The SRCOS Summer Research Conference in Statistics and Biostatistics

Overview: The Summer Research Conference (SRC) is an annual research conference sponsored by the Southern Regional Council on Statistics (SRCOS). Since the inception of the SRC, the purposes of the conference are to encourage the interchange and mutual understanding of research ideas in statistics and biostatistics, and to give motivation and direction to further research progress, particularly for young researchers, in a manner not ordinarily possible at other meetings. The meeting is particularly valuable for graduate students, isolated statisticians, and faculty from smaller regional schools in the Southern Region. Each year, the location of the conference is chosen to be at a drivable distance for researchers in the Southern Region, thus affording them the opportunity to participate and interact closely with internationally-known leaders in the field without the cost of travel to distant venues. Speakers present formal research talks with adequate time allowed for clarification, amplification, and further informal discussions in small groups. As such, speakers, session chairs, and discussants make themselves accessible for informal discussions of their research as well as formal presentations. On the second day of the conference, the NSF/R.L. Anderson Student Poster Session for graduate students is featured. An overwhelming majority of faculty and senior researchers stay and view the student posters. The Student Poster Session includes a competition, with student posters judged by leaders in the field. The Student Poster Session provides an excellent opportunity for the young scholars to gain experience and obtain feedback. Awards in honor of SRCOS founders are presented that evening at the conference banquet. A separate poster session for young faculty and isolated statisticians allows them a means of participation. Intellectual Merit: In 2017, the SRC celebrated its 53rd anniversary. Years of experience have resulted in the SRC being an effective means for exchanging cutting-edge research and education in statistics and biostatistics on a real-time basis; i.e., as they are being developed as opposed to years later after publication; and in mutual stimulation to generate new ideas and approaches to these open problems. The conference also provides a successful avenue that leads to the development of collaborative relationships among statisticians, especially those in the sixteen states of the Southern Region. Broader Impacts: The broader impact of the SRC is a strengthening of the statistics and biostatistics research community as a whole, and particularly in the sixteen states of the Southern Region. Internationally-known statisticians, isolated statisticians, graduate students, and faculty from around the Southern Region interact in formal research presentations as well as in informal settings. In addition to the presentations, dissemination of the research presented at the conference is accomplished via the conference web site.