The Department of Statistics offers programs leading to the following postgraduate research degrees:

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Master of Philosophy

Programs may be taken either by full-time or by part-time study and arrangements may be made under certain conditions for supervision of research to be conducted externally.

For all research degrees, supervision must be available and candidates can be accepted only where suitable specialised supervision is available. Candidates should check the present research interests of members of the department and approach potential supervisors prior to making application to the university.

Research degrees train students in research methodology and techniques, and in their critical evaluation and application. Candidates in some disciplines may be required to undertake specific course work or training units to supplement their research work. Applicants for enrolment for higher degrees by research may be required to complete a preliminary program of research training or preparation prior to enrolment in their higher degree research program in some circumstances.

Examination is by thesis for research degrees. Thesis lengths vary though it is expected that a Masters thesis is shorter than Doctoral thesis. Generally a Masters thesis has a maximum of 50000 words and a Doctoral thesis a maximum of 80000 words. Non-traditional thesis as well as traditional dissertations may be presented in accordance with approved university guidelines.

Areas of Research Interest

Applied research interests of the statisticians at Macquarie are mainly concerned with the applications of statistical methods in medicine, bioinformatics and stochastic finance. Other applied areas of interest include statistical education and computer simulation as applied to the analysis of communication networks. 

Research activity is organised chiefly around theoretical and computational statistics and is carried on by members of the Computational Statistics Research Group (CSRG). The work is mostly concerned with theoretical and algorithmic aspects of statistical image processing, signal processing, function estimation and statistical inverse problems. Other basic research interests include time series, econometrics, goodness-of-fit procedures, discrete multivariate distributions, statistical decision theory, nonparametric regression methods, minimal distance methods, regression smoothing methods and nonparametric procedures. Prospective students should ensure that their interests align with the department Staff Research Areas prior to applying for admission. Contact the Department of Statistics Research Degree Co-ordinator, Dr Andrzej Kozek if you require further information.

Entry Requirements

Qualifications required for enrolment in a PhD will usually be a first class Honours (or in special cases, an upper second class Honours) Bachelor degree majoring in statistics.

The following five entry points to the MPhil have been approved and are based on equivalence with a minimum Honours Class 2.

1. Bachelor's degree with demonstrated research experience (co-authorship on a paper or other quantifiable experience able to be assessed by the Committee).
2. Bachelor’s degree with a satisfactorily completed Macquarie University postgraduate certificate in research preparation.
3. Bachelor’s degree with a satisfactorily completed Honours degree which includes a research project normally worth at least 25% of the Honours program load.
4. Bachelor’s degree with a satisfactorily completed coursework Masters including a research project normally worth at least 25% of the Masters program load.
5. Bachelor’s degree with a satisfactorily completed postgraduate diploma including a research component worth 25% of the program load and directly related to the acquisition of research skills.

To apply, or for more information, you can visit the Division of Economic and Financial Studies Research Students website or go to the Macquarie University  Research Office website.