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Meet the NextGen scholars: Daniel

11 August 2026
  • NextGen

As part of our ongoing Meet the Scholars blog series, we’re introducing some of the exceptional students supported by G-Research scholarships – a key component of our broader NextGen initiative, which aims to foster emerging talent in STEM and AI/ML.

These stories spotlight the individuals driving the future of research their academic journeys, areas of focus and what the opportunity means to them. In this edition, we meet Daniel, a DPhil student in Statistical Machine Learning at Hertford College, Oxford.

I will be doing a PhD in statistical Machine Learning at the University of Oxford. My PhD focuses on building machine learning models that make reliable predictions and efficiently adapt to new data in high dimensions. During the course of my PhD, I hoped to, uh, develop principled methods to equip data-driven models with performance and safety guarantees. But I also hope to grow as a researcher by more broadly engaging with the machine learning community. So I always enjoyed working on difficult mathematical problems. And so while I was at Imperial, I did my master's thesis on developing generalization bounds for Gaussian process models. And when eventually that work was published, I realized that research meant I could be working in interesting problems and also making tangible contributions to the field. That's what rudely convinced me to pursue a PhD.
Open video transcript

Daniel’s journey so far

“I have started my DPhil in Statistical Machine Learning at Oxford, supervised by Dr Mark van der Wilk. My research focuses on developing machine learning methods that can provably generalise to unseen datasets.”

Before returning to academia, Daniel completed a Master’s in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Imperial College London, where he published research on equipping deep neural networks with formal safety and performance guarantees. He then moved into industry, working as a Data Scientist at a multi-manager hedge fund, building machine learning tools to support investment strategies.

“That experience reinforced how important reliability and rigour are when models are deployed in real-world settings.”

From curiosity to contribution

Daniel’s PhD will build on this foundation, combining theoretical depth with practical relevance.

“One concept I’m particularly interested in exploring further is how to dynamically adjust the capacity of deep neural networks in continual learning, so that we can balance performance with computational cost.”

For Daniel, research impact is about influence rather than visibility.

“To me, impact means contributing ideas that become part of how others think and work.”

Looking ahead, he hopes his research will offer structured guidance for both academics and practitioners.

“I’d like my work to provide principled frameworks that don’t just advance theory, but also offer clear approaches for people tackling real-world machine learning problems.”

Opening doors through NextGen

The G-Research graduate scholarship allows Daniel to focus fully on his doctoral research while staying connected to both academia and industry.

“The scholarship gives me the freedom to dedicate myself to research without financial constraints, attend leading conferences and connect with mentors working at the intersection of machine learning and quantitative finance.”

As part of the scholar community, Daniel is particularly looking forward to being surrounded by people who value depth and application in equal measure.

“Being part of a community that values rigorous academic work as much as real-world impact is something I’m genuinely excited about.”

What is G-Research NextGen?

With a mission to solve the world’s most complex challenges, we’re committed to shaping the future of research and innovation.

Through G-Research NextGen we will work with academic partners, educational organisations and charities to help support the next generation of STEM talent.

Learn more

Quickfire with Daniel

One concept you’d like to explore more deeply?

How to dynamically adjust neural network capacity in continual learning settings.

What does research impact mean to you?

Contributing ideas that shape how others think and work.

Favourite way to clear your head after a long day?

Spending time with friends, going for a long walk or sitting down at the piano.

Your aspiration beyond the PhD?

To develop principled methods that meaningfully bridge theory and practice.

One word to describe your research philosophy?

Deliberate.

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