Young Hyun Cho Earns Prestigious ASA SLDS Student Paper Award
01-29-2026
Young Hyun Cho, a PhD candidate in Purdue University’s Department of Statistics, has been selected as the winner of the 2025 American Statistical Association (ASA) Statistical Learning and Data Science (SLDS) Student Paper Award for his paper, “Beyond Data Splitting: Full-Data Conformal Prediction by Differential Privacy.”
The award, presented annually by the SLDS section of the ASA, recognizes outstanding student research in statistical learning and data science. Cho’s paper was chosen from a competitive pool of submissions and will be highlighted in a contributed session at the upcoming Joint Statistical Meetings — one of the premier gatherings of statisticians and data scientists worldwide.
“This recognition is especially meaningful because it is for the same work that earned me the Graduate Workshop Award last semester,” Cho said. “To see it acknowledged by the broader statistical community is a tremendous honor.”
Cho co-authored the paper with former faculty member Jordan Awan, and the research addresses foundational issues in how statistical predictions can be made while preserving individual privacy.
The SLDS Student Paper Award celebrates original research that advances the theory or application of statistical learning and data science. Winners are selected through a rigorous review process and invited to present their work at JSM, where leaders from academia, industry and government convene to share innovations in statistical science.
Cho’s achievement reflects Purdue’s strong research environment and the mentorship he received throughout his doctoral studies. “I’m truly honored to represent Purdue Statistics with this achievement one last time as a student,” Cho said. “I believe this recognition reflects the strong research environment and support I have received from our department throughout my Ph.D. journey.”
As he prepares to graduate in May, Cho said the award is a fitting capstone to his time at Purdue. His work on conformal prediction and differential privacy sits at the intersection of theoretical statistics and real-world needs for trustworthy data analysis.
Conformal prediction is an approach that provides valid predictive inferences under minimal assumptions. When combined with differential privacy — a formal framework for protecting individual data contributions — the methodology developed by Cho and his co-author offers a way to make reliable predictions without exposing sensitive information. This has important implications for fields that must balance statistical accuracy with privacy concerns, such as health research, social science and technology. While detailed technical descriptions will be included in the JSM presentation, the core contribution lies in enabling full-data use without compromising privacy guarantees.
Purdue Statistics faculty and students have a strong record of national recognition in student research competitions. This award adds to the department’s tradition of producing scholars whose work resonates beyond the university’s campus.
The Joint Statistical Meetings will provide a platform for Cho to share his research with peers and experts, further amplifying the impact of his work. The SLDS award underscores the relevance of his contributions to ongoing discussions about the role of privacy in modern data analysis.
About the Department of Statistics at Purdue University
Our mission is to advance the frontiers of statistical sciences and data science in both theory and applications; to provide learning environments that produce well-educated data scientists, statisticians, probabilists, and quantitatively literate people; and to join with others in bringing the strengths of the statistical sciences to address societal needs. The Department offers the degrees of Bachelor of Science, Graduate Certificate, Master of Science, Online Master of Applied Statistics, and Ph.D. in Statistics. Our programs prepare students for careers in both industry and academia and prepare them to be leaders in their fields. The Department of Statistics is part of the College of Science at Purdue University and is housed in the Mathematical Sciences Building in West Lafayette, Indiana. Learn more about the department at stat.purdue.edu.
Written by: Alisha Willett, Communications Specialist, amwillet@purdue.edu
Contributors: Young Hyun Cho, Ph.D. candidate