Rianne de Heide, assistant professor in the Statistics group at the Department of Applied Mathematics at the University of Twente since September, will receive the Bernoulli Society New Researcher Award 2025 in Mathematical Statistics. This prestigious award honours outstanding contributions by early-career researchers in the fields of Mathematical Statistics and Probability. For the first time in the award’s history, it is being presented to someone from the Netherlands.
Research on the foundations of statistics and probability
Rianne’s research focuses on the foundations of learning from data. While modern data science offers endless computational possibilities, the core of current statistical methodologies still reflects the context of the 20th century. Rianne has contributed to the mathematical foundations of a paradigm for user-adaptive statistics, with the central concept of the "e-value." E-values make it possible, for instance, to add data to an ongoing experiment when results look promising or to test thousands of hypotheses simultaneously while preserving strong error guarantees. These developments are significant in many fields, including economics, medicine, social sciences, and technology.
E-values for multiple testing
Rianne is currently working on her VENI project titled "E-values for multiple testing." In certain research fields, such as brain scan analysis and genetics, hundreds of thousands of hypotheses are tested simultaneously. For example, brain scans divide the brain into voxels (3D pixels), each undergoing a hypothesis test to determine whether there is brain activity. This can lead to a massive number of false positives. Rianne’s research focuses on developing mathematical theory for multiple testing with e-values, offering researchers the flexibility to interactively work with their data while maintaining strong error control.
Kindness and excellence in academia
In addition to her research, Rianne is leading the Kindness and Excellence in Academia initiative in the Netherlands. While academia can be an inspiring environment where people thrive, stories of social unsafety and underrepresentation persist, for example, women in STEM disciplines. This initiative aims to create an academic workplace where everyone feels valued and can be themselves. According to Rianne, achieving scientific excellence and fostering kindness are two sides of the same coin. A group of enthusiastic young academics is shaping the initiative, which will officially launch in the coming months.
About the Bernoulli Society New Researcher Award
The Bernoulli Society New Researcher Award is a global recognition of exceptional work by early-career researchers in Mathematical Statistics and Probability. It celebrates innovative and impactful contributions to these fields. The award provides recipients with a platform to present their work at the Bernoulli Society World Congress, highlighting the critical role of emerging researchers in advancing the mathematical sciences.
