Originally from Manchester, James completed his MSc in Statistics at Imperial College London after finishing his BSc at UCL. His Master’s thesis focused on the field of Reinforcement Learning, developing both the theory and methodology for a novel, generative version of the classical Thompson Sampling algorithm. He is particularly excited about the use of foundation models within the decision making setting, and looks forward to continuing this work as part of his first mini-project. Whether it be theoretical or of a more applied flavour, James most enjoys research with a strong practical focus; in particular, he is currently interested in the applications of his work to the financial and tech sectors. In his spare time, James enjoys watching/playing football, exploring new places in London, and beating his grandpa (sometimes!) at chess.
James Widdowson
