: The International Conference on Forensic Statistics, scheduled for the University of Edinburgh June 30-July 3, 1996, is the third in a series of tri-annual conferences intended to provide a forum for the interaction of researchers in the areas of law, forensic science, social sciences, and statistics. Among the goals of this conference are (a) the fostering of interaction among research specialists in different disciplines, (b) advances in topics of current interest to the courts, and (c) the development of a firm scientific basis for the use of statistical evidence in the courts. Presentations scheduled include reports on the ethics of expert testimony, DNA fingerprinting and its forensic uses, inferring causality, statistical evidence of environmental harm, the use of econometric models in anti-trust litigation, and the judicial reception of meta-analysis for combining statistical information across scientific studies, especially those involving the harmful effects of exposure to drugs and environmental hazards. This travel grant supports the participation in the Conference by several leading American statisticians, forensic scientists, and social scientists as well as several promising young scientists who are currently beginning to pursue research in this interdisciplinary field and have sought the opportunity to present their work in an international context. Over the past four decades statistics and statistical methods have played increasingly important roles in the evaluation of forensic evidence and in the presentation of scientific evidence more broadly in the courts. American scientist have played a prominent role in this development and have led initiatives intended to improve the quality of statistics as evidence as well as to improve the interaction between statisticians and other scientists as they prepare materials for use in a legal context. While expert testimony in the American legal system has unique features, important aspects of the science associated with the expert testimony transcend national boundaries. The Third International Conference on Forensic Statistics, to be held on June 3 to July 3 1996, is a unique forum for the interaction of researchers in the areas of law, forensic science, social sciences, and statistics and this travel grant supports the participation of several leading American researchers from these different fields of interest. Among the topics of current federal strategic interest featured in the conference presentations are biotechnology and its role in the manufacture of drugs as well as the evaluation of forensic evidence, and the assessment of harmful effects as a result of environmental exposure.
