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

这次会议是一系列研讨会中的第四次。研讨会的目标是审查最优化在现代统计中可以发挥或应该发挥的作用。由于高通量数据收集技术的出现和分析这类数据的计算能力的并行发展，经常发生统计理论让位于原始计算能力的情况。尽管大多数新的令人振奋的计算/统计方法提供了在许多重要科学问题上取得进展的工具，但现在显然需要推广和系统化这一知识。研讨会将汇集一组专家，在现代统计方法的背景下讨论尖端研究的最优化思想。人们认为，尽管在数据可视化和数据挖掘以及知识发现等领域取得了很大进展，但制定允许对方法进行客观比较的最佳范例的主题已经成熟。这一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。会议将展示领先研究人员在有利于开发新人力资源的环境中的新发展，开幕式将展示年轻研究人员的工作。随着统计学继续对生物医学、国家安全、城市基础设施可靠性、大气科学等领域产生的海量高维数据的分析做出实质性贡献，综合这些知识以更有效地分析这些数据的需求已经走到了该学科的前沿。例如，目前的统计工作导致了对电网随机行为的更好理解，应该有助于创建一种智能电网，能够更好地应对电网状态的变化，从而避免连锁故障，目前仅在美国就造成了约1040亿美元的损失。研讨会将提供一个论坛，展示需要发展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，研讨会将为青年研究人员的成熟和在这些重要领域开发更多人力资源提供环境。

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.