Prof. John Aston is the Harding Professor of Statistics in Public Life in the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics, University of Cambridge and a co-director of the CMIH Hub.
Prof. Aston undertakes research into the use of quantitative evidence in public policy making, and develops new ways to use data in public life and debate. This involves three main aims:
- developing cutting edge statistical techniques of relevance to public policy
- working with those in public life to ensure the best quantitative methods are used
- improving the use of statistics and other quantitiative evidence in public policy debates
Prof. Aston's research interests include all areas of Applied Statistics but particularly Official and Public Policy Statistics, Statistical Neuroimaging and Statistical Linguistics.
From 2017-2020, Prof. Aston was on secondment as Chief Scientific Adviser and Director-General for Science, Technology, Analysis, Research and Strategy (STARS) at the Home Office.
