Poisson-Belgium 0-0

“Statistical match predictions are more accurate than many people realize (…) For the upcoming Qatar World Cup, Penn’s model suggests that Belgium (…) has the highest chances of raising the famous trophy, followed by Brazil”

Even Nature had to get entries on the current football World cup, with a paper on data-analytics reaching football coaches and teams. This is not exactly prime news, as I remember visiting the Department of Statistics of the University of Glasgow in the mid 1990’s and chatting with a very friendly doctoral student who was consulting for the Glasgow Rangers (or Celtics?!) on the side at the time. And went back to Ireland to continue with a local team (Galway?!).

The paper reports on different modellings, including one double-Poisson model by (PhD) Matthew Penn from Oxford and (maths undergraduate) Joanna Marks from Warwick, which presumably resemble the double-Poisson version set by Leonardo Egidi et al. and posted on Andrews’ blog a few days ago. Following an earlier model by my friends Karlis & Ntzoufras in 2003. While predictive models can obviously fail, this attempt is missing Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Uruguay, and Denmark early elimination from the cup. One possible reason imho is that national teams do not play that often when players are employed by different clubs in many counties, hence are hard to assess, but I cannot claim any expertise or interest in the game.

Stick to Science [week of action]

Stick to Science initiative [petition

The Stick to Science initiative has been set up by the European research community calling for open and barrier-free collaboration among Europe’s research and innovation (R&I) actors, who all share the same values. The initiative is an active response to the delayed  progression of association agreements with Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK), which are being held up by political barriers that have nothing to do with science.

The signatories request that the European Council, Parliament, Commission, as well as European Union (EU) Member States, and the governments of the UK and Switzerland, recognise that advancement in R&I is best achieved when all actors in science and innovation work together across geographic boundaries. This has never been more important than now, as the world faces serious global challenges (e.g., mitigating pandemics, climate change, and addressing food security). Allowing political differences to prevent scientific collaboration is contrary to the interests of society at large.

The signatories urge the EU, the UK and Switzerland to rapidly reach association agreements so that the two countries can contribute scientifically and financially to the strength of Horizon Europe and to a truly open, inclusive and excellence-driven European Research Area.

 

postdoc on COVID-19 modelling in Lugano

A new call for postdoctoral applications from my friend Anto: a postdoctoral position is opening this Fall at the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) in Lugano, Switzerland, under her direction, for conducting interdisciplinary approach to modelling the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and responses to it on other outcomes, such as mortality.

PRIMA grants in Lugano

Forwarding a call from my friend Antonietta Mira for young female scientists to join her at USI, Lugano, Svizzera, for projects in Data Science, funded by a PRIMA PhD grant. Deadline is 1 September 2021.

Prima grants are aimed at young female researchers who wish to conduct, manage and lead an independent project at a Swiss higher education institution. It awards five-years grants to female researchers who fulfill the following criteria:

• They match the SNSF requirements for Prima concerning academic age (mobility is not needed):  At least 2 years of research experience after the doctorate; Maximum 10 years from the doctorate.

• They have an excellent academic track record, especially in terms of publications, and firm ambitions to pursue an academic career.

• They demonstrate interest in scientific domains represented at USI.