Professor Pragya Sur is NRG President and an ISF 2023 Asia Fellow
Assistant Professor of Statistics Pragya Sur has no shortage of projects to tackle, whether it’s working on several research projects, teaching, advising, or participating in research conferences. However, she embarked on a few new challenges this year when she accepted the position of President of the New Researchers Group (NRG) at the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS) and when she was chosen to be an International Strategy Forum (ISF) 2023 Asia Fellow by Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt. The NRG’s purpose is to provide professional support for junior researchers, particularly through planning the annual New Researchers Conference. The International Strategy Forum ISF program is designed to build an interdisciplinary network of rising leaders and to strengthen democratic values, collaboration, and security as technological innovation reshapes our world.
Dr. Sur spoke with us about her research, top priorities as NRG President, and key takeaways from the Schmidt Futures International Strategy Forum Global Summit. The interview below contains revised excerpts from our conversation.
1. Please provide an introduction, including your role in the Department and your current area(s) of research.
Sur: In my role as a faculty member in the department, I participate in research, supervise students, and teach. In terms of mentoring, I love working with my advisees and postdoc.
My research focuses on high dimensional statistics [high dimensional data occurs when the number of features in a data set is higher than the number of observations] and statistical machine learning. High dimensional data presents a lot of challenges as well as opportunities; while this type of data can have varied structures and billions of variables, it also produces interesting phenomena that require new theoretical tools and statistical methods to understand them. I build fundamental theoretical and statistical methods that are motivated by applications in areas of interest, for instance, statistical genetics, econometrics, and computational neuroscience.
A current project of mine (in collaboration with my PhD student Yanke Song and Prof. Xihong Lin's group) is to build new statistical methods for estimating signal to noise ratios in data, with a focus on genomics applications. By “signal,” I mean the variables that impact the problem you are studying, while “noise” indicates variables that are not important to the problem. For example, in genomics, a disease with a high signal to noise ratio indicates that genetics is a strong determinant, which in turn can influence decisions about allocating resources to further understand the genetic basis of this disease.
2. What has prepared you for the role of President of the NRG? What excites you about this role?
Sur: I started my statistics PhD program focused on probability, transitioned to writing a thesis on high-dimensional statistics, and then switched gears again by pursuing a postdoc position in machine learning theory and computer science. As a result of these varied research experiences, I can speak across probability, statistics, computer science, and machine learning, which allows me to connect with multiple research communities. Having this perspective has helped me lead the New Researchers Group and advance its initiatives to bring diverse, young researchers into contact with mentors and professional resources. For example, I relied on my basic working knowledge of different research areas when selecting a diverse group of local organizers for the 2023 New Researchers Conference in Toronto. I like the creative task of brainstorming ideas for how to create a rewarding conference experience; in fact, ever since I was a kid, I’ve enjoyed creating resources for people (it’s sort of been my thing!). Taking on the role of President is also a great learning opportunity for me!
3. What is one of your main goals that you’d like to accomplish as the President of the NRG?
Sur: A top priority of mine, with key support from the IMS President, is to expand the purpose of our New Researchers Group to include more collaboration with and outreach to researchers from outside of North America. For instance, Europe has two such Young Researchers Groups. In collaboration with them, we plan to organize joint zoom webinars a few times a year, showcasing the works of young researchers. We hope that this will benefit all participants and will increase the geographic reach of NRG and IMS. Another strategy for broadening outreach efforts will be through invited speaker slots at conferences; these are prestigious, heavily attended sessions that are important for increasing the visibility of researchers and IMS. By building relationships with new researcher groups outside of the U.S., we could then invite international researchers to our session at JSM [the Joint Statistical Meetings], for example, and continue to grow our global ties.
4. What was most memorable about your participation in the ISF Global Summit?
Sur: This was the first time in my life that I saw convened in one place such a diverse, global group of people from varied industries and government think tanks. The fellowship program is not just focused on any one area – e.g., statistics, science, or government - but instead creates a broad network of people that enriches our work. Approaching the global summit with an open mind, I challenged myself to communicate about applications of machine learning and high dimensional statistics to a very talented pool of people who were experts in different fields, mostly outside of academia. Other fellows approached me after my talk with the problems they were working on because they saw very natural connections. While I know that my research helps solve tough problems, it was validating to hear this from experts in other disciplines. Seeing the potential impact of my work outside of statistics helps me to put a face to my end users and renews my motivation in my day-to-day work.5. What connections do you see between your roles as an International Strategy Forum Fellow and as the Institute of Mathematical Sciences New Researchers Group President?
Sur: At first glance, it may seem that my IMS and ISF roles are quite different because IMS is focused on research in statistics and data science, while ISF has a much broader focus across fields and disciplines. However, I see my IMS role nested within my ISF role. As part of their mission, Schmidt-Futures provides me with resources, including connecting me to others’ expertise to deploy and scale projects that I’m interested in. By participating in ISF, I am inspired in my role as President of NRG to create resources for young researchers in the IMS community. The two worlds also come together when I consider the international ISF fellows who are end users of statistics and data science and how it would be great to have them come to JSM and other statistics-related conferences!
6. What has your participation as an ISF Fellow and role as NRG President taught you about leadership?
Sur: At the global forum, I had opportunities to learn how to be a good leader by seeing how folks conduct sessions in front of a diverse audience. Through my experience as President of the NRG and fellowship with ISF, my idea of leadership has also changed. While I used to have doubts about whether I was ready to take on the NRG President role, I now believe that you become a better leader by just doing it – stepping into the shoes of that role. You can be successful as a new leader as long as you have a strong understanding of the role, a willingness to listen, and an eagerness to adapt and evolve. With this perspective, you can then receive and evaluate feedback, implementing the feedback that makes the most sense, without being overly self-critical. When others see that you’re listening and paying attention, it builds a relationship of mutual trust; I frequently see the impact of applying this approach to my teaching. Ultimately, I think good leadership is about maintaining an open mind, which is what I and the other fellows did at this global summit, and it’s why the summit was such an amazing experience!
Statistics: Through Prof. Sur’s experience, we’ve learned about how having an open mind can lead to new directions in your research pursuits and to new professional connections and networks. With an open mind, you can grow, adapt, evolve when taking on a new leadership role. We appreciate Prof. Sur taking the time to share these insights into her research, work with the New Researchers Group, and experience as an ISF Fellow and look forward to speaking with her again soon!