(this post is by Charles)

StanCon 2024 is happening in 77 days!!

We have reviewed and accepted a number of stellar proposals for talks and tutorials; and we have 4 wonderful keynote lectures lined up:

• Bayesian multilevel causal modelling of the frequency and implications of having two HIV infections by Chris Wymant (Oxford University)
• From the Depths to the Stars: How Modeling Shark Movements Illuminates Star Behavior by Vianey Leos Barajas (University of Toronto)
• Applied modeling for drug development by Sebastian Weber (Novartis Pharma)
• The Pragmatic Probabilistic Programmer by Mitzi Morris (Columbia University)

As speakers confirm their attendance, the program gets updated everyday on the event website. I’ll also post regularly here, on the Stan forum and on social media about updates on the event.

Some important notes:

• Early bird registration ends on July 1st. After that, ticket prices go up by £100 (but stay the same for students)
• We have now accepted a large number of proposals for talks and tutorials (soon to be posted on the event website). Spots are being filled up: if you want to submit a proposal, do it soon!

We have also received an outstanding number of scholarship applications and we are thrilled to see the interest of young scientists with a broad range of interests and aspirations. Today, we issued a first wave of scholarships and we will issue more in the coming weeks. As described on the event website:

The purpose of the StanCon scholarship is to make StanCon a more accessible and inclusive event. The StanCon scholarship covers registration for the tutorial and the main conference, as well as housing (for non-local attendees). Scholarships are awarded on a need-base, and are usually targeted at early career scientists, including students and post-docs, and members of underrepresented groups in STEM.

The funding for scholarships comes from revenue generated by tickets and more importantly from our sponsors, which I’d like to thank and recognize:

• Daiichi-Sankyo
• Metrum Research Group
• Jumping Rivers
• Taylor & Francis

In addition, we received support from the following institutions: the Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the Oxford Internet Institute, and NumFocus.

Given the high-volume of scholarship applications, we are renewing our efforts to find sponsors. Sponsors enjoy prominent mention on the StanCon website and throughout the conference, as well as other benefits such as free tickets. Currently, sponsorship begins at £2,500, and includes two free tickets. Funding helps support StanCon (which is a not-for-profit event supported by volonteers) and gives more applicants the opportunity to attend StanCon on a scholarship.

If you might be interested in sponsoring StanCon or know sponsors we should reach out to, feel free to contact us via stancon2024 at mc-stan dot org.