new methods for statistical inference and identifying causal relationships in large amounts of data from the biology and health areas.

Elisenda Feliu appointed professor

The dean has appointed Elisenda Feliu as professor of mathematics at the Department of Mathematical Sciences from 1 July 2023.

Simon V. Brodersen and William Heuser, research assistants

Simon Vinding Brodersen and William Heuser have started a part-time position at the department to develop a research-focused flexible decision and regression tree implementation under the supervision of Niklas Pfister.

Jinyang Liu, 3+5 PhD student

Jinyang Liu will start as a 3+5 PhD student from 1 September 2023 in the Statistics and Probability Theory Section, with Munir Hiabu as his primary supervisor.

Niklas Andreas Pfister, Associate Professor

The Dean has 1 August 2023 promoted Niklas Pfister to Associate Professor of Mathematics. He will remain affiliated with the section Statistics and Probability Theory.

Jun Yang, Tenure Track Assistant Professor

Jun Yang started on 1 July 2023 as a (tenure-track) assistant professor in statistics at the Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

A medal for Thomas Mikosch

Professor Thomas Mikosch has been awarded the Willem van Zwet Medal for Special Service to the Bernoulli Society. The Bernoulli Society is the international organization for probability and mathematical statistics.

Frederik Hindborg Jensen, PhD student

On 1 June 2023, Frederik Hindborg Jensen started as a PhD student in the section for Statistics and Probability Theory. He will continue his research on narwhals.

Cecilie Olesen Recke, PhD student

Cecilie is employed as a PhD fellow from 1 April 2023 in the section for Statistics and Probability Theory and her supervisor will be Niels Richard Hansen.

Sebastian Weichwald appointed co-lead at AI centre

Assistant Professor Sebastian Weichwald from the Department of Mathematical Sciences has been appointed co-lead in the Pioneer Centre for Artificial Intelligence. As co-lead, he will help set the tone for the next ground-breaking research to be conducted within the centre.

Nidhi Kaihnsa, postdoc

Nidhi Kaihnsa was employed as a postdoc on 15 February 2023 associated with the Section for Statistics and Probability Theory. She will be working with the research group Mathematics of reaction networks (MBIO).

Lars Reiter Nielsen, PhD student

Lars Reiter Nielsen is from 1 November 2022 employed as a PhD student at the Department of Mathematical Sciences, working with the section for Statistics and Probability Theory.

Nicola Gnecco, postdoc

Nicola Gnecco started on 1 October 2022 as a postdoc in the Statistics & Probability Theory Section and the Copenhagen Causality Lab.

Margherita Lazzaretto, PhD student

Margherita Lazzaretto is employed as a PhD student from 1 October 2022 in the department’s section for Statistics and Probability Theory.

Frederik Hytting Jørgensen, research assistant

Frederik Hytting Jørgensen was employed at the department on 1 September 2022; the first two months as a research assistant, from November 2022 as a PhD student.

Qingchuan Sun, PhD student

Qingchuan Sun will be working as a PhD student from 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2023, affiliated with the Statistics and Probability Theory section.

Debbie Kusch Falden, postdoc

Debbie Kusch Falden was employed as a postdoc at the Department of Mathematical Sciences 1 August 2022.

Timo Adam, postdoc

Timo Adam started on 1 September 2022 as a postdoc associated with the Statistics and Probability Theory section. He will be working with Susanne Ditlevsen.

Ulises Bercovich, PhD student

Ulises Bercovich is employed as a PhD student in the section for Statistics and Probability Theory, where he will be associated with the research group Mathematical Biology.

Myrto Limnios, postdoc

Myrto Limnios is employed as a postdoc in the section Statistics and Probability Theory from 1 May 2022. She works with Niels Richard Hansen in the Copenhagen Causality Lab.

Ella Jacobsen, PhD student

On 1 April 2022, Ella Jacobsen was employed as a PhD student in the department's section for Statistics and Probability Theory.

Frederik Hindborg Jensen, research assistant

Frederik Hindborg Jensen started on 1 March 2022 as a research assistant in the section for Statistics and Probability Theory under Susanne Ditlevsen.

Jonas Gyde Hermansen, PhD student

Jonas Gyde Hermansen started 1 January 2022 as a PhD student at the department’s section for Statistics and Probability Theory under the supervision of Professor Susanne Ditlevsen and Professor Helle Sørensen.

Christian Holberg, PhD student

Christian Holberg is employed as a PhD student in the section for Statistics and Probability Theory from 1 January 2022.

Oskar Henriksson, PhD student

Oskar Henriksson is employed as a PhD student at the department from 1 January 2022. He will be working with two of the department’s sections, both Algebra & Geometry and the section for Statistics and Probability Theory.

After thousands of years, an iconic whale confronts a new enemy

The iconic tusked whale of the Arctic has a new enemy – noise. A unique study from the University of Copenhagen and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources shows that narwhals are highly affected by noise from ships and seismic airgun pulses – even at 20-30 kilometers away. As ice melts, noise levels in the Arctic are rising, worrying scientists about the future of narwhals.

Royal Aacdemy's silver medal to Jonas Peters

The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters awards its silver medal to Professor Jonas Peters, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, for his research in causality.

Susanne Ditlevsen Vice President of the Royal Academy

Susanne Ditlevsen has been elected vice president of The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters and class chair of the natural sciences class.

Developing a unified statistical framework for analyzing microbiome data

Assistant professor Niklas Pfister has received a 9.8 million DKK Data Science Emerging Investigator grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation for his research project CausalBiome.

Leonard Henckel, postdoc

Leonard Henckel is employed as a postdoc in the section Statistics and Probability Theory from 1 October 2021. He works with Jonas Peters in the Copenhagen Causality Lab.

Sebastian Weichwald, assistant professor

Sebastian Weichwald was 1 September 2021 employed as an assistant professor in the section for Statistics and Probability Theory, working in the Copenhagen Causality Lab (CoCaLa).

Shimeng Huang, PhD student

Shimeng Huang was 1 September 2021 employed as a PhD student at the section for Statistics and Probability Theory, working with the research group Copenhagen Causality Lab.

Munir Hiabu, assistant professor

Munir Hiabu joined the department 1 September 2021 as tenure-track Assistant Professor in Data Science and Actuarial Mathematics, working in the Insurance and Economics section.

Floriane Cornué, Research Assistant

Floriane Cornué will be working as an intern for 3.5 months with Professor Susanne Ditlevsen and the Statistic and Probability section.

Alexander Mangulad Christgau, PhD student

Alexander is employed from 1 September 2021 as a PhD student at the section for Statistics and Probability, working with the Copenhagen Causality Lab with Niels Richard Hansen as supervisor.

Matthieu Bulté, PhD student

Matthieu Bulté is employed as a PhD student from September 1st 2021, affiliated with the Statistics and Probability section.

International Postdoctoral Grant to three young mathematicians

The Independent Research Fund Denmark makes it possible for three researchers, educated at the Department of Mathematical Sciences, to do research on arithmetic statistics in Paris, graphs and operator algebra in Glasgow, as well as control systems at a particle accelerator in Lund.

artificial intelligence

Algorithm reveals the mysterious foraging habits of narwhals

An algorithm can predict when narwhals hunt – a task once nearly impossible to gain insight into. Mathematicians and computer scientists at the University of Copenhagen, together with marine biologists in Greenland, have made progress in gathering knowledge about this enigmatic Arctic whale at a time when climate change is pressuring them.

New research project combines social and mathematical sciences

How do past life events affect the future life trajectory of Danish individuals? That is the theme for a cross-disciplinary project awarded a DATA+ grant from the University of Copenhagen.

Identification of relaxation oscillations - NNF grant to Elisenda Feliu

The Novo Nordisk Fonden supports Elisenda Feliu’s research in relaxation oscillations in biochemical reaction networks with DKK 1.3 million for the next two years.

Máté Telek, PhD student

Máté Telek is employed as a PhD student on 1 April 2021, working with the Algebra & Geometry Section and the Section for Statistics and Probability Theory.

Jonas Peters to receive new Leadership Award

The award has been created by COPSS, which is a committee of the presidents of the North American Statistical Societies, including the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics.

Magdalena Musat, professor of Mathematics

The Dean has appointed Magdalena Musat as Professor of Mathematics at the Department for Mathematical Sciences from 1 December 2020.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation supports data science at MATH

Professors Susanne Ditlevsen and Niels Richard Hansen from the Department of Mathematical Sciences have been granted a total of DKK 16.6 million to explore new methods for statistical inference and to identify causal relationships in large amounts of data from the biology and health areas.

Panqiu Xia, postdoc

Panqiu Xia started as a postdoc 1 October 2020 in the section for Statistics and Probability Theory. He will work with the research group Mathematical Biology.

Jeffrey Adams, PhD student

Jeffrey Adams joined the department as a PhD student on 1 September 2020 and is associated with the Copenhagen Causality Lab in the Section for Statistics and Probability Theory.

Rikke Søndergaard Nielsen, PhD student

Rikke is employed from 1 September 2020 as a PhD student at the section for Statistics and Probability, working with the Copenhagen Causality Lab with Jonas Martin Peters as supervisor.

Sorawit Saengkyongam, PhD student

Sorawit is employed as a research assistant until he can start as a PhD student in Copenhagen Causality Lab at the section for Statistics and Probability Theory. His PhD will be co-supervised by Jonas Peters and Niklas Pfister.

Malte Nielsen wins the 2019 Edlund-DMF Thesis Prize

A thesis on statistical problems in DNA identification has been assessed by the Danish Mathematical Society as the country's best thesis submitted in 2019. On 11 September [POSTPONED!], Malte Bødkergaard Nielsen will be presented with the Edlund-DMF Thesis Prize of DKK 15,000.

Jan van Waaij, postdoc

On 1 July 2020, Jan started in a position as a postdoc at the Department of Mathematical Sciences. He is a member of the section for Statistics and Probability Theory.

Rune Christiansen, postdoc

On July 1st 2020, Rune starts a position as postdoc in the section for Statistics and Probability Theory, associated with the research group Copenhagen Causality Lab.

Psychology & Statistics

How long can a monkey multitask?

Statistics and psychology researchers from the University of Copenhagen have worked with Oxford University researchers on a small study to see what happens to nerve cells in monkey brains when monkeys are presented with varying numbers of images at once. How long can monkeys multitask?

Three new mathematical research projects are launched with DFF support

The Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) supports this year three researchers from the Department of Mathematical Sciences with grants of between two and 2.9 million DKK.

MATH in the media

Susanne Ditlevsen in the media about corona statistics

On 14 April 2020, the newspaper website Berlingske.dk brought an interview with Susanne Ditlevsen, professor of statistics, in which she repeated her call to conduct randomized tests of a wide sample of the population. Otherwise, authorities will grope in blind if another wave of corona virus strikes later in the year, she believes.

New research project about statistical inference

The Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) supports the development of new robust statistical methods for analyzing large and complex volumes of data. Professor Susanne Ditlevsen is to lead the four-year research project.

Novo Nordisk supports research in mathematical biology

Mathematical tools and methods can lead to breakthroughs in medical research. That’s recognized in the Novo Nordisk Foundation, who is funding another research project at the Department of Mathematical Sciences.

Five new Marie Curie Fellows

The Department has been awarded five of the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships. Congratulations to the five postdoc fellows and their mentors.

Inaugural lectures by Jonas Peters and Karim Adiprasito

Jonas Peters, Professor of Statistics, and Karim Adiprasito, Professor of Mathematics, will give their inaugural lectures Friday 24 January 2020 at 13:30 followed by a reception.

Angélica Torres, postdoc

Angélica was employed as a postdoc researcher on the 1^st of December 2019 at the department’s research group Mathematics of reaction networks (MBIO).

Laura Brustenga i Moncusí, postdoc

Laura is employed at the department as a postdoc from January 1st 2020. She will be affiliated with the research group Mathematics of reaction networks (MBIO).

Niklas Pfister, assistant professor

Niklas has been employed as a tenure track assistant professor at the section for Statistics and Probability Theory in the Department of Mathematical Sciences.

MATH team clear winner of international data-climate competition

Team CoCaLa, four PhD students and two postdocs from the Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, won the international competition "Causality 4 Climate" by proposing models and solutions in 34 different categories in climate research.

Rune Christiansen wins award for the best student talk

At the conference of the International Biometric Society in Adelaide, Australia, Rune received the award of the best student talk for his presentation about causal inference on spatio-temporal data.

MATH and old bones

Mathematicians chart human prehistory

Mathematicians, statisticians and bioinformatics from the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus are developing tools to make DNA discoveries even more useful in mapping human prehistory. Professor Carsten Wiuf from the Department of Mathematical Sciences is leading the project.

MATH in the media

Statistics - the scalpel of science

Lone Frank's science magazine on Radio24syv, "24 Questions for the Professor", has been visited by Susanne Ditlevsen, professor of statistics from the Department of Mathematical Sciences.

Bronze Medal to Jonas Peters from the Royal Statistical Society

Jonas Peters has been awarded The Guy Medal in Bronze from the Royal Statistical Society. He will be presented with the award at a ceremony during RSS’s annual conference in Belfast in September.

Understanding Pseudomonas Aeruginosa

Elisenda Feliu, associate professor in mathematics, receives a 1.3 million DKK research grant for the project “Understanding bistability underlying acute and chronic infections in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa“.