Keith Crank, ASA Research and Graduate Education Manager

The National Institute of Statistical Science (NISS) and the American Statistical Association (ASA) will hold a writing workshop for junior researchers. The goal of the workshop is to provide instruction about how to write journal articles and grant proposals. Participants will be required to provide a recent sample of their writing, which will be reviewed by a senior mentor. The sample can be a current draft of an article to be submitted for publication or an early version of a grant proposal. (Submission of the manuscript will be required as part of the registration process. Prior experience suggests that the best results come from submitting an early draft of something that is written solely or primarily by the participant.)

Mentors will be former journal editors and program officers, who will critique (a portion of) the submitted material. Individual feedback will be provided as part of the opening session, and participants will be expected to prepare a revision in response. The workshop will open with a one-day session of general instruction on effective writing techniques and will close with discussion and debriefing at a follow-up lunch.

The full-day session is scheduled for July 31 in Miami Beach, Florida. At the close of the formal activities, mentors will meet individually with participants to go over the writing samples they submitted. Each participant will then prepare a revision of a critiqued portion of the paper and return it to the mentor by the evening of August 2. Mentors and participants will meet again in conjunction with a lunch on August 3 to discuss the success of the revisions. The lunch program also will include general feedback to participants, mentors, and organizers.

Attendance is limited and will depend on the number of mentors available. A completed online application form is due by June 1, and successful applicants will be notified by June 30. Applications received after June 1 will be considered if space is available. There is no fee for participation. Participants will receive lunch on July 31 and August 3. Participants must agree to attend both sessions. We anticipate funding for partial travel support.

This workshop is designed for researchers with a recent PhD in either statistics or biostatistics. Top priority will go to those who have held the PhD for 0–3 years. The limited funding will be used to support attendance by researchers from U.S. institutions. Current PhD students who are completing their degree before the end of the summer and who will be at U.S. institutions in the fall also will be considered. If space is available, researchers at institutions outside the United States will be admitted, but not provided with travel support.

For more information, contact Keith Crank, ASA research and graduate education manager, at keith@amstat.org.