This proposal describes plans for the Seventh and Eighth North American Meetings of the New Researchers in Statistics and Probability, conferences sponsored by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS), to be organized by and held for junior researchers. The primary objective is to provide a much needed venue for interaction among new researchers. In contrast with large meetings, this conference will be restricted to 60 participants. Sessions will be followed by discussions and breaks to facilitate interactions. The first proposed conference will take place August 4 - 7, 2004 on the York University campus in Toronto, Ontario. Housing, meals, and conference facilities will be provided on campus. The Joint Statistical Meetings will be held in Toronto the following week, August 8 - 12, 2004. The second proposed conference will take place August 3 - 6, 2005 on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis, Minnesota followed by the Joint Statistical Meetings in Minneapolis August 7 - 11, 2005. Both proposed conferences allow for an easy opportunity for participants to attend both conferences. Participants will be statisticians and probabilists whom have received their Ph.D. since 1999 or are expecting to receive their degree by 2005. Each participant will present a talk or poster. Topics will include the gamut of statistical research from theory and methods to applications. Efforts will be made to attract researchers from Biostatistics. There will be four senior speaker sessions in which topics of particular interest to new researchers will be presented: Professors Xihong Lin (from the University of Michigan), Dick DeVeaux (from Williams College), Jeff Wu (from the University of Michigan), and IMS President Terry Speed (from the University of California, Berkeley). Three panel discussions during the conference will cover the topics of journal publications, opportunities in statistical laboratories, and funding.
