The Fourth Erich L. Lehmann Symposium -- Optimality; May 9-12, 2011; Rice University

这次会议是一系列专题讨论会的第四次。研讨会的目标是研究最优性在现代统计学中可以发挥或应该发挥的作用。由于高吞吐量数据采集技术的出现以及分析这些数据的计算能力的并行发展，统计理论经常让位于原始计算能力。尽管大多数新的令人兴奋的计算/统计方法提供了在许多重要的科学问题上取得进展的工具，但现在很明显需要将这些知识普遍化和系统化。研讨会将汇集一组专家，讨论现代统计方法背景下的前沿研究最优性思想。据认为，尽管在数据可视化、数据挖掘和知识发现等领域取得了很大进展，但这些主题已经成熟，可以开发一种允许对方法进行客观比较的最优性范式。这种新的范式，虽然仍有待定义，但对于推动这些重要领域的研究前沿是必要的。会议将在有利于开发新人力资源的环境中展示主要研究人员的新进展，开幕式将展示年轻研究人员的工作。随着统计继续对生物医学科学、国家安全、城市基础设施可靠性、大气科学等领域出现的大量高维数据的分析做出重大贡献，综合这些知识以更高效和有效地分析这些数据的需求已经成为该学科的前沿。例如，目前的统计工作使人们对电网的随机行为有了更好的理解，这应该有助于创建一个智能电网，它可以更好地响应电网状态的变化，从而避免连锁故障，目前仅在美国就造成了1040亿美元的损失。研讨会将提供一个论坛，展示需要开发的令人兴奋和有影响的理论工作，以更好地理解这些复杂系统的行为。此外，研讨会将为这些重要领域的年轻研究人员的成熟和更多人力资源的开发提供环境。

The conference is the fourth of a series of symposia. The goal of the Symposia is to examine the role that Optimality can play, or should play, in modern statistics. Due to the advent of high throughput data collection technology and the parallel development of computing power to analyze such data, it often happens that statistical theory gives way to raw computing power. Although most of the new exciting computational/statistical methodologies have provided tools to make headway in many important scientific problems, a need to generalize and systematize this knowledge is now quite evident. The Symposia will bring together a group of experts to discuss cutting-edge research optimality ideas in the context of modern statistical methodologies. It is believed that, although much progress has taken place in areas such as data visualization and data mining and knowledge discovery among others, the subjects are ripe for the development of an optimality paradigm that allows for objective comparisons of methodologies. This new paradigm, although still to be defined, is necessary to push the research frontiers in these important areas. The conference will showcase new developments by leading researchers in an environment conducive to the development of new human resources and an opening session will showcase the work of young investigators.With the substantial contributions that statistics continues to make to the analyses of massive high-dimensional data arising in the biomedical sciences, national security, reliability of urban infrastructures, atmospheric sciences, etc, the need to synthesize this knowledge to more efficiently and effectively analyze such data has come to the forefront of the discipline. Current statistical efforts, for example, leading to a better understanding of the stochastic behavior of the power grid, should help in the creation of an intelligent grid that can better respond to changes in the grid's status and thus avert cascading failures that currently cost in the order of $104 billion dollars in the United States alone. The symposium will provide a forum to showcase the exciting and impacting theoretical work that needs to be developed to better understand the behavior of these complex systems. In addition, the symposium will provide the environment for the maturing of young researchers and the development of more human resources in these important areas.