About me

I am a PhD candidate in Applied Statistics in the Mathematical Institute at Leiden University where I am supervised by Prof.dr. Jacqueline J Meulman and dr. Marta Fiocco.

My PhD research focusses on finding optimal scaling transformations for variables in generalised linear models (GLMs), which are often fitted with the maximum likelihood approach. So far, I have implemented the optimal scaling method in the survival analysis setting (Cox model) and for the logistic regression model, but the algorithm can easily be implemented for other GLMs as well.

I am also interested in the communication of statistics and uncertainty. Therefore, I am currently doing a research project on the interpretation of probability phrases together with Prof.dr.ir. Ionica Smeets and Prof.dr. Casper J Albers. Furthermore, and I am co-founding a Statistics Communication Section within the Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research (VVSOR). This section aims to organize regular meetings about this topic and to create a platform where people from different fields can exchange their findings and experiences. The first symposium of this aspirant section took place on October 10th, 2018, and we are currently planning the next activity.

Contact

Mathematical Institute – Leiden University
Snellius Building, office 2.30
Niels Bohrweg 1
2333 CA Leiden
Telephone: +31 71 527 7091
E-mail: s.j.w.willems@math.leidenuniv.nl