Grand Challenges in Bayesian Statistics Seminar
- Time:
- 14:15
- Date:
- 15 May 2014
- Venue:
- Building 54 Room 10031
For more information regarding this seminar, please email Dr Ben Parker at B.M.Parker@southampton.ac.uk .
Event details
Research seminar series
Bayesian statistical methods for modelling and data analysis are now endemic in a very wide range of fields. The Bayesian paradigm has a number of appealing features, including the ability to describe complex data structures, characterise uncertainty, and provide comprehensive estimates of parameter values, comparative assessments, probabilities and risk. In this presentation I will draw on some of our experiences in applying Bayesian statistical methods to problems in health, environment and industry, to highlight some of these benefits and discuss some corresponding limitations. The discussion will be cast in the form of ‘grand challenges’ which involve the development of appropriate theory, models and computational algorithms to address the applied problems.
Speaker information
Professor Kerrie Mengersen , Queensland University of Technology. Professor Kerrie Mengersen currently holds a Chair in Statistics at the Queensland University of Technology. She is engaged in the development of statistical methods and computational algorithms, and their application to health, environment and agriculture, and industry. Her methodological interests are in Complex Systems modelling, Bayesian statistics, mixture models, hierarchical modelling, risk evaluation and meta-analysis. She is also an experienced statistical consultant, having held early positions as a consultant in Siromath Pty Ltd, Director of the Statistical Consulting unit at QUT and co-Director of NewStat Consulting at the University of Newcastle in Australia. Kerrie is an Accredited Member of the Statistical Society of Australia (2001) and past National President (2011-2012), an elected Fellow and long-time executive member of the International Society for Bayesian Analysis, a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society (2004) and a Fellow of the Institute for Mathematical Sciences (2005). In 2010 she received the Outstanding Science Researcher Award from the Wesley Research Institute, the first time that this was awarded to a non-clinical researcher. She has also received Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Research Excellence and Impact on Industry. Kerrie’s national and international reputation in statistics research and its application is supported by over 200 refereed journal publications, around 20 invited international conference presentations in the past five years and graduation of around 30 postgraduate students. Her research group at QUT is the Bayesian Research and Applications Group (BRAG), which comprises around a dozen research associates and postdocs, and around a dozen postgraduate research students.