This January saw the return of the STOR-i Annual Conference to an in-person event for the first time since the pandemic.

STOR-i were delighted to host their Annual Conference on Thursday 11^th and Friday 12^th January. With a vibrant programme of speakers from Statistics and Operational Research as well as STOR-i Alumni, this was a wonderful event for all that attended.

This was held in the Management School Lecture Theatre 3 which was a lovely space to promote conversation. The programme featured a wide range of talks and with over 100 attendees, there were plenty of questions and discussions.

External speakers were: Niall Adams, Imperial College London; Rhian Davies, Jumping Rivers; Chris Dent, University of Edinburgh; Paul Harper, University of Cardiff; Roland Langrock, Universität Bielefeld; Ruth Misener, Imperial College London; Christina Pagel, University College London; Roberto Rossi, University of Edinburgh; and Hugo Winter, Moody’s RMS.

With the following STOR-i students also giving talks: Matthew Davison, Katie Howgate, Ben Lowery, Thomas Newman, Carla Pinkney, and Maddie Smith.

Thursday evening saw all of the STOR-i PhD students display a poster they had created, and this was given a competitive element for first and second prize. The winner was Kes Ward, with second place going to Eleanor D’Arcy. The judges, Paul Harper from University of Cardiff and Ruth Misener from Imperial College London, had found choosing just two challenging, as they said that all of the posters were of high quality and the students did really well presenting their work when put on the spot for a two-minute summary.

The conference ended on Friday lunchtime giving attendees a final chance to network. One participant, Phil Jonathan from Shell, said: “It is wonderful to see the conference reinstated and meet everyone in person again, it has been great.”

The STOR-i team are delighted to see the conference back and bigger than ever. We look forward to continuing with this in 2025. Keep an eye on our website for the details of the next one.