The Royal Statistical Society Conference

Event Overview

The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is one of the world's most distinguished and renowned statistical societies. It is a learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics, data and evidence for the public good. The RSS was founded in 1834, and today they have over 10,000 members around the world.

Each year the RSS hosts its annual conference in different parts of the UK. This year, the conference returned to Northern Ireland for the first time since 2006 and was held at ICC Belfast. With over 550 delegates in attendance who travelled from across the UK and Europe, there was a diversity of backgrounds, ranging from senior academic statisticians through to new graduates and postgraduate students. There was also a strong representation from the public sector, as well as statisticians and data scientists working in industry or as independent consultants. The conference provided an open forum for people to exchange knowledge, ideas and experiences, and hear from top keynote speakers, invited and contributed talks, poster presentations and professional development workshops. There were also many networking opportunities at refreshment breaks and the drinks reception which was held in ICC Belfast's sister venue, Ulster Hall. This years conference was organised by ‘streams’, allowing in-depth focus on specialised topics as well as broader presentations on new developments and thinking in statistics. 

Aside from the conference, the RSS has today opened nominations for its 2019 Statistics of the Year competition. Last year’s winning and highly commended statistics covered a diverse and fascinating range of topics - from plastic waste, to solar power generation, to ‘shrinkflation’. The competition secured tremendous media coverage and, for 2019, the RSS is hoping to find an even broader range of really interesting and insightful statistics.

The RSS is also looking for nominations for their inaugural Statistics of the Decade award. For this accolade, they are looking for stand-out statistics that capture the zeitgeist of the last ten years.

If you know any statistics that capture the story of 2019 and/or the past decade, then make your nominations today!

To nominate for both awards, all you need to do is fill in the entry form, which can be downloaded from the RSS website and email statsoftheyear@rss.org.uk. The nominations will be judged by a panel comprising eminent statisticians, journalists, economists, environmental scientists and pollsters, and will be chaired by the RSS's Vice-President for External Affairs, Professor Jen Rogers. The panel will decide on the winning and highly commended statistics in December.