Information for Students

Research group

Current members

  • Jiaping Liu, PhD in Statistics
  • Rachel Lobay, PhD in Statistics
  • Sarah Masri, MSc in Statistics
  • Tom Tang, MSc in Statistics (co-supervised with Jiahua Chen)
  • Christine Chuong, MSc in Statistics
  • Wakeel Adekunle Kasali, MSc in Statistics (co-supervised with Nancy Heckman)

Alumni

  • Tigana Runte, MSc in Statistics (UBC 2023); Statistician at Cardiovascular Network of Canada
  • Elvis Cai, MSc in Statistics (co-supervised with Paul Gustafson, UBC 2023); Statistician at Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences
  • William Laplante, MSc in Statistics (co-supervised with Ben Bloem-Reddy, UBC 2023);
  • Ken Mawer, NSERC USRA (UBC 2022); MSc student in Statistics at UWaterloo
  • Shuyi Tan, MSc in Statistics (UBC 2022); Data Analyst at VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation
  • Xiaoxuan Liang, MSc in Statistics (UBC 2022); PhD student in Computer Science at UBC
  • Wei Tang, MSc in Statistics (UBC 2022); Data Scientist at Amazon
  • Aaron Cohen, PhD Qualifier (IUB 2021); PhD student in Statistics at IUB
  • Lei Ding, PhD in Statistics (IUB 2020); Data Scientist at Amazon
  • Robert Granger, PhD Qualifier (IUB 2020); PhD student in Statistics at IUB
  • Haoran Liu, MSc in Statistics (IUB 2020); PhD student in Statistics at IUB
  • Mackenzie Turner, CEW&T Emerging Scholars REU (IUB 2020); BA student in SPEA at IUB
  • Arash Khodadadi, MSc in Statistics (IUB 2018); Data Scientist at Advanced Microgrid Solutions
  • Michael McBride, BSc in Statistics (IUB 2018); Software Developer at Epic
  • Jia Wang, MSc in Statistics (IUB 2017); PhD student in Biostatistics at SUNY Buffalo
  • Lijiang Guo, PhD Qualifier (IUB 2014); PhD student in ISE at IUB

Applying to UBC Statistics or MDS Programs

I generally have no special powers when it comes to being admitted to MSc/PhD or MDS programs. At UBC, students are admitted to the department before choosing an advisor later in their program. If you are interested, I encourage you to consult the department website.

If you want to learn more, your best bet is to email the Graduate Admissions Officer.

Requesting letters of recommendation

I frequently get requests for letters of recommendation, and I’m generally happy to comply. However, unless we regularly interacted, it is unlikely that I can provide useful information to a recruiter or admissions committee member. In these cases, I highly recommend asking someone else who can provide more detailed descriptions of your unique strengths.

If you are currently enrolled in class with me, and you would like a letter, I will ask that you attend office hours, ask questions, of in another way give me some information about yourself. Without such interaction, I will likely write a generic “this student took a class with me” letter, but experience suggests that this type of letter is not likely to help you to be admitted to graduate school.

In order for me to write, I will need at least two weeks notice before the first deadline.

  • A list of all positions to which you are applying along with deadlines for each.
  • A recent CV or resume that includes a list of courses taken in your major and an unofficial transcript.
  • A personal statement (likely the one you’re sending in one of the applications).
  • A description of any notable interactions we’ve had that I should highlight. This means personal interactions, not a description of the material you liked in my course.
  • If you have a preferred name as well as a given name, please list both. I I need to be able to connect your email to your application and potentially to your Canvas profile.

Public calendar