Four Million Euros for New Research Training Group at Heidelberg and Mannheim Universities
4 May 2013
German Research Foundation approves funding for doctoral training in statistics
The newly established Research Training Group (RTG), “Statistical Modelling of Complex Systems and Processes – Advanced Nonparametric Approaches,” will take up its work at Heidelberg and Mannheim Universities. The German Research Foundation has approved five years of funding totalling four million euros. The RTG will focus on mathematics and statistics. The funding period is due to start on 1 October 2013.
“The training of highly qualified junior researchers in statistics is meaningful for a number of research areas at our university, like scientific computing, image processing, biometry and econometrics, all of which rely heavily on statistical methods,” explains Prof. Dr. Bernhard Eitel, Rector of Heidelberg University. He emphasised that the approval of the joint Research Training Group further strengthens the collaboration of the two universities.
The goal of the new RTG is to advance basic research in the statistical modelling of complex systems and processes. The doctoral students will be immersed in the state-of-the-art mathematics that in turn forms the foundation for a number of application scenarios, such as meteorology and climate research or the collection of economic data. Prof. Dr. Rainer Dahlhaus, Prof. Dr. Tilmann Gneiting, Prof. Dr. Mark Podolskij and Dr. Cornelia Wichelhaus of Heidelberg's Institute of Applied Mathematics will participate, joined by four professors from Mannheim from the fields of economics and mathematics. Mannheim statistician Prof. Dr. Enno Mammen will serve as the group’s spokesperson.
