CSIRO mathematical scientists work together in multidisciplinary teams to solve problems.
CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics
At CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics, we create and use innovative mathematical sciences to tackle Australia's challenges.
-
6 June 2011 | Updated 14 October 2011
The mathematical sciences underpin a major shift in world economies from secondary industries like manufacturing, to tertiary industries like services and ICT.
In services-based economies, gross domestic product (GDP) is strongly influenced by innovations such as improved data capture and analytics.
And in the world of science, researchers are working across disciplines on big challenges like climate change, water security, improving health and wellbeing, energy for the future, protecting biodiversity and more. These 'big science' challenges have at their foundation the mathematical sciences.
Innovative approaches in mathematics, informatics and statistics are increasingly needed.
A prominent feature of big science is high dimensional data. For example, using sophisticated gene technology an individual person might have gene expression data for thousands of their genes in the search for a disease link. Or a climate model for a region will incorporate data from thousands of sensors combined with information gleaned from experts. Dealing with all this data requires special expertise in informatics.
CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics provide expertise in statistics, mathematics, informatics and computational science to collaborators and customers in a range of areas.
Our customers are from areas such as:
Our work spans finding information in health databases, to creating software to help manage supply networks.
We aim to set the standard in global scientific research partnerships.
Our research collaborators are many and include:
- The Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Ohio State University (US)
- The Garvan Institute of Medical Research
- Nanzan University (Japan)
- National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (US)
- Centrelink.
We have three main research programs:
- Environmental informatics
- Computational and mathematical modelling
- Business and services analytics.
Our researchers work with other specialists across CSIRO on many of the challenges facing Australia today.
Environmental informatics
Environmental informatics research develops methods to describe complex natural systems and support evidence-based decision making in natural resource management. These decisions are often made in uncertain environments with limited information.
Our research is built on our expert statistical capabilities for collecting and understanding environmental information.
Our advanced statistical methods have been used successfully in monitoring programs for:
- Brisbane's Moreton Bay and freshwater catchments
- the Northern Prawn Fishery
- Australia's National Carbon Accounting System
- the Australian Antarctic Division.
Computational mathematics and modelling
We work with the manufacturing, mining, infrastructure, environment and service industries to create innovative generic, enabling technologies for modelling materials and their transport.
Our areas of research include computational fluid dynamics, visualisation and the mathematics of materials.
Examples of projects we have worked on include:
- modelling mining equipment
- testing oil platform mooring systems
- designing high throughput material testing experiments.
Business and services analytics
With a focus on the services economy, our researchers use skills in optimisation, advanced experimental design, quantitative risk modelling, image analysis and more to develop technologies that can be applied in many areas of services.
Our successes include:
- financial maths for options pricing software used by banks worldwide
- optimising wine grape harvesting and logistics
- realistic fluid animation software for movies
- HCA-Vision, software for analysing images of cells for drug development
- identification of risk factors for vascular surgery.
Read our recent Media Releases.
Share this CSIRO content using:
