We are delighted to report that Maarit Laaksonen and Vera Roshchina have both been promoted to Associate Professor for their outstanding contributions in research, teaching and leadership.

Maarit Laaksonen (pictured below left) joined the School of Mathematics and Statistics in April 2020 after almost a decade working in the UNSW Faculty of Medicine. A biostatistician with 15 years' experience in the fields of epidemiology and public health, her main research focus is on the development of novel disease burden measures and their application to health data to inform priorities for reducing burden of disease. 

Maarit, who holds a Cancer Institute NSW Career Development Fellowship, is an active member of our School's Publicity Committee and has been involved in our outreach initiatives.

Vera Roshchina (pictured below right) joined UNSW in 2018 as a Senior Lecturer, after three years as an ARC DECRA Fellow at RMIT University. This followed postdoctoral positions at the University of Melbourne, Federation University Australia and the University of Évora, Portugal.

Vera, whose research interests centre on convex geometry, optimisation and nonsmooth analysis, won the 2021 Australian Academy of Science Christopher Heyde Medal. She was recognised for her theoretical optimisation research, which is regarded as exceptional and establishes her as an emerging international leader in the field. 

A very warm congratulations to Maarit and Vera!