Sam Howard

Sam Howard

PhD Student in Machine Learning

New College

Department of Statistics

University of Oxford

I am a PhD student on the StatML CDT programme, based in the Department of Statistics at the University of Oxford. My current research is focused on computational methods for optimal transport and optimal control, and is supervised by George Deligiannidis and Patrick Rebeschini.

Previously, I obtained my Masters in Mathematics at Oxford, where I focused on Functional Analysis and Probability Theory.

Download my CV.

Interests
  • Optimal Transport and Control
  • Flow-based Generative Modelling
  • Hiking
  • Classical Guitar
  • Double Bass
Education

  • PhD in Statistics (StatML Programme), 2023-

    University of Oxford

  • Master in Mathematics, 2018-2022

    University of Oxford

Timeline

 
 
 
 
 
PhD in Statistics, University of Oxford
Flow-based Machine Learning Approaches for Optimal Transport and Control
Oct 2023 – Present Supervised by George Deligiannidis and Patrick Rebeschini

  • Schrödinger Bridge Matching for Tree-Structured Costs and Entropic Wasserstein Barycentres
    NeurIPS 2025
    Samuel Howard*, Peter Potaptchik, George Deligiannidis

  • Diffusion Models and the Manifold Hypothesis: Log-Domain Smoothing is Geometry Adaptive
    NeurIPS 2025
    Tyler Farghly*, Peter Potaptchik*, Samuel Howard*, George Deligiannidis, Jakiw Pidstrigach

  • Control Consistency Losses for Diffusion Bridges
    Frontiers in Probabilistic Inference Workshop, NeurIPS 2025 (Oral)
    Samuel Howard*, Nikolas Nüsken, Jakiw Pidstrigach

  • Differentiable Cost-Parameterized Monge Map Estimators
    Differentiable Almost Everything Workshop, ICML 2024
    Samuel Howard*, George Deligiannidis, Patrick Rebeschini, James Thornton

 
 
 
 
 
MMath Dissertation
Best-of-Both-Worlds Bandits: An Introduction and Extension of the Tsallis-INF Algorithm
Nov 2021 – May 2022
  • Supervised by Patrick Rebeschini
 
 
 
 
 
Summer Research Intern
The Asymptotic Randomised Control Algorithm for Contextual Bandits
Jun 2021 – Aug 2021 Oxford Mathematical Institute, Data Science Group
  • Supervised by Samuel Cohen and Tanut Treetanthiploet

Teaching

I have tutored Mathematics undergraduates at New College, Oxford in the following courses:

  • Probability, 1st Year
  • Statistics and Data Analysis, 1st Year
  • Integration, 2nd Year
  • Metric Spaces and Complex Analysis, 2nd Year

I have been a teaching assistant at the Department of Statistics for the following courses:

  • Applied Probability, 3rd Year
  • Advanced Simulation Methods, 4th Year

Contact

  • Department of Statistics, 24-29 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LB