Colloquium Speaker:
Dr. Peter MacDonald, Ph.D.
University of Waterloo, Waterloo
Title: Mesoscale two-sample testing for networks
Abstract: Networks arise naturally in many scientific fields as a representation of pairwise connections. When multiple networks on a shared node set are grouped by case-control status or another categorical covariate, the classical statistical question of two-sample comparison arises. In this work, we address the problem of testing for statistically significant differences in a given arbitrary subset of connections. Conducting “mesoscale" testing on a meaningful group of edges is relevant in applications such as neuroimaging. In this mesoscale setting, we develop statistically sound projection-based tests for two-sample comparison in both weighted and binary edge networks. Our approach leverages information from outside the set of interest to learn informative low-rank projections, leading to more powerful tests.
Day & Time: Friday, March 6, 2026, at 3:00pm
Location: Lambton Tower, Room 9-118
Counts toward seminar attendance for MSc and PhD students in Math & Stats.