Personal profile
Research interests
I am interested in stochastic numerics, differential equations and their applications to machine learning.
Since my time as a graduate student, I have particularly enjoyed the numerical analysis of Brownian motion and Stochastic Differential Equations (SDEs). This research has focused on developing numerical methods and applying them to prominent SDEs within data science, such as Langevin dynamics and Neural SDEs. You can find some of my numerical methods in the Diffrax library (full credit goes to Andraž Jelinčič and Patrick Kidger for making this possible).
Alongside my interest in SDEs, I have worked on machine learning projects in collaboration with members of the Oxford-based DataSig team. Here we introduced new differential equation models and algorithms, inspired by rough path theory, for tackling problems involving multivariate time series.
Education/Academic qualification
Mathematics, Doctor of Philosophy, Numerical approximations for stochastic differential equations, University of Oxford
Oct 2016 → Nov 2020
Mathematics, Master of Mathematics, University of Oxford
Oct 2012 → Sept 2016
External positions
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Oxford
May 2020 → Jul 2022
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 1 Finished
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Academic Fellowship at the Institute for Mathematical Innovation
Foster, J. (PI)
8/12/22 → 7/06/24
Project: Other
Research output
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Generative Modeling of Lévy Area for High Order SDE Simulation
Jelincic, A., Tao, J., Turner, W. F., Cass, T., Foster, J. & Ni, H., 31 Dec 2025, In: SIAM Journal on Mathematics of Data Science. 7, 4, p. 1541-1567 27 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile32 Downloads (Pure) -
Underdamped Langevin MCMC with third order convergence
Scott, M., O'Kane, D., Jelincic, A. & Foster, J., 9 Sept 2025, (Submitted) In: Journal of Machine Learning Research.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
File3 Downloads (Pure) -
High order splitting methods for SDEs satisfying a commutativity condition
Foster, J., dos Reis, G. & Strange, C., 31 Dec 2024, In: SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis (SINUM). 62, 1, p. 500-532 33 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile5 Link opens in a new tab Citations (SciVal)217 Downloads (Pure) -
Subtle variation in sepsis-III definitions markedly influences predictive performance within and across methods
Cohen, S. N., Foster, J., Foster, P., Lou, H., Lyons, T., Morley, S., Morrill, J., Ni, H., Palmer, E., Wang, B., Wu, Y., Yang, L. & Yang, W., 22 Jan 2024, In: Scientific Reports. 14, 1, 10 p., 1920.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access6 Link opens in a new tab Citations (SciVal) -
Brownian bridge expansions for Lévy area approximations and particular values of the Riemann zeta function
Foster, J. & Habermann, K., 31 May 2023, In: Combinatorics, Probability and Computing. 32, 3, p. 370-397 28 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access11 Link opens in a new tab Citations (SciVal)
Prizes
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G-Research PhD Prize in Maths and Data Science
Foster, J. (Recipient), 16 Mar 2020
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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IMA Leslie Fox Prize for Numerical Analysis
Foster, J. (Recipient), 23 Jun 2025
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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2024 Conference on Modern Topics in Stochastic Analysis and Applications
Foster, J. (Organiser), Crisan, D. (Organiser), Cass, T. (Organiser), Salvi, C. (Organiser), Ni, H. (Organiser), Chevyrev, I. (Organiser) & Litterer, C. (Organiser)
22 Apr 2024 → 26 Apr 2024Activity: Academic conferences and events (excluding conference publications) › Major conference organising role
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ICMS Strategic Workshop on "New Directions for Stochastic Differential Equations and Machine Learning"
Foster, J. (Organiser), Shardlow, T. (Organiser), Campbell, N. (Organiser), Subr, K. (Organiser) & Wu, Y. (Organiser)
3 Jun 2024 → 7 Jun 2024Activity: Academic conferences and events (excluding conference publications) › Major conference organising role
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Maths4DL "Dynamics, Data and Deep Learning" workshop
Foster, J. (Organiser), Budd, C. (Organiser), Lake, H. (Organiser), Colbrook, M. (Organiser), Sandler, M. (Organiser), Abraham, K. (Organiser) & Szalai , R. (Organiser)
25 Mar 2024 → 26 Mar 2024Activity: Public, Community and School Engagement › Public talk, lecture, debate, seminar, workshop