Acknowledgements

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my two amazing supervisors, Dr Joanna McHugh Power and Prof Rafael de Andrade Moral. Both Joanna and Rafael have been incredible sources of help throughout my PhD and helped instil in me a confidence I didn’t quite know I had. To this day, they continue to provide me with numerous research opportunities, and in the future I aspire to be as supportive and dedicated as they are.

I would also like to thank the Taighde Éireann Centre for Research Training in Foundations of Data Science and the Hamilton Institute for sponsoring me and providing me with incredible training, numerous resources, along with funding for international research visits and conferences. Within, I would like to thank David, Joanna, Kate, and Rosemary for the many chats, cups of tea, and for letting me use the office credit card one too many times. Although our time was short, I would also like to thank Ken Duffy for his support in those first few months, and the numerous times he would tell me the history of the Hamilton Institute over breakfast.

I want to thank my collaborators, Prof Fuschia Sirois and Prof Idemauro Antonio Rodrigues de Lara. To Fuschia, thank you for hosting me at Durham University and for the numerous projects we have and are still working on. To Idemauro, I thank you for your support, kind words, and genuine positive attitude. Also, sorry for sneaking into your hotel room. It was Rafael’s idea! I also wish to extend my thanks to Ione, Duke, Ciarán, and Michelle. Without your input and reviews this thesis would not be possible.

Additionally, I want to thank my family. For the most part, my dad and my grandparents don’t quite know what I’m doing. In fact, sometimes they think I still do ! However, whenever I tell them of something I’ve done or send them a part of my research, they never fail to tell me how proud they are. Truly, I thank you for the never-ending love and support. I love you guys.

Finally, I wish to thank my beautiful, amazing, and loving partner, Enola. You have always supported and loved me, and you truly make me a better person. Thank you for everything you do in my life, for all the love, support, and adventures we’ve taken around the world. You always say you are lucky to have met me, but honestly, I am luckier to have met you. I love you now, forever, and always

I know I said finally, but there’s one more person that needs to be thanked. In the last month of writing this thesis, we unofficially adopted a cat named Bigsy. Bigsy doesn’t belong to us; in fact, he lives down the road. But ever since we fed him one day he now comes to our house to watch us work, while mostly sleeping on the couch. Nevertheless, thank you Bigsy. Having you sleeping there next to me made writing that little bit easier.