latent Gaussian model workshop in Reykjavik

An announcement for an Icelandic meeting next September, meeting I would have loved to attend (darn!)… This meeting is sponsored by the BayesComp session, of course!!!

We are pleased to announce that the University of Iceland will host the 3rd Workshop on Bayesian Inference for Latent Gaussian Models with Applications (LGM).

The workshop will be held in Reykjavik, Iceland, on September 12-14 2013 at Harpa ~V Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Centre:

The emphasized topics of LGM 2013 are:
-Machine learning
-Spatial and spatio-temporal modeling
-Bayesian non-parametrics
-Latent Gaussian models
-The workshop is not restricted to these topics

The invited speakers are:
-Matthias Katzfuß at Universität Heidelberg
-Bani Mallick at Texas A&M University
-Peter Müller at University of Texas
-Michèle Sebag at INRIA Saclay, CNRS
-Matthias Seeger at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
-Christopher Wikle at University of Missouri

Registration fees:
Early bird fee before May 21th ~@ 375
Registration fee after May 21th ~@ 440
Student fee ~@ 250

Detailed information on the scientific program, conference field trip, organizing committee, scientific committee and meeting registration is available on the conference web-site:

Bayes 250 in Durham

Reproducing 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.”

MCMSki IV, Jan. 6-8, 2014, Chamonix (news #4)

More news about MCMSki IV! Remember, the call is still open for contributed sessions for a few more weeks, till March. 20 to be precise (make sure to contact me at bayesianstatistics@gmail.com if you are considering putting one session together). To all those who already submitted a session, thanks a lot, please stay tuned, and we will contact you very soon after March 20!

One exciting item is that there will be a satellite workshop on January 9, on Bayesian non-parametrics and semi-parametrics, organised by Judith Rousseau. BNPski, anyone?!  Details are not yet available, but anyone registered for MCMSki IV and interested should be free to attend this workshop, free of charges. (It will take place at the conference centre as well.)

Another item is that we managed to get a cheaper offer for the ski race, reaching an entry prize of 10 euros. Or less if we manage to find this sponsor… Not that bad when considering the high probability competitors have to win a pair of skis!!!

Last item for today: the list and rate of hotels available thru the conference centre is as follows

• ALPINA*** : Single Room 136€ & Twin or Double Room 106€ /pers
• PRIEURE*** : Single Room 136€ & Twin or Double Room 106€ /pers
• LOUVRE** : Single Room 85 € & Twin or Double Room 64€ /pers
• POINTE ISABELLE** : Single Room 81,90€ & Twin or Double Room 59,90€ /perss

However, many other options are available in the vicinity, from hotels to B&B, to rental apartments and chalets, with a wide range of prices if you pre-book early (like now!) See the links on our webpage.

MCMSki IV, Jan. 6-8 (9?), 2014, Chamonix (news #3)

In case you have not been constantly tracking the changes on the MCMSki IV webpage, here are some news: the number of invited and accepted contributed sessions in the program had considerably increased, to the point of almost filling two parallel sessions for the whole duration of the meeting. This includes an exciting round-table on MCMC software animated by Luke Bornn. We are actually discussing how to handle the incoming proposals, from adding one more track/room to the program to adding an extra morning (the morning after!) to the meeting—with the argument that participants will anyway leave on the 9th of January at the earliest—to sadly rejecting some of the proposed contributed sessions…. Nonetheless, the call is still open for contributed sessions for a few more weeks, till March. 20 to be precise (make sure to contact me at bayesianstatistics@gmail.com if you are considering putting one session together).

The registration page is not yet complete (we are still discussing the rates for the Richard Tweedie ski race, and managed to get them down to 10€ per person so far so we may not have to cancel this race, especially given the exciting (almost certain!) promise of a pair of brand new skis for the winners!, and more we can find benevolent sponsors…). Once again the conference fees will range from 100€ for PhD students to 210€ for participants not members of ISBA or of IMS. The additional fees for the banquet have also been lowered to 30 euros.

off to Florida

Today I am off (again!) to Florida, taking part in the Winter Workshop at the University of Florida, Gainesville. The theme this year is New Directions in Monte Carlo Methods. I am quite excited to meet again with many old friends (this almost sounds like a rehearsal for MCMSki 4!), but also sad that George Casella who would have been my oldest friend there will be missing. Dearly missing and missed. At the same time, I appreciate that this workshop gives me the opportunity to meet at last with George’s family (with whom I share so many memories) and his colleagues at UFL. I am sure we will have plenty of pizzas, wine(s), and laughs in remembrance of the numerous good times we all had with George. And I will run the streets we ran together, quite a while ago…