Dr Natasha Blitvic
Reader in Mathematical Sciences
Lead for Research, Innovation and External Stakeholders Engagement
School of Mathematical Sciences
Queen Mary University of London
Research
Probability Theory, Combinatorics, Mathematical Physics, Mathematical Foundations of Microbial Ecology, Statistics for Environmental and Ocean Sciences, Applied Probability and Statistics (Engineering)
Interests
Natasha Blitvic is interested in mathematics research accross disciplinary boundaries, particularly in integrative approaches that draw strength from both theory development and close collaboration with other disciplines.
As a pure mathematician working on foundational questions in probability theory, her research seeks to characterize two classes of probabilistic phenomena: positivity — that is, ways in which probabilistic intuition carries over to unexpected settings, such as algebra or combinatorics — and universality, according to which certain probabilistic structures tend to recur in multiple, seemingly unrelated scenarios.
More recently, NB has also been working on probabilistic and statistical frameworks to describe large-scale consequences of small-scale fluctuations/interactions to bear on scaling problems of marine microbial ecology. She is interested axiomatizing and developing theoretical and experimental frameworks to understand the scaling of marine microbial interactions and describe their cumulative impacts on the marine ecosystem and ultimately the climate. In 2024-2025, NB was a Simons Foundation Pivot Fellow at ETH Zurich.
Beyond her own research, NB has a longstanding interest in how research environments
can enable and support individuals to produce creative, high-impact work, particularly when departing from traditional discipline boundaries or workflows, and incorporating diverse career paths and cognitive approaches. In 2025, she took part in the REF 2029 People, Culture and Environment Pilot and presently serves on the EPSRC Mathematical Sciences Strategic Advisory Team.
Publications
Publications of specific relevance to the Centre for Probability, Statistics and Data Science
2025
Fluid flow generates bacterial conjugation hotspots by increasing the rate of shear-driven cell-cell encountersZbinden M Huisman J Blitvic N Stocker R Slomka J
Pnas 06-08-20252021
Permutations, Moments, MeasuresBlitvić N Steingrímsson E
Transactions of The American Mathematical Society,
American Mathematical Society (Ams) vol. 374 (08), 5473-5508.
07-05-2021 Statistics on monotonically ordered non-crossing partitionsBlitvic N Bray T Campbell J Nicu A
Arxiv A new perspective on positivity in (consecutive) permutation patternsBlitvic N Kammoun MS Steingrimsson E
Formal Power Series and Algebraic Combinatorics.
Grants
Grants of specific relevance to the Centre for Probability, Statistics and Data Science
Life at large n: high-dimensional scaling limits of marine microbial processes and interactionsNatasha Blitvic£264,960
Simons Foundation (USA)01-09-2024 - 31-08-2026 PriME - Principles of microbial ecosystemsNatasha Blitvic£92,855
ETH-Zurich01-12-2022 - 31-01-2027
Noncommutative statistical mechanics: probability at the confluence-GRANT TRANSFERNatasha Blitvic£100,950
EPSRC Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council01-09-2022 - 31-08-2024
Research Group
PhD Students
- Joseph Smith
Combinatorics of Probability
News
September 2025
16 September 2025
Summer is typically a period where many conferences take place keeping academics busy. From organising events to giving talks to conferences, members of the Centre were active during the 2025 summer, presenting their research and networking with the UK and the international community.
Natasha Blitvic was an invited plenary speaker at ... [more]
11 September 2025
As a recipient of a 2024 Simons Foundation Pivot Fellowship, Dr. Natasha Blitvic recently participated at the Foundation's spring gathering of Pivot Fellows. Pivot Fellowships allow accomplished scientists to explore different areas of mathematics or the natural sciences. The Fellowship enabled Dr. Blitvic to study the connections of seemingly distinct disciplines: ... [more]
