While Nobel prizes never get close to mathematics, it sometimes happens they border statistics. It was the case two years ago with Chris Sims—soon to speak at Bayes 250 in Duke— winning the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (often shortened into the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences). This year was also a borderline year since an econometrician, Lars Peter Hansen, got a third of the prize… Hansen is the current co-editor of Econometrica and one of the main contributors to the theory of the generalised method of moments. (Which can be re-interpreted as a precursor to ABC!) He has most of his papers in Econometrica, Journal of Econometrics, and other econom’ics journals, but also has a 2009 paper in the Annals of Statistics. In addition, even though the case is even more borderline, the fact that simulation techniques are at the core of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is also a good thing for our field (although I did not see much mentions made of statistics in the reports I read, apart from their methods making “good predictions”…)
Archive for Duke University
Nobel year for statistics [in a weak sense]
Posted in University life with tags ABC, Bayes 250, Duke University, ISBA, Monte Carlo Statistical Methods, Nobel Prize, simulation on November 13, 2013 by xi'anfie on fee frenzy!
Posted in Mountains, Statistics, Travel, University life with tags ABC in London, ABC in Paris, ABC in Rome, Bayes 250, Bayesian conference, Bayesian statistics, Duke University, Durham, London, MCMSki IV, O-Bayes 2013, RSS, Thomas Bayes on June 11, 2013 by xi'an
In the past years, I noticed a clear inflation on conference fees, inflation that I feel unjustified… I already mentioned the huge $720 fees for the Winter Simulation Conference (WSC 2012), which were certainly not all due to the heating bill! Even conferences held by and in universities or societies seem to face the same doom: to stick to conferences I will attend—and do support, to the point of being directly or indirectly involved—, take for instance Bayes 250 in London (RSS Headquarters), £135, Bayes 250 at Duke, $190, both one day-long, and O-Bayes 2013, also at Duke, $480 (in par with JSM fees)… While those later conferences include side “benefits” like meals and banquet, the amount remains large absolutive. Too large. And prohibitive for participants from less-favoured countries (possibly including speakers themselves in the case of O-Bayes 2013). And also counter-productive in the case of both Bayes 250 conferences since we want to get together to celebrate two and a half centuries of Bayesian statistics. Since most of the talks there will be partly commemorative, rather than on the brink of research, I fear some people may have to make a choice to allocate their meagre research funds to other conferences. And I do not understand why universities now consider organising meetings as a source of income rather than as a natural part of their goals.
Now, you may ask, and what about MCMski on which I have more than a modicum of control..?! Well, the sole cost there is renting the conference centre in Chamonix, which is the only place I knew where a large conference could be held. Apart from that, no frill! The coffee breaks will be few and frugal, there will be no free lunch or breakfast or banquet, and no one will get a free entry or a paid invitation. As a result, the registration fee is only 170€ for three days (plus a free satellite meeting the next day), an amount computed on an expected number of participants of 150 and which could lead me to pay the deficit from my own research grants in case I am wrong. (And may I recall the “ABC in…” series, which has been free of fees so far!)
My point, overall, is that we should aim at more frugal meetings, in order to attract larger and more diverse crowds (even though fees are only part of the equation, lodging and travelling can be managed to some extent as long as the workshop is not in too an exotic location).
Bayes 250 in Durham
Posted in Books, Statistics, Travel, University life, Wines with tags An Essay towards solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chances, anniversary, conference, Duke University, Durham, EFab@, ISBA, O'Bayes, Sharon McGrayne, the theory that would not die, Thomas Bayes, USA, workshop on March 27, 2013 by xi'anReproducing an email from ISBA (sorry about the confusion purposely created by the title, this is Durham, North Carolina, not Durham, England, just as the London in Bayes 250 in London was London, England, not London, Ontario!):
ISBA announces a special celebration of the 250th anniversary of the presentation (December 23, 1763) of Thomas Bayes’ seminal paper “An Essay towards solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chances” that will be held at Duke University in conjunction with the O-Bayes 13 Workshop (December 15-19) and EFab@ Bayes250 Workshop (December 15-17). (I am part of the scientific committee for O-Bayes 13!)
Speakers for the anniversary celebration are legendary contributors to the Bayesian literature, spanning a range of fields:
- Stephen Fienberg, Carnegie-Mellon University
- Michael Jordan, University of California, Berkeley
- Christopher Sims, Princeton University
- Adrian Smith, University of London
- Stephen Stigler, University of Chicago
There will be a banquet in the evening, with a speech by Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, noted author of the popular book “The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes’ Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines and Emerged Triumphant From Two Centuries of Controversy.”
