UNSW Mathematics and Statistics

Professor David Warton, who co-authored this study, said "A fun thing about being a statistician is that you can be involved in all sorts of interesting projects, and this was certainly one of them.
"It was fascinating to explore how the jackal is spreading around Europe and to find evidence that this is partly facilitated by humans.”

▶️ Read the journal article at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-026-03060-y

Humans may be unintentionally reshaping predator dynamics across Europe.

New research published in Nature Ecology & Evolution suggests golden jackals are using human settlements as a “shield” from wolves, allowing them to expand into new regions across the continent.

The study, including research by UNSW researcher David Warton, found that while wolves remain the strongest constraint on jackal populations, proximity to humans appears to reduce this suppressive effect.

The researchers suggest that alongside climate change and land-use change, this “human shield” effect could allow jackals to occupy up to 75% of Europe.

Read more: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-026-03060-y

Parabola Volume 62 Issue 1 is now out! :D It features a fresh batch of excellent problems by David Angell, Misha Isaev and Sin Keong Tong, as well as fourteen fascinating articles. Enjoy! :)
https://www.parabola.unsw.edu.au/issues/2020-present/year-2026-volume-62

Happy 10 years to Stats Central 🎊 To celebrate, join us for StatFest!

Founded in 2016 by our Statistician, Professor David Warton, and Andrew Hayen (now of UTS), Stats Central provides statistical support to UNSW researchers through consultations, short courses, and collaborative projects.

What started as a small group of four consultants and academic support staff has grown into a skilled team of 12, which includes four former PhD students of our School: Ben Maslen, Maeve McGillycuddy, Gordana Popovic, and Eve Slavich 😊

Join us for “StatFest: Stats Central making sense of noise since 2016” at UNSW on Friday 22 May. ✅ Register now: https://events.humanitix.com/statfest

The free event includes workshops, seminars, and a public lecture by DVC Academic Quality Professor Merlin Crossley. School members Lachlan Astfalck, Kristen Hunter, and Sarat Moka will also present seminars on spatial statistics, causal modelling, and model selection.

“I'm looking forward to StatFest; I’m particularly excited about the public lecture by Professor Merlin Crossley on bioinformatics - an area Stats Central now offers assistance in”, said Professor Warton. “Did you know someone named a squid after Merlin?”

▶️ More about Stats Central: https://bit.ly/48XrcsB

Happy International Women in Mathematics Day! 🎉✨

Celebrated each year on the birthday of Maryam Mirzakhani - the first woman to receive the Fields Medal - this day recognises the extraordinary contributions of women in mathematics and the importance of fostering an inclusive and supportive mathematical community.

Today, we celebrate the incredible women in our School - our academic staff, researchers, HDR candidates, and students - whose dedication, leadership, and achievements continue to shape the future of mathematics and inspire us every day.

Thank you for the impact you make through your teaching, research, mentoring, and learning. We’re proud to celebrate you today and every day!

📸: Click on each image to learn about just some of the recent achievements and notable activities by women in the School!

Learn more about International Women in Mathematics Day:
https://may12.womeninmaths.org/

UNSW Science

UNSW Mathematics and Statistics has again been recognised in the top 50 in the world, moving up from 48 last year to 42 this year in Mathematics (2026 QS World University Rankings by Subject). 🎊

Via our Head of School, Professor Andrew Francis:
"A stellar outcome, and an acknowledgment of the excellence in the School as well as the breadth of expertise across so many areas of Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics.

"We don't pursue our research for rankings, and we don't teach our amazing students for rankings, but it is gratifying to have this recognition from our peers. Well done to all who work in the School for your dedication, creativity, and all-round excellence! And of course, for your sheer niceness and community. It's a great School to be a part of."

UNSW Science continues to climb the global rankings, with key disciplines Environmental Sciences, Psychology, Materials Science, Geophysics, Geology, Earth & Marine Sciences, Chemistry, and Mathematics now firmly in the world’s top 50.

It’s a reflection of the breadth and depth of research happening across the faculty and the quality of the teaching.

UNSW performed well overall, with 39 subjects from around the university featuring in the top 100.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4selTfj

Calling all undergraduate UNSW Mathematics and Statistics Students!

Citadel and Correlation One are inviting students to compete in this season’s APAC Terminal, where participants will virtually compete for $15,000 USD in a competition for students across the Asia Pacific.

Terminal is an online game where software engineers and computer scientists (or anyone else interested in coding!) build an algorithm to play a tower defense game in a team-based setting.

When: 13-20 April 2026
Where: Virtual
Who: Undergraduate students
Prizes: $15,000 USD + Exclusive recruiting opportunities with Citadel and Citadel Securities

✅APPLY FOR APAC TERMINAL

The application deadline is quickly approaching (29 March), so we encourage you to apply! https://www.citadel.com/careers/programs-and-events/terminal/apply-for-the-apac-terminal/

Questions? Reach out to: [email protected]

🎥Watch this video to see Terminal in action!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4IvvWmrPX8

Our School has a brand new LinkedIn page! Follow along for the latest news and job opportunities in the School.
Join our community and stay connected with everything happening in Maths and Stats! 🙂

▶️ https://www.linkedin.com/company/school-of-mathematics-and-statistics-unsw-australia/

📌 Position available: PhD with paid Research Assistantship in Mathematics and Statistics with application to Social Network Analysis for Disaster Preparedness.

📅 Start date: between September 2026 and February 2027, depending on candidate availability
📄 Position details and application instructions: https://krivitsky.net/blog/job/disasterprep/
⏰ Application deadline: UNSW's PhD scholarship applications close 17 April 2026, so to be considered for the RA position, please get in touch with the contact listed no later than 27 March.

Yesterday we proudly hosted our annual Prize-Giving Ceremony, honouring an outstanding group of undergraduate and honours students from the 2025 awards round 🏅

The awards recognised standout achievements across different stages of Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics and Statistics, and included awards for the top performers of the 2025 Simon Marais Maths Competition.

A huge congratulations to all of our prize winners – we are exceptionally proud of your hard work and dedication! 😊

See the full list of recipients in the news article.

Top Maths & Stats Students Awarded for Excellence Top Mathematics and Statistics undergraduate and honours students awarded for outstanding achievement in 2025.

Join us at UNSW on Thu 19 March for a special Nexus Lecture:

“Mathematical Models for Epidemic Outbreaks” with Professor Tom Britton (Stockholm University).

A leading expert in infectious disease modelling, Prof Britton will explore how epidemic models work - and tackle big Covid-19 questions like lockdown strategy and vaccine impact.

🍡 Reception to follow
✅ Register now - spaces are filling up fast!

Mathematical models for epidemic outbreaks In the talk I will first describe the basics of mathematical epidemic models, and indicate the many extensions that exist. Then I will briefly describe two problems I have worked on recently, inspired by Covid-19: How should a lockdown be optimized in time and magnitude? And how many lives were save...