The Random Sample

Maths Meets Biology: Inside the Mission to Model a Living Cell

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Understanding a living cell is one of the biggest challenges in modern science. Cells carry out an extraordinary number of tasks every second and unde...

From Surveys to LLMs: The New Era of Social Data – with Professor Frauke Kreuter

10 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Technology is transforming how we understand society. For decades, researchers relied on surveys to learn about populations. But today, data comes fro...

Multi-Source Data & the Evolution of Official Statistics - with Dr Anders Holmberg

26 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, surveys have been the backbone of official statistics - helping us measure everything from population trends to economic activity. But re...

Making the Invisible Visible: The Global Hackathon Against Modern Slavery

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Modern slavery is often hidden in corporate supply chains, making it hard to detect and eliminate. Countries like Australia now require companies to p...

Data We Can Trust

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We recently celebrated World Statistics Day on 20 October. To mark the occasion, the Statistical Society teamed up with the Australian Data Science Ne...

ReefCloud: Connecting Scientists to Save Coral Reefs – with Dr Manuel Gonzalez-Rivero

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Coral reefs are among the most diverse and valuable ecosystems on Earth – but they’re also among the most vulnerable. Thanks to climate ch...

Taylor Swift, Pesto the Penguin, and… Statistics?! - with Heather Lansdowne

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The art of engagement for the Australian Bureau of Statistics  How do you make statistics and complex data not just understandable - but engaging...

Patterns in Chaos: Exploring Complex Systems - with Professor Michael Small

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What does it really mean for something to be complex - and how can mathematics help us make sense of it? In this episode of The Random Sample, our gue...

Indigenous Data Governance & Sovereignty - with Levi-Craig Murray

09 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In today’s data-driven world, questions around who controls data, how it’s used, and who benefits from it are more pressing than ever. For...

Bridging the Interdisciplinary Gap with Stats & Data Science - with Prof Galit Shmueli

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Random Sample steps into the dynamic world of interdisciplinary research—viewed through the lens of data science and statistics. Our gu...

Driving Change: The Maths Behind Autonomous Vehicles - with Prof Michael Milford

11 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A few short years ago, it was one of the most hyped technology fields around. But after all that excitement, where are we now with autonomous vehicle...

Designing the Tools that Shape Data Science - with Dr Hadley Wickham

28 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We’re diving into the design and development of the tools that have transformed data science and statistical programming — with none other...

From Silo to Solution: Unlocking climate & social data that can drive change

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers and decision-makers face a familiar challenge: data exists, but it’s often locked away. Once research is published, the underlying d...

Beyond ChatGPT: The Rapidly Evolving Landscape of AI - with Professor Simon Angus

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is no longer a futuristic concept.  It’s here, embedded in almost every technology we use. It’s one o...

The Many Hands of AI: Responsibility and Regulation - with Dr Henry Fraser

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the second part of our special two-part series, where we dive into the surprising and unexpected ways artificial intelligence, or AI, and the ...

The New Reality of AI and the Law - with A/Prof Michael Guihot

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the first of our two-part series on a topic that’s sweeping the headlines: Artificial Intelligence or A-I. But we’re taking a different an...

Mathematics, creativity & connection: Rethinking maths education in Australia

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

High school mathematics in Australia is often driven by one thing: those high-stakes Year 12 exams. In this episode, we take a fresh look at how high...

Maths Models Shed New Light on Hidden Heart Risks – with Professors Helen Byrne & Mary Myerscough

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Atherosclerosis is a silent but deadly condition. It happens when your arteries get clogged with plaque, restricting blood flow and putting you at ser...

Shaping the Equation: The 2024 WIMSIG Conference

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The 2024 WIMSIG Conference celebrates the achievements of women, trans and gender diverse people in the mathematical sciences. WIMSIG stands for the W...

The Publication Puzzle: Navigating the World of Academic Publishing - Pt 3

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Perils of "Publish or Perish". This episode of The Random Sample is the final instalment in our special three-part series on navigating the world ...

The Publication Puzzle: Navigating the World of Academic Publishing - Pt 2

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Challenges of Publishing Interdisciplinary Research. This episode of The Random Sample is the second instalment in our special three-part series i...

The Publication Puzzle: Navigating the World of Academic Publishing - Pt 1

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve all heard the saying, “publish or perish”. But what does that really mean in today’s world of academic publishing? Scientific publishing...

Trailer: The Publication Puzzle - Navigating the World of Academic Publishing

23 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Starting Wednesday, 28 August, The Random Sample will bring you a special three-part series exploring the world of academic publishing. Listen to this...

Grapes & Algorithms: the Data Science of Sustainable Winemaking

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Here’s something to toast to. Australia’s wine industry is leading the way when it comes to a very important issue: sustainability. And Data Scien...

Coping with Climate Anxiety - with Dr Alexandra Knight

02 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Have you heard of, or are you experiencing, eco-grief or climate anxiety? For many STEM researchers, including those in the mathematical and data scie...

Scientific Graphic Design for Communicating Research - with Dr Jess Jopf

18 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

People love stories. That simple fact all too often gets lost by scientists when it comes to communicating research. In this episode, we chat to someo...

The Mathematics of Bushfires - with Professor Jason Sharples

04 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s only been a few short years since we witnessed the power of bushfires here in Australia. The summer of 2019 and 2020 brought us Australia’s m...

Understanding Maths Struggles - with Dr Jacob Paul

21 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why do some people struggle with maths? In this episode, we chat with Dr Jacob Paul from The University of Melbourne’s School of Psychological Scie...

Building Blocks of the Universe - with Professor Alessandro Sfondrini

07 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This episode of The Random Sample gives you a glimpse into some of the mathematics and physics that is used to understand the building blocks of the u...

Using maths to explore the music of Taylor Swift - with Dr Nathan Garland

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We admit it - even The Random Sample can't resist the hype around the world's biggest music star - Taylor Swift. Almost on a dare from his wife - and ...

Why Host a Podcast?!

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, The Random Sample switches things up a bit. The people who usually ask the questions on this podcast, our hosts, are actually our gue...

The Maths of Wi-Fi with Professor David Skellern

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s hard to imagine a time before Wi-Fi – or what we’d do without it. Especially, if you’re under the age of 25. But thanks to the work of so...

Emerging Leaders in Statistics

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This episode of The Random Sample introduces you to three brilliant statisticians! The three have been selected to present the inaugural Horizon Lectu...

Superstars of STEM

24 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There is still a lot of work to do before Australian girls and women have an equal opportunity to learn, work and engage in STEM. So says the Australi...

What you need to know about Referendum Polling with Professor Simon Jackman

26 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On Saturday, October 14th, Australians head to the polls to decide the Voice to Parliament Referendum. In this episode, we’re not looking at the re...

Communicating Statistics & Probability with Professor Jeffrey Rosenthal

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever seen something on the news or in your social media feed and think, what are the odds of that happening? University of Toronto Professor ...

Cracking the Code on the Spread of Mis-and-Disinformation on Social Media

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For many of us, we rely on social media to get a lot of the information we’re interested in. But how does all that information move across these dif...

Can Water Compute? With Professor Eva Miranda

15 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Here’s something weird to think about. Can fluids think? No, we’re not talking about a liquid metal shape-shifting creature like what we saw in Te...

Industry PhDs

01 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes interesting research starts with a question faced by industry. That question may lead to other questions – and maybe even shine light on a...

On the Road at the ISI World Statistics Congress

18 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is a special edition of The Random Sample! We’re on the road at the World Statistics Congress taking place from 15-20 July in Ottawa, Canada. ...

Open-sourcing Data Science Education with Professor Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel

04 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest is Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel, a Professor in the Department of Statistical Science at Duke University in the United States. Mine’s work is so...

Talking Maths & Conservation with Professor Hugh Possingham

23 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For three decades, University of Queensland Professor Hugh Possingham has combined his two passions – mathematics and nature – into a career dedic...

Law & Stats: What's a Statistician Doing in Court

09 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ever watch a TV courtroom drama where they question an expert witness? Chances are, you’ve never seen an actor portray an expert witness who is a st...

Gravitational Waves: From Theory to Discovery

25 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

100 years after Albert Einstein predicted their existence, scientists in 2015 detected gravitational waves for the first time ever. The historic disc...

Optimisation: The Intelligence Behind AI

11 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We explore the field of discrete optimisation and how industries and companies use it to make decisions for complex problems. Our guest is Monash Univ...

The Future is Now: Building Better Climate Models

28 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s one of the most pressing, if not the most pressing, question facing scientists: what impact is climate change having on our planet’s future? ...

Large Language Models & ChatGPT

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Since its release in late 2022, Open AI’s Chat G-P-T has most everyone talking about it, and even trying it. Schools, universities, and businesses a...

The WiDS Global Movement

28 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There's a global movement underway to tackle gender equity issues in Data Science. In 2015, Women in Data Science, or WiDS, was created. What started...

The AMSI-ANZIAM Distinguished Lecturer: Prof Konstantin Avrachenkov

14 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Every two years, Australia’s applied mathematics community invites a distinguished international academic to speak at universities across Australia....

Future Proofing as Data Changes the World

06 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

With the explosion of data everywhere, how do you prepare for the exciting new careers and jobs of the future, when many of them don't exist yet? With...

Unpacking the Sphere Packing Problem

23 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Fields Medal is the top award in mathematics and for only the second time ever, a woman has won it. In this episode, we explore the problem that U...

The Statistical Society Celebrates its 60th

08 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Statistical Society of Australia turns 60 years old this year. In this episode, we celebrate this big milestone as we explore what the Statistical...

A Deep Dive on the Great Barrier Reef

25 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

One of the biggest challenges facing scientists in Australia is trying to protect and save a national treasure, the Great Barrier Reef. To do that, th...

The Story of ACEMS

22 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

At the end of 2021, our Centre, the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers, finishes up. ACEMS br...

Teaching with MathsCraft

20 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mathematics is exciting, enjoyable, and can surprise you, right? To help students to experience that when they do maths in the classroom, ACEMS has he...

Software as a First Class Research Output

16 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Thanks to the efforts of ACEMS Chief Investigator Rob Hyndman, the School of Business at Monash University now recognises software as a first class re...

Using Stats to Crowdsource the Weather

09 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The European Meteorological Society just awarded an ACEMS researcher and her colleague in the Netherlands its top prize for innovation in meteorology....

Innovation in Data Visualisation

02 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Monash University Professor of Statistics Di Cook is considered a world leader in Data Visualisation. In this episode, Di shares some of her new, inno...

Talking Stats with Aurore Delaigle

26 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Aurore Delaigle is a professor of statistics at The University of Melbourne, an ACEMS Chief Investigator, and a Fellow of both the Australian Academy ...

Maths at MATRIX

19 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What does mathematical research look like? If you visit Australia's residential mathematics research institute, you might be surprised by what you see...

The Maths Behind Movie Magic

12 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ever wonder how the impossible becomes possible on the big screen? Not surprisingly, there's a lot of maths and stats that can make amazing things hap...

OPTIMA Centre

07 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Companies from many different sectors are all starting to realise one thing - that mathematics can help them make better decisions. That's the goal of...

Experiment in Lockdown

01 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Safe Blues project was created to see in close to real-time how social mobility and epidemic spread interact. To test its mobile technology, the S...

Clearing the Air on COVID-19

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest is QUT Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska who led the push to get health organisations to finally recognise the airborne spread of COVID...

Predicting What the Clouds are Covering Up

17 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Thousands of species around the world are being threatened by land clearing to make way for agricultural or urban development. To track land clearing,...

Success, Luck, & Second Chances

10 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When things go your way, or don’t go your way, how much of that is luck? Do we overvalue or undervalue a process or a person's performance because o...

The 2021 Australian Census

03 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Every five years, the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts a national Census. In this episode, we explore what's new with this year's Census, how ...

The future of statistics is in good hands: the Early Career & Student Statisticians Conference

22 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In a world that’s more data-driven than ever before, we need people who can analyse and find the hidden stories within the data. In this episode, we...

A Chat with Professor Cheryl Praeger

15 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

She is considered one of Australia’s greatest mathematicians. Professor Cheryl Praeger turned her passion for the mathematics of symmetry into a lon...

The "Wondrous Worlds" of Maths

08 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What can maths do for you? A new children’s book aims to give youngsters – and their parents and teachers – a glimpse of what’s possible if th...

The Road Ahead for Women in STEM

01 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In May, the mathematical sciences community celebrated international women in mathematics day. To mark the day, ACEMS hosted a panel discussion titled...

The Maths & Stats Behind Testing Vaccines

25 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What does it take to test a vaccine? Among other things, some very important mathematical and statistical methodology! This episode doesn't tackle the...

A Pint of Maths & Stats

18 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For an eighth straight year, the Pint of Science Festival has just kicked off in Australia. Its aim is to give everyday people a chance to meet and in...

Australian Women of Mathematics Exhibit

11 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The term mathematical modelling takes on a whole new meaning for a group of Australian mathematicians. In this case, they are models. Or should we say...

A Mathematical Approach to the Issue of Gender Inequality

05 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mathematics has a numbers problem – at least when it comes to gender equity. But what if we could use maths to help fix the problem? That's just wha...

Significance & the Replication Crisis

27 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the last decade, a controversy called the 'replication crisis' rocked the scientific community. The crisis centered around the fact that many scien...

The International Prize in Statistics

20 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The International Prize in Statistics is considered the top award in the field of statistics. This year, it was awarded to Harvard Biostatistician Pro...

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

22 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to the number of women in mathematics, the numbers are low. In this episode, we explore why that is, the role women are being asked to p...

Maths & the Power of Perseverance

15 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Have you heard someone say they weren't good at maths or hated it at school? Is there such a thing as a 'maths person'? What does a mathematician do? ...

Bubbles, Maths & a World Record

08 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

An Adelaide man, Graeme Denton, recently set a world record for the tallest free-standing soap bubble. It reached up 10.75 metres, or more than 35 fee...

Open Data Opens Doors to Answers

01 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Data can unlock the answers to a lot of questions. But few researchers are asking some of the questions that QUT Professor Adrian Barnett is. In this ...

Driven by Data: Statistics in Sports

24 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the race for gold, athletes are always looking for a competitive edge. But could that edge now come from the mathematical sciences? There is more d...

Living & Playing Together in Moreton Bay

17 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Moreton Bay, off the coast of Southeast Queensland, is home to an incredible array of iconic marine species like dugongs, turtles, dolphins, whales, f...

Making a Connection to Culture

10 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We explore the connections between mathematics and Aboriginal culture and how they can be used to transform how Aboriginal students learn maths. Also ...

Why Study Maths & Stats?

03 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We sit down with four university students from around Australia who are studying maths and stats. When did they realise they wanted to study the mathe...

From Maths to the Media

27 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What can you do with a mathematics education? For Casey Briggs, he's turned it into a career with the ABC. In this episode, Casey talks about his role...

A Chat with Professor Kerry Landman

20 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

From business to biology, Professor Kerry Landman has taken her love for applied mathematics and made a huge impact. For some 40-years, she has devote...

Hacking Your Lower Brain to Improve Predictions

13 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Do you ever stop and think about how much time you spend on your mobile phone, or binge-watching your favourite TV show? Not surprisingly, tech compan...

Fact vs Fake: Targeting Misinformation on Social Media

23 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

One of the biggest issues we face is the deliberate spread of false information over platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Because ...

Bayes' Theorem: The Past & the Future

16 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Bayesian statistics help decide what email you get is spam. It can assess security and medical risks, decode DNA, enhance blurry pictures, help explai...

From Cells to Systems: the Maths of Biology

09 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It’s one of the fastest growing areas of mathematics, and for good reason. Mathematical biology tackles problems involving things like genetics, dis...

The Maths Behind Australia's Response to COVID-19

02 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor James McCaw is one of the leaders of the pandemic modelling group advising Australia's National Cabinet. In this episode, Professor McCaw ta...

Forecasting the Future & the Future of Forecasting

26 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The closest thing to a crystal ball that many organisations and businesses have to look into the future is what’s called a forecast. Not for weather...

The Random Sample samples Randomised Trials

19 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How do you know if a new drug will do what it claims to do? Or a new policy will have a desired effect on a population? Many experts believe the best ...

Hospital Hesitancy

12 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the build up to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals started preparing for the worst. On a normal day, they operate at or around 100 per cent capacity....

COVID Clues in Dirty Water Data

05 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the search for clues in tracking the presence or spread of COVID-19 in communities, sometimes experts need to look in some spots they'd rather not....

Safe Blues

28 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How well do social distancing measures work when it comes to controlling the spread of COVID-19? Which ones can we start to remove? And when? The prob...

Antarctic Outreach

21 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Antarctica – one of the most remote places on the planet. Few people will ever get the chance to see it. But every year, 100 women who are making an...

The Maths Behind Mining the Blockchain

17 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Chances are you’ve heard of bitcoin – or blockchain – or both. But what are they? How did they start? And what does their future look like? In t...

Australian Maths Tour

10 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Every two years, AustMS and AMSI choose a prominent mathematician to tour Australia. This year's Mahler lecture series speaker is Dr Holly Krieger, or...