SSMU Research Committee

This page contains info for the Research Committee of the Duke Statistical Science Majors Union (SSMU). We run a seminar series featuring researchers doing stats-related work in academia and industry. We also run an undergrad reading group on theory/methods in modern statistics and ML.

We are actively looking for undergrads to join our committee! You need not be a Stats major (I’m not). If interested, email me at xiran [dot] wang [at] duke [dot] edu. There is a short application.

SSMU Seminar Series

We always welcome Duke faculty, postdocs, and PhD students from all departments to talk about their research! We also welcome other student organizations to cosponsor these talks. Email me if you want to give or cosponsor a talk.

For the 2026-2027 school year, we plan to host four seminars in the Spring.

Upcoming

Past

Past Recordings

SSMU Reading Group

The broad topic is theory and methods in modern statistics and machine learning. We meet roughly triweekly on Fridays, 5-6pm in Perkins Link Group Study 1. At each meeting, someone presents on a manuscript, and we discuss. If you’re an undergrad interested in this field, put your name here, and show up! No prerequisites required.

If you would like to present a manuscript, please email me. For the 2026-2027 school year, we will meet four times in the Fall and four times in the Spring.

Upcoming

Past

Members

2026-2027 (current)

  • Derek Wang (lead) — Physics & Math, c/o 2028
  • Alan Ye — Math & Philosophy, c/o 2029
  • Kien Le — Econ & Stats, c/o 2029
  • Priyanka Rathnam — CS, c/o 2029
  • Ethan Fazal — Math & CS, c/o 2028
  • Cyrus Tsui — Math & CS, c/o 2028
  • Andrew Park — Math & CS, c/o 2028
  • Aashish Cheruvu — BME & ECE, c/o 2028
  • Cooper Ruffing (exec liaison) — Stats, c/o 2027

2025-2026

  • Derek Wang (lead) — Physics & Math, c/o 2028
  • Aashish Cheruvu — BME & ECE, c/o 2028
  • Kien Le — Econ & Stats, c/o 2029
  • Alan Ye — Math & Philosophy, c/o 2029
  • Parker Upton — Econ & Stats, c/o 2029
  • Ethan Fazal — Math & CS, c/o 2028
  • Cooper Ruffing (exec liaison) — Stats, c/o 2027