Spotlight: Yajun Liu

I first heard of Mizzou from a friend of my parents. I was impressed by her description of this beautiful and peaceful campus.

Later when I browsed the website of Statistics Department, I found that it is the right place for me to pursue my study and reach my career goal. There are many excellent professors and talented students in this department, and it would be very exciting to study with them.

 Dr. [Dongchu] Sun gives me a lot of help in my study. He offers me many options in my research directions and tries to help me make my research better. He also cares about my study and my career plans. He is very knowledgeable and very patient. Whenever I have questions, I can get help from him.

After graduation, I will try to find a faculty position in my field. My study is focused on Bayesian Statistics, and there are actually many research directions in this field. I will try to put my knowledge into applications in spatial, biological, environmental or other fields.

Yajun Liu is the 2007-2009 recipient of the G. Ellsworth Huggins Scholarship. In 2009, Liu will travel with Dr. Sun to North Carolina on a collaborative research project funded by the National Science Foundation. Results from Dr. Sun’s (PI) study will contribute a better understanding of cognition. When asked about participating in his NSF inter-institutional project, Liu said:

It is a great opportunity to participate in the workshops and working groups in this program. There are many scientists and worldwide, well known experts in the program. It would be great to talk to them and learn from them. It is also a great honor to work with them. And I hope I can be in this program and do whatever I can to help with it, and learn from it.