Projects

From SFI

The mission of Statistics for Innovation, (sfi)², is to develop core statistical methodologies, strategically necessary to achieve innovation goals in four key sectors: petroleum, finance, marine and health.

How are the research projects at (sfi)²? The ideal project is satisfying four principles:

1. It has a clear and ambitious, very ambitious, innovation aim,
2. ... where we have an advantage with respect to competitors because of our partner’s top know-how, market position, unique data and ideas,
3. ... where we have a scientific competitive edge because of our unique competence in statistics,
4. ... where we put together an internationally leading interdisciplinary research team.

Projects which implement these conditions operate in specific niches, where we can be best and first. Several of our projects are of this type. After a complex and demanding starting phase, (sfi)² has important long-term projects, which will continue in the next years and deliver exciting results in terms of innovation and science. Some research projects have already reached operative innovation results, based on novel statistical methods. Validation of these results has started, often within the operation of our partners, on field work. The aim is to check, compare and optimise the innovation we produced. This will take some time, but will eventually show the actual value of our contribution in petroleum, marine, finance and insurance, health and biotechnology.

We still have some few smaller innovation projects. These are important themes for (sfi)² and especially for the involved partners. The results are strong in their specific context. With more funding, they could grow further too.

Statistical methodology is the basis of all research at (sfi)². We maintain a strong basis component in fundamental research, and target it clearly towards current and expected innovation aims. We see already how methods developed in one area are exported in new territories, often for the first time. The activities of (sfi)² might seem spread, but statistical methodology is the common thread and represents a compact core of (sfi)².

Ambitious projects imply the risk of not reaching fully their declared aims. We conclude some research activities with a report or a scientific paper, but without a major impact on innovation; and vice versa, some projects have a significant impact on innovation, are fully operational, but do not call for top novel science.

The research plan for 2009 is in fact looking ahead to 2010 too. We plan continuity and focus now on our most promising research. Of course we are always open to important strategic novelties, and in this respect we mention climate change, the threat of epidemics and the recent financial crisis, which might call for our attention.

(sfi)² is a unique construction in international statistics, and there are exciting years to come. We are delivering solid results, at the interface between innovation and science.

Here we present our projects:

• BioInfStat: Produce the first web based Statistical Genome Browser, the statistical methodology and software system, to become a major tool for discovery in medicine and biology. Develop the Make Coremine Medical into the Google of medical information, the search engine everybody turns to for reliable medical science. Incorporate ParAlign technology provided by Sencel as a source of information in the Coremine Medical engine, used to construct a sequence similarity-based network. Produce statistical methods to improve the analysis tools of the Biomolex microarray technology to allow for reliable multiple target comparison. Partners: Rikshospitalet HF, Biomolex and Pubgene. Contact Arnoldo Frigessi or Marit Holden for more information, and if you wish to join this project activity.

• ClimateInsure: Produce new statistical methods and instruments for the evaluation of climate change effects on risk management for the insurance industry. Develop new actuarial products, adapting to trends in weather events, for various insurance exposures. Identify new guidelines for risk management under climate change. Partners: Gjensidige, Llyod's and London School of Economics. Contact Arnoldo Frigessi for more information, and if you wish to join this project activity.

• CompareSeq: We plan to introduce other tools to aid in the analysis of genetic sequences. One aspect is the possibility to move between species and update a priori knowledge, for new searches. This project is with Sencel. Contact Marit Holden for more information, and if you wish to join this project activity.

• ComplexClin: Produce novel statistical tools for the analysis of clinical trials with complex design, combining several clinical studies. This project is with Smerud Medical Research. Contact Ingunn Fride Tvete for more information, and if you wish to join this project activity.

• ComplexDepend: Produce scientific results which underpin (sfi)²‘s innovation strategy by providing new statistical methods and computational tools to current and future innovation projects. Progress statistical science in general. Produce statistical instruments to control epidemics of infectious diseases in human and animal populations, with focus on sexually transmitted diseases in open risk groups, viral and bacterial infections in farmed fish, and antibiotics resistant bacteria in hospitals. This project is with all our partners. Contact Arnoldo Frigessi for more information, and if you wish to join this project activity.

• CustomerLife: Produce new statistical methods and instruments for an innovative understanding and prediction of customer behaviour for the insurance industry. Renew the perception of classical insurance products, as well as proposing new insurance products and pricing policies. Identify new guidelines for information- and data collection, to create useful risk management. The project is with Gjensidige. Contact Ingunn Fride Tvete for more information, and if you wish to join this project activity.

• Elprice: Produce new understanding of and new statistical methods for the electricity market. Develop the next generation tools for the management of electricity price risk and production planning. The project is with Norsk Hydro. Contact Anders Løland for more information, and if you wish to join this project activity.

• FindOil: Improve the prediction of lithology and fluid by better use and integration of data of different types, to improve exploration efficiency. Produce tools for the automatic updating of discovery probabilities given new well data, to optimize the exploration well drilling sequence. The project is with StatoilHydro. Contact Petter Abrahamsen for more information, and if you wish to join this project activity.

• Genestat: Produce statistical instruments to understand genetic and genomic mechanisms to combat cancer and other diseases. Partners: Rikshospitalet HF, Pubgene and Sencel. Contact Arnoldo Frigessi or Marit Holden for more information, and if you wish to join this project activity.

• MaleContracept: Spermatech develops new drugs used to manipulate sperm motility in order to develop non-hormonal male contraceptives. Spermatech’s technologies are based on the discovery of a protein that is crucial for sperm motility, because when CαS is ablated or non-functional, the sperm cell becomes non-motile. CαS is only found in mature sperm. Spermatech is in the process of developing drugs that can be used to target CαS with high specificity. Contact Marit Holden for more information, and if you wish to join this project activity.

• StatMarine: Produce novel statistical tools for stock assessment of fish at age and in space and time. The project is with The Institute of Marine Research. Contact Magne Aldrin for more information, and if you wish to join this project activity.

• SwingOptions: Produce new statistical methods to price extra flexibility, thus contributing to innovation in the large and valuable long term gas contracts. The project is with Norsk Hydro. Contact Anders Løland for more information, and if you wish to join this project activity.

• TotalRisk: Produce the statistical methods and instruments for the next generation of financial risk management. The project is with DnB NOR. Contact Kjersti Aas for more information, and if you wish to join this project activity.