Archive for ISBA 2024
VenISBA’t to start!!
Posted in pictures, Statistics, Travel, University life with tags BAYSM 2024, Ca' Foscari University, conference, ISBA 2024, Italia, Italy, San Giobbe, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Venezia, Venice, world meeting on June 28, 2024 by xi'an
Nature tidbits
Posted in Books, Kids, Statistics, Travel, University life with tags AI, AI Act, British Columbia, cognitive biases, common mycorrhizal networks, conferences, Data science for social good, developping countries, Ecology, error correcting codes, EU, European Union, forestry, fungal science, gender inequalities, Himalayas, image generator, India, ISBA 2024, mother tree, murmuration, Nature, Pakistan, quantum comuting, qubit, racism, TED talk, The Guardian, training data, trees, University of Warwick, Venezia, visa, Wood Wide Web on June 10, 2024 by xi'an
In News in focus, the development of a revolutionary (CAR-T) cancer therapy by a Munbai company at 1/10 the cost of similar products in the US, with several impressive innovations (and a clinical trial over 33 people). The coverage of Michel Talagrand’s 2024 Abel prize, the deteriorating state of scientific research in Russia, a review on how the Big Bang got its name (hint: it was on BBC 3), and remembering India’s Chipko tree-hugging women of Western Himalayas of 50 years ago. The development of signs for scientific terms to add to the Indian and American sign languages.
There is also an almost sleuthing story on the debates in the ecology community about the theory of “Mother Tree”, introduced by Suzanne Simard, about trees communicating among themselves by underground fungal networks, and thus creating a “wood wide web“. With mature trees favouring their own kin, a theory that critics in the field deem incompatible with evolutionary theory and more crucially missing supporting evidence. (Arguments from Simard that “the European male society hates the mother tree” concept do not help towards a rational denate. The Guardian now has a podcast about this debate.)
And another story on the (racial and gender) bias of AI image generators. With the conclusion that removing such biases goes through open sourcing. And regulation like the EU’s AI Act. that requires technical documentation on the training datasets. Plus a retrospective on the theory of bird-flight origins, with John Ostrom proposing in 1974 that the evolution to flight was ground-up rather than tree-down.
A cover-paper on IBM error correcting code for quantum computing that only requires each qubit to connect with six others (just like birds in murmuration only keep track of seven neighbours) for an error threshold less than 1%. (With the property that 12 logical qubits can be preserved for 10⁶ cyclces using 288 qubits in total.)
BAYSM registration now open!
Posted in Kids, pictures, Statistics, Travel, University life with tags BAYSM 2024, Ca' Foscari University, childcare, gondola, International Society for Bayesian Analysis, ISBA, ISBA 2024, Italia, Italy, j-ISBA, junior researchers, junior-ISBA, registration, San Marco, Venezia, Venice on April 21, 2024 by xi'an
The registration for BAYSM 2024 is now officially open. The Bayesian Young Statistician Meeting will take place in Ca’Foscari on 29 and 30 June, 2024, prior to the ISBA meeting. Early bird registration is available till 10 May and for a very low fee that includes lunches and a reception, terrificò! (Note that dedicated childcare is furthermore available.) And note that the early bird registration for the World ISBA meeting has also been extended to 01 May.
COPSS’gratulations!
Posted in Statistics, University life with tags ASA, COPSS Elizabeth L. Scott Award, COPSS Emerging Leader Award, COPSS Presidents' Award, ENAR, IMS, ISBA 2024, JSM 2024, Portland, profession, Rutgers University, SSC, Università Bocconi, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, University of Chicago, Venice, WNAR on April 2, 2024 by xi'anCongrats to my friends Daniele, Regina, and Veronika, who received three of the 2024 COPSS awards! Looking forward to celebrate with them in the near future, at ISBA 2024 in Venezia or JSM 2024 in Portland!!! (COPSS stands for Committee of Presidents of [some] Statistical Societies, namely ASA, ENAR, WNAR, IMS, and SSC).
ISBA²⁴ [call for contributed talks]
Posted in Kids, pictures, Statistics, Travel, University life with tags Bayesian Analysis, Bayesian bridge, call for contributions, conference, deadline for submission, Gran Canale, International Society for Bayesian Analysis, ISBA 2024, Italy, Rialto, San Giobbe, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Venice on September 28, 2023 by xi'an
Now that the invited sessions have been selected by the scientific committee of ISBA²⁴ (with both sessions in which I am involved, Bayesian data privacy and The future of ISBA conferences, accepted), the call is open for contributed talks, with deadline 17 November. (If this helps in making a proposal, childcare will be available during the conference.)
Contributed talks will be 20 minutes long. Please note that the one-oral-presentation-per-speaker policy is in effect: Each participant shall give at most one oral presentation. All talks, discussions, and panel discussions, &tc count as an oral presentation, the only exceptions being discussants for Named Lectures, and presenters of short courses.
