Mahdi Nouraie
Macquarie University
Mahdi Nouraie holds a bachelor’s degree in Statistics and a master’s degree in data science. During his Master of Research program, he focused on the applications of data science in football tactical analysis. In 2024, he commenced his PhD program in Computational Statistics at Macquarie University with a focus on stable variable selection in regression models.
1. Give me a quick overview of the type of mathematics you are studying, and/or the aims of your research and its potential applications/outcomes (how you would explain your work and studies to friends who don’t study maths?)
My research involves selecting the most important variables for considering as inputs for predictive models. Not all the variables that are included in the dataset are important and incorporating all of them to the modelling would raise lots of issues. In this regard, we use statistical methods and regularisation and penalisation methods to establish an innovative, novel and efficient method. The applications of such variable selection method would be numerous. From finance and sports to agriculture and environment research. Whenever you want to predict some value, you need a proper selection method that would be applied on the potential useful variables.
2. How did you get into the mathematical sciences? Was there someone or something that inspired you to this field?
Mathematics was my most beloved course since my childhood. I see the mathematics as the foundation of science so, both practical and pure maths are quite interesting to me. I chose statistics as my research field because it is both practical and pure in its nature. My most inspiring mathematicians are Kurt Gödel and Bertrand Russell. Logic and set theory are some of my other math tastes as well.
3. Winter School is designed to give students a deeper understanding of their area of research and expose them to others working in different fields/industries. Tell me about your Winter School experience. What was the most valuable part of the program for you?
In the Winter School I learnt so many interesting terms and concepts through the lectures and courses. Specially, the reinforcement learning course was the best one to me since, I like this area and have done some projects on this field before. The most valuable part of program to me was making new connections and friends. I visited some bright and mathematical minds who are passionate about what they are doing and some of them are now my friends. I hope we can contribute in some projects in future. The career session was also very beneficial to introduce some industrial related positions to us.
4. What was your main take away/s from AMSI Winter School? Something you learnt? A connection you made? Do you have new ideas for your work/research or see it in a new light?
My main take away is the connections that I made there from different top universities across Australia. Also, the concepts that I learnt about financial analysis are very important and there is a good chance that I employ them later. The reinforcement learning course gave me some new ideas as well.
5. You received a grant to attend AMSI Winter School. How important was this in terms of your ability to attend, fully participate in the program and meet others studying in similar fields?
It was quite crucial and important. Without this grant, I would have some troubles with the expenses of the traveling.
6. What advice would you give to someone who is considering applying for Winter School? How would you describe the conference to them?
Don’t hesitate! Just fill out the application! If you love mathematics and like to make some valuable connections, this is one of the best places.
7. Where do you want the mathematical sciences to take you? Where do you see yourself in five, ten years time?
First, I like to finish my PhD project with impressive results. After that, I like both academia and industry. Doesn’t matter a postdoc or industrial position. I like to apply my broad skills to analyse data and extract insights to solve some real problems.
8. Any other feedback/comments you would like to provide on the travel grant or AMSI Winter School?
All good. Thank you very much for organising this incredible event. There is a good chance that I attend the AMSI Summer School as well!