One of the largest grants ever awarded to a Mathematics Department in the UK has just been announced.

£3.5 million has been awarded to the Statistics Group in the Mathematics Department at the University of Bristol to develop ‘SuSTaIn’ – Statistics underpinning Science, Technology and Industry.

The programme will be led by Professor Peter Green FRS, Professor Guy Nason and Dr Christophe Andrieu.

Professor Peter Green said on hearing of the award: “This is a tremendously exciting opportunity. The funding enables us to develop statistical tools that will help us to solve problems in science, technology, medicine, and society itself.”

The Science and Innovation Award, granted by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC),will support an ambitious programme to conduct and disseminate internationally-leading research in mathematical statistics, equipping the discipline to face the challenges of future applications.

Professor John O’Reilly, Chief Executive of EPSRC, said: "A strong research base in engineering and the physical sciences is vital to the UK's success as a knowledge economy. These latest awards underscore EPSRC's commitment, working in partnership with the Funding Councils and the Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland, to address shortages of academics to lead research teams in some crucially important areas."

The award will enable the recruitment of a strong, dynamic team consisting of a new Professor of Statistics and four early- to mid-career researchers as lecturers, as well as attracting a number of postdoctoral fellows of outstanding potential into a rolling programme where they are free to develop the latest ideas in mathematical statistics.

Activities to be funded include workshops and research kitchens, visitor support, an international conference and a comprehensive programme of research training for graduate students.