The Maths School Colloquium — jointly hosted as a meeting of the Royal Statistical Society local group — investigates the ups and downs of being a public statistician.

Prof Sir David Spiegelhalter will give a talk entitled ‘Does a university education increase the risk of a brain tumour? The ups and (many) downs of trying to be a ‘public statistician’’.

Prof Spiegalhalter is known for his appearances in the media commenting on the use and misuse, understanding and misunderstanding of statistics (and numbers more generally); ranging from articles in print in national newspapers to live appearances on national radio to contributions to the public inquiry into the Bristol heart scandal. He is the Winton Professor for the Public Understandin of Risk at University of Cambridge and the current President of the Royal Statistical Society. He’s also a very well-regarded speaker, has an excellent record and is a former Research Assistant of the University of Nottingham.

The talk is aimed at a diverse audience with little mathematical or statistical knowledge. A drinks reception will follow the talk.