Teaching

I am the programme leader for the MSC Statistics and Management Science (SAMS) award. My role is to ensure the academic coherence of this Masters degree and to oversee its smooth delivery. I’d be pleased to answer any questions you might have about this programme and you can contact me by email on iain.weir@uwe.ac.uk. Alternatively feel free to contact our Graduate School Admissions Office by email on CEMSgraduateschool@uwe.ac.uk.

I am module leader for two MSC SAMS modules and one level one module. I am involved with the delivery of one level three module and service teaching for a level two module in the Faculty of Applied Sciences. I am involved in the delivery of short one-day courses in statistics. I am a second supervisor to a PhD student and I also supervise final year and MSc projects. Brief details of these are given below.

 

Statistical Models

I am the module leader for this MSC SAMS module which is taught in Semester 2. The module covers Generalised Linear Modelling and Survival Analysis using the stats package R. Emphasis is on applying techniques to data sets and culminates in a computer based exam.

 

Applied Multivariate Techniques

I am the module leader for this MSC SAMS module which is taught in Semester 1. The module covers some of the most popular multivariate techniques and using the stats package SPSS. Emphasis is on applying techniques to data sets and culminates in a computer based exam.

 

Statistical Reasoning

I am the module leader for this level one module. The module introduces students to elementary ideas of probability and statistics.

 

Environmental Skills

This is a Faculty of Applied Science level two module. Lorenzo Giusti [Lorenzo.Giusti@uwe.ac.uk] is the module leader. I teach statistical techniques in the first semester that cover EDA, t-tests, correlation, regression and ANOVA.

 

Short courses

These are coordinated by Paul White [Paul.White@uwe.ac.uk] and cover a variety of statistical techniques. Any one can attend these courses; a lot of post grad students and staff attend these courses as well as UWE alumni. The courses are also open to those external to the University. Details of the courses are available on the UWE web site using the URL http://www.uwe.ac.uk/cems/flexible/shortcourses.html

 

Projects

This year I am supervising two MSc year projects. One project is modelling credit card customer loyalty using GLM and multivariate techniques and the second project is using linear mixed models and Bayesian hierarchical techniques to model fly dispersal. I am second supervising a PhD student who is working on some computer intensive methods to better understand data based model building and computer heuristics for developing models.

 

Research

I am interested in the application of Bayesian and Markov-chain Monte-Carlo techniques for modeling complex spatial/temporal systems. I am also involved in several interdisciplinary research projects involving the application of general linear models, linear mixed models, survival analysis and multivariate techniques to areas including: oil industry problems, magnetic reversal, plant science, drug and alcohol abuse, marine environment, animal behaviour, biogeographical data and change blindness studies (see if you can spot the changes in the image of me at the bottom of this page). 

Selected Papers

N. Afitska,  M.A. Plant,  I. Weir,  P. Miller and M.L. Plant. The relationship between teenage ‘binge’ drinking, age of first alcohol consumption and intoxication, Journal of Substance Use, 13(3): 205–218, 2008.

W.J. Bailey, I.S. Weir, B. Couet and J.R. Hogan. Survival Analysis: the statistically rigorous method for analyzing electrical submersible pump system performance. SPE Production & Operations, Vol. 21, No. 4: 492-504, 2006.

J. Bright, R. Desikan, J.T. Hancock, IS Weir and S.J. Neil. ABA-induced NO generation and stomatal closure in Arabidopsis are dependent on H2O2 synthesis. The Plant Journal, 45(1):113-22, 2006.

R. Desikan, J.T. Hancock, J. Bright, J Harrison, I Weir, R Hooley and S.J. Neill. A Role for ETR1 in Hydrogen Peroxide Signaling in Stomatal Guard Cells Plant Physiol. Plant Physiology, Vol. 137, 831-834, 2005.

A.N. Pettitt, I.S. Weir and A.G. Hart. Spatial modelling for binary data using a hidden conditional conditional autoregressive Gaussian process for irregularly spaced multivariate data with application to modelling large sets of binary data. Statistics and Computing., 12, 353-367, 2002.

C. Culshaw , L.C. Newton, I.S. Weir and D.J. Bird. Concentrations of Cd, Zn and Cu in Sediments and Brown shrimp (Crangon crangon L.) from the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel, UK. Marine Environmental Research, 54, 331-334, 2002.

S. Wilkinson, J. Myles, T. Soteriou, J. Orme, A. Malinowski, I. Weir, B. Boulton and J. Treagust. Impact of drug misuse on health in the South West, 1996-2001.

P.R. Aitchison, J.N. Chapman, V. Gehanno, I.S. Weir, and M.R. Scheinfein.  High resolution measurement and modelling of magnetic domain structures in epitaxial FePd (001) L10 films with perpendicular  magnetisation.  J. of  Magnetism and Magnetic Materials}, 223(2): 138-146, 2001.

I.S. Weir and A.N. Pettitt. Binary Probability Maps using a Hidden Conditional Autoregressive Gaussian Process with an Application to Finnish Common Toad Data.  Applied Statistics, 2000

I.S. Weir  and T. Pettitt. Spatial modelling for binary data using a hidden conditional autoregressive Gaussian process. Statistics and Computing 9, 77-86, 1999.

I.S. Weir, J.N. Chapman, J. Rose, I.S. Molchanov and D.M. Titterington. Observation and modelling of magnetisation reversal in multilayers supporting perpendicular magnetisation. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.,  32,  395-403, 1999.

W.J.  Bailey and I.S. Weir. Investigation of methods for direct rheological model parameter estimation. J. Petroleum Science and Engineering, Volume 21, No. 1-2, 1-13, 1999.

J.N. Chapman, J. Rose, I.S. Weir, I.S. Molchanov and D.M. Titterington. The direct observation of magnetisation reversal in films of interest for high density information storage. J. Magn. Soc. Jpn., Vol 22 Supplement No. S2, 15-20, 1998.

I.S. Weir. Fully Bayesian SPECT reconstructions. J. Amer. Statist. Assoc., Vol. 92, 49-60, 1997.

I.S. Weir and W.J. Bailey. A statistical study of rheological models for drilling fluids. SPE 36359,  Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal, 473-486, Dec 1996.

I.S. Weir and T. Pettitt. Alternative to the autologistic model using a hidden conditional autoregressive Gaussian process. Proceedings 28th Symposium on the Interface, SISC-96.

I.S. Weir and P.J. Green. Modeling data from single photon emission computed tomography.  Statistics and Images, Carfax Publishing Co., Abingdon, 1994.

R. Godoy-Herrera, B. Burnet, K. Connolly, D. Grey and I. Weir. Disruption of the structure of larval foraging behaviour in interspecific hybrids of Drosophila. Heredity, 72, 260-268, 1994.

 

Other activities

External Consultancy Work

In common with others in the department I often work on problems for local businesses and other organisations. All of this work is arranged through out external facing consultancy unit [Applied Statistics and Quantitative Modelling Unit, ASQM] which is headed by my colleague Chris Webber [Chris.Webber@uwe.ac.uk]. Information on ASQM is available from Chris and an outline of ASQM is available from http://www.uwe.ac.uk/cems/flexible/shortcourses.html http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~pwhite/ASQM.

Data Skills for Business

One resource other resource that ties in with the short one-day courses and consultancy and knowledge exchange is the Data Skills for Business project which is headed by my colleague John Cobby [John.Cobby@uwe.ac.uk]. Information about the Data Skills for Business project is available on John's website. I have contributed by the production of a statistical movie that depicts a case study where a researcher approaces a statistician for advice.