Conference Proposal -- StatFest 2013

StaFest大会将于2013年10月12日在莱斯大学举行。StaFest是一年一度的活动，由美国统计协会通过统计中的少数群体委员会提供部分支持。今年是国际统计年，这一事件将特别重要。StatFest的目标是展示统计学家在人类努力的所有领域所做的工作，并通过这样做，鼓励本科生--主要是非传统的、代表性不足的--在统计科学领域追求研究生职业生涯。此外，还结合在特定机构从事研究生工作的机会来讨论获得研究生奖学金的机会。这些目标是通过聚集一批活跃的演讲者来实现的，他们是各自领域(政府、行业、学术界等)的顶级研究人员。他们能够传递他们对统计科学的热情。此外，一个由研究生组成的小组讨论了更具体的机会、挑战和轶事，这些可能对即将毕业的研究生有帮助。会议还通过社区餐饮(早餐、午餐和两次喝咖啡休息)为本科生和专业统计学家提供了大量一对一的讨论机会，并在StatFest历史上第一次在一天结束时举行了本科生研究海报会议。这些学生将从德克萨斯州各地招收。传统上，StatFest会从主办城市的机构中招收学生。但今年，由于国际统计年，预计这一活动将产生更大的区域影响，而不是地方影响。会议将汇集一批来自学术界、工业界和政府的顶尖专业统计学家，展示他们的活动，目的是吸引本科生在统计科学领域寻求研究生职业生涯。学生主要来自统计科学中代表性不足的群体，他们参与关于科学研究各个领域的前沿问题和解决方案的对话，并学习这些领域的前沿问题和解决方案，最重要的是，学生们逐渐认识到统计科学在支持和指导基础科学研究以及在此过程中对追求研究生职业生涯所发挥的基本作用。StatFest继续对本科生关于研究生工作的决定产生重大的积极影响。由于参加StatFest的学生中有相当大比例来自统计科学中代表性不足的群体，StatFest--显然和令人信服--为许多代表性不足的学生提供了一个启动平台。这些努力将有助于缓解有充分证据的国家迫切需要培训更多来自代表性不足群体的学生从事数学科学的研究生职业。

StaFest conference will be held on October 12, 2013 at Rice University. The StaFest is an annual event partially supported by the American Statistical Association through the Committee on Minorities in Statistics. This year, the International Year of Statistics, this event will be especially significant. The goal of the StatFest is to showcase the work by statisticians in all realms of human endeavors, and by doing so, to encourage undergraduate students -- mostly non-traditional and underrepresented -- to pursue graduate careers in the statistical sciences. In addition, opportunities for graduate fellowships are discussed in the context of opportunities for graduate work in specific institutions. These goals are achieved by gathering a cadre of dynamic speakers who are top researchers in their respective domains (government, industry, academia, etc.) who are able to transmit their enthusiasm for the statistical sciences. In addition, a panel of graduate students discusses more specifically opportunities, challenges, and anecdotes that can be helpful for the soon-to-be graduate students. The conference also offers plenty of one-on-one discussion opportunities between undergraduate students and professional statisticians through communitarian meals (breakfast, lunch, and two coffee breaks) and, for the first time in the history of StatFests, an undergraduate research poster session at the end of the day. Students that will be recruited from across Texas. Traditionally the StatFest has recruited students from institutions in the host city. But this year, due to the International Year of Statistics, it is envisioned that the event will have more of a regional impact rather than a local one. The conference will assemble a group of top professional statisticians from academia, industry and government to showcase their activities with the purpose of enticing undergraduate students to pursue graduate careers in the statistical sciences. Students, mostly from underrepresented groups in the statistical sciences, engage in conversations about, and learn about cutting edge problems and solutions in, various realms of scientific inquiry, and most importantly, students come to appreciate the fundamental role that the statistical sciences play in supporting and guiding the fundamental scientific research and in the process get interested in pursuing graduate careers. The StatFest continues to have a major positive impact on the decisions of undergraduate students regarding graduate work. As a substantial percentage of those students attending the StatFest are from underrepresented groups in the statistical sciences, the StatFest -- clearly and compellingly-- provides a launching platform for many underrepresented students. These efforts will have an impact in helping to alleviate the well-documented national critical need to train more students from underrepresented groups in postgraduate careers in the mathematical sciences.