Awarded by the Leverhulme Trust, the prizes recognise and celebrate the achievements of outstanding researchers whose work has already attracted international recognition and whose future careers are exceptionally promising.  

Professor Oates was recognised in the Mathematics and Statistics category, which is offered every three years, for his substantial and highly innovative contributions to Statistics, Applied Mathematics, and Numerical Computation.

Professor Oates is Chair in Statistics in Newcastle University’s School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics. He is Chair Elect of the Computation section of the International Society for Bayesian Analysis, and Vice Chair of the Computational Statistics and Machine Learning section of the Royal Statistical Society.

He said: “I'm delighted and excited to be awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize for Mathematics and Statistics, but most of all I am grateful to my colleagues and collaborators for their energy, enthusiasm, and support in driving our research forward.

“This wonderful prize will support me and my team to develop statistical foundations for multi-fidelity modelling, with the aim of massively accelerating simulations from ultra-realistic computational models of the real world.”

Chosen from over 400 nominations, the Trust offered five prizes in each of the following subject areas: Biological Sciences, History, Law, Mathematics and Statistics, Philosophy and Theology, and Sociology and Social Policy. Now in its twenty-second year, this scheme commemorates the contribution to the work of the Trust made by Philip, Third Viscount Leverhulme and grandson of William Lever, the founder of the Trust.

Professor Anna Vignoles, Director of the Leverhulme Trust, said: “In its twenty-second year, this scheme continues to attract applications from exceptionally high calibre researchers. The Leverhulme Trust is thrilled to award prizes to academics undertaking work on an impressive range of topics, from plant evolution to the history of capitalism, family law to theoretical statistics, and the philosophy of science to human trafficking. We are very proud to support these researchers through the next stage of their careers. Selecting the winners gets tougher each year, and we are incredibly grateful to the reviewers and panel members who help us in our decision-making.”

Each prize is worth £100,000 and may be used for any purpose that advances the prize winner’s research.

Adapted with thanks from the Leverhulme Trust