Dr. Wicher Bergsma

Biography

Wicher Bergsma's current research focuses on statistical modeling testing using reproducing kernels and empirical Bayes techniques. He has developed I-prior methodology for parametric and nonparametric regression models, which perform simpler than competing methods. He is particularly interested in graphical models and conditional independence testing. Bergsma is known for his work in categorical data analysis, especially marginal models that arise from nuisance dependencies in data. He collaborated with Angelos Dassios to develop the tau-star test, a scale-invariant consistent test of independence. Bergsma joined the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) as a Lecturer in 2005, completing postdoctoral fellowships at Eurandom, Eindhoven, and Tilburg University prior to that. Bergsma studied Mathematics at Leiden University before earning his PhD in Social Statistics from Tilburg University. He worked as an Assistant Professor of Statistics at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, for a year and has experience applying statistical methods in the industry, particularly during projects with GlaxoSmithKline on clinical trials and with Flextronics on fault detection in photocopying machines.

Research Interests