Chief Investigator
Dr Sahani Pathiraja
Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) & Bachelor of Engineering
PhD (Civil & Environmental Engineering)
Sahani Pathiraja is a Lecturer (tenure track assistant professor) in Data Science at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney. Sahani received her double Bachelor of Science (mathematics) and Engineering (environmental) in 2011 with Hons (1st Class) and the University Medal, and her PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2018, all from the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney). Her dissertation topic was on improved data assimilation methods for hydrologic applications.
From 2017-2022 she was a postdoctoral researcher in the Institute of Mathematics at the University of Potsdam, Germany as part of the Collaborative Research Centre on Data Assimilation. She worked primarily on the theoretical analysis of modern sequential Monte Carlo methods as well as on new applications of data assimilation in biomedical modelling.
Sahani’s technical expertise spans both the mathematical theory and applications of data science methods, especially in hydrology. Her research is motivated by 1) how applications can inspire new theory and 2) how theory be developed in a more practically relevant way. Specifically, her research primarily focuses on Bayesian inference, Monte Carlo methods, stochastic analysis of data assimilation methods and uncertainty quantification.
