Additional Research Projects
Epidemic Modelling: An analysis of the 1861 Hagelloch measles outbreak
Dominic Broadbent, Phillip O’Neill, 2021
Under the supervision of Professor Phillip O’Neill, during my fourth year of the Mathematics with Statistics MMath at the University of Nottingham, I analysed a measles epidemic for my dissertation. I wanted to undertake a project that was both statistically rigorous and directly relevant to real-world problems. The work involved developing and implementing an epidemic model to identify transmission pathways of measles within and between sub-populations in a community. Inference was performed using both Frequentist and Bayesian approaches, and the resulting estimates were compared to assess their consistency and interpretability. I was later offered a PhD position in epidemiology with Professor O’Neill and Professor Kypraios, but after living through the height of COVID while modelling epidemics, I decided one pandemic was enough for me.
Developing a Computer Algebra System
Dominic Broadbent, Edward Hall, 2020
Under the supervision of Dr Edward Hall, during my third year of the Mathematics with Statistics MMath at the University of Nottingham, I developed a computer algebra system (CAS) in Python. A CAS is designed to manipulate and solve equations symbolically rather than numerically, similar to WolframAlpha. Building the system from the ground up deepened my interest in programming and strengthened my ability to teach myself complex concepts independently. I learned Python entirely from scratch and produced a fully functional executable with practical real-world applications. The accompanying poster won the 2020 Nottingham School of Mathematics Poster Prize.