computational statistics

Professor Ying Sun elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association

3 min read ·
Ying Sun joins the elite ranks of ASA Fellows in 2025 for her contributions to spatial statistics, mentoring and global outreach.

Computational Methods for Large Spatio-temporal Datasets and Functional Data Ranking

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B1 L4 R4102

In this thesis defense, I will talk about two topics—computational methods for large spatial datasets and functional data ranking. Both are tackling the challenges of big and high-dimensional data.

Coupled Sampling Methods for Filtering

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KAUST

This thesis focuses on the use of multilevel Monte Carlo methods to achieve optimal error versus cost performance for statistical computations in hidden Markov models as well as for unbiased estimation under four cases: nonlinear filtering, unbiased filtering, unbiased estimation of hessian, continuous linear Gaussian filtering.

Ángel López Oriona

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Statistics
Dr. López Oriona received his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and his master’s degree in Statistics both from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), his master’s degree in Big Data Analytics from the European University of Madrid (Spain), and his PhD in Statistics from the University of A Coruña (Spain). He was a Visiting Researcher at the Sapienza University of Rome (Italy), the University of Sydney (Australia), the Helmut Schmidt University of Hamburg (Germany), and Lancaster University (United Kingdom). Since September 2023, he is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Environmental

Ying Sun

Associate Professor, Statistics
KAUST Professor Ying Sun leads a research group focusing on environmental statistics. She is at the forefront of developing advanced models and methodologies in the fields of spatio-temporal statistics, functional data analysis and process monitoring.

Raul Tempone

Professor Raul Tempone is an worlwide recognized researcher in numerical analysis and uncertainty quantification. Professor Raul Tempone at KAUST leads the stochastic numerics research group, significantly contributing to Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals through advancements in computational science. His work in adaptive algorithms, Bayesian inverse problems, and scientific machine learning drives forward critical applications in technology and sustainability, embodying KAUST's commitment to global scientific leadership and economic diversification.

Pratik Nag

Ph.D. Student, Statistics
Pratik Nag is a Ph.D. candidate at the KAUST Environmental Statistics research group under the supervision of Professor Ying Sun. Before joining KAUST, Pratik obtained a master's degree in statistical quality control and operation research from the Indian Statistical Institute, India. Research Interests Pratik's research interests focus on machine learning, artificial intelligence and statistical techniques to solve problems related to spatio-temporal processes. Education Profile Master's degree in Statistical Quality Control and operation research, Indian Statistical Institute, India

Peng Zhong

Ph.D. Student, Statistics
Peng Zhong was a Ph.D. student in Statistics at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), under the supervision of Prof. Raphaël Huser. Peng successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled " Modeling and Simulation of Spatial Extremes Based on Max-Infinitely Divisible and Related Processes" on April 4th, 2022; see his PhD thesis here. His PhD committee was composed of Professors Raphaël Huser (chair), Daniel Cooley (external examiner from Colorado State University, US), Marc Genton, and Ajay Jasra. For his next career steps, Peng has accepted a postdoctoral fellowship

Jose Hermenegildo Ramirez Gonzalez

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Statistics

Jordan Richards

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Statistics
Dr. Jordan Richards was a postdoctoral fellow in the Extreme Statistics Research Group of Prof. Raphaël Huser from October 2021 to January 2024, developing machine learning approaches for spatial extremes with environmental applications. After his postdoc at KAUST, Jordan moved to the University of Edinburgh, UK, where he embraced an academic career by becoming a Lecturer (equivalent to Assistant Professor) in Statistics. See his personal website here. Education and early career Jordan Richards received his Ph.D. from Lancaster University under the supervision of Jonathan A. Tawn, Jennifer L

David Bolin

Associate Professor, Statistics
David Bolin is an expert on stochastic processes, random fields and spatial statistics. His main research focus is on stochastic partial differential equations and their applications in statistics.

Daniela Castro-Camilo

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Statistics
Dr. Daniela Castro-Camilo was a postdoctoral fellow in the Extreme Statistics Research Group of Prof. Raphaël Huser from November, 2015, to May, 2019, doing research on the theory and applications of multivariate and spatial extremes. After her postdoc at KAUST, Daniela moved to the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom, where she embraced an academic career by becoming a Lecturer (equivalent to Assistant Professor in the UK) of Statistics. See her personal webpage. Education and early career Daniela Castro-Camilo received her Ph.D. from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in August 2015

Carolina D. Euan Campos

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Statistics
Dr. Carolina Euan is a postdoctoral fellow at the Environmental Statistics Research Group at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Education and Early Career Carolina Euan received her Ph.D. degree in Probability and Statistics from the Center for Research in Mathematics (CIMAT), Mexico, in 2016. She joined KAUST as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in October 2016. Research Interest High dimensional Time Series, Spatio-Temporal Models, Non-Stationary Processes, Complex Data Visualization, Computational Statistics. Awards and Distinctions Sylvia Esterby Presentation Award

Arnab Hazra

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Statistics
Dr. Arnab Hazra was a postdoctoral fellow in the Extreme Statistics Research Group of Prof. Raphaël Huser from February 2019 until December 2021, doing research on spatial extremes with environmental applications and bayesian statistics. After his postdoc at KAUST, Arnab moved to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, India, where he embraced an academic career by becoming an Assistant Professor of Statistics. See his personal website here. Education and early career Arnab Hazra received his Ph.D. in Statistics from North Carolina State University, United States. His Ph.D. advisors