The investigators seek to promote interdisciplinary statistical and combinatorial research by bringing together in this conference both junior and senior researchers from different disciplines. The investigators have enlisted many senior researchers of international repute to give plenary talks and/or to organize academic sessions on various topics representing such diverse fields as biology, combinatorial theory, computer science, econometrics, educational research methodology, environmental science, epidemiology, geography, information systems, psychology, and public health education. The project seeks funding to support young researchers who are at an early stage in their careers, particularly from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in mathematical sciences, such as women and minorities. The opportunity for personal interaction among beginning and established researchers that this conference provides is, we believe, essential for the grooming of young researchers.
The investigators seek funding to promote interdisciplinary research involving statistical techniques, and to facilitate participation in this conference of approximately 30 young researchers (advanced graduate students and recent PhD recipients), particularly from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in mathematical sciences, such as women and minorities, so that they can become part of existing or newly created research networks. Another vital aspect of this conference at the local level is that it aims to create a network of researchers in North Carolina involving those from major research centers such as UNC Chapel Hill, Duke University, N. C. State University and Wake Forest University, and those from somewhat lesser known campuses such as The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and The North Carolina A&T University.
