Graduate Student Highlights
Parag Dharbhamulla
M.A.S. student
How did you decide to study Statistics?
For me, it initially started out just as a high school subject. I have always been interested in math, and math is the foundation for statistics. One particular quote by John Tukey, which I heard in high school, stayed with me, “The best thing about being a statistician, is that you get to play in everyone’s backyard.” Anything that deals with numerical data, and tries to make sense of in a scientific way needs statistics. So, I thought "I don't need to restrict myself to one particular field, I can do it all.” That's how I decided to get my bachelors in Statistics and then I went on to do my master’s degree in statistics as well.
What inspires you as a scientist?
Being in science is just like being a detective. I'm trying to find out how the universe works. I'm trying to find out something that nobody has discovered before, so the joy of discovery is my main inspiration. Also, in the light of the recent pandemic, we are learning how much we need the general population to understand how to interpret statistics as well as probability. Until we do so, it will be very difficult to counter this problem on a global scale. Statistical literacy is a large part of making the general population aware of statistical concepts and how to apply them in day-to-day life. That is one of the goals of statistical education, and that is one of the biggest reasons that I came to be in science.
What area of statistics are you most interested in?
I am not sure at this point of time which area I will pursue further, but I have worked on network data, which consists of data regarding a network of people or objects, and we try to discover what are the links or the relationships between them in order to model the network behavior and perform prediction. Again, in the light of the ongoing pandemic, how the disease spreads from one person to another is modeled using network data analysis techniques and trying to understand how members of the network interact and behave. In general, I'm also interested in machine learning problems and data privacy, which deals with extracting information from data while trying to protect the privacy of those who provide the data as much as possible.
Where are you from?
I am from the state of West Bengal in India, and specifically from the city of Kolkata. Kolkata is a very significant place in the history of statistics. P.C. Mahalanobis, the father of modern statistics in India, was from Kolkata and he founded the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), from where I got my master’s degree. Professor C.R. Rao, who was and still is a big part of this department, was also a colleague of P.C. Mahalanobis and is a former director of ISI. This is why I feel a personal connection with my city and the field of statistics.
What are your hobbies?
I play table tennis sometimes and I read a lot of books of any genre. I also enjoy watching online tutorials about programming and how statistical concepts could be programmed into code. It may sound very nerdy, but I do watch a lot of those videos and find them very useful.
What would be your ideal day off?
After waking up I would make a good breakfast, such as a very delicious Indian dish called poha, which is flattened rice with some spices. Then I would maybe take a book and go down to the park just across my apartment to just sit there during the morning and read. Then I would come back, watch some video tutorials, and maybe take a bit of a nap. I would also call my parents back home. They always wait for my call eagerly, and it would be nice talking to them. After that I would watch a movie, have my dinner, and go to sleep. It would be kind of a relaxed day.
What do you like most of Penn State so far?
It's a very nice, relaxed place. It gives you the freedom to do what you want without being judged, and people in general are very supportive. Just today, a random guy greeted me on my way here and it feels nice to have such friendly people around. I also love to try new food and here there are a lot of good places to eat.
I also would like to say that the department has been very welcoming. We get opportunities to do research in whatever direction we want, and everyone has been very encouraging and accommodating. Professors are giving out invitations with open arms to come and discuss the research with them, even to new students with little research experience and that is awesome.