The ASA’s Biometrics Section is accepting applications for the 2014 David P. Byar Young Investigator Award. This annual award is given to a young investigator for best emerging work to be presented at JSM. The award commemorates the late David Byar, a biostatistician who made significant contributions to the development and application of statistical methods and was esteemed as an exceptional mentor during his career at the National Cancer Institute. The winner will receive a $2,000 award.

In addition to the Byar Award, the section may provide travel awards to the authors of other outstanding papers submitted to the competition. The travel award will be $1,000.

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Have held a doctorate in statistics, biostatistics, or a related quantitative field for three or fewer years as of April 1 of the current year, or be currently enrolled as a student in a doctoral program in statistics or biostatistics and in active pursuit of a doctoral degree.
• Be a current member of the Biometrics Section (applicant may join at the time of submission for a $5 annual membership fee [$3 for students]). Please note that membership in the ASA does not automatically confer section membership; ASA members must join individual sections in addition to their generic membership.
• Be first author of the paper. The paper may be unsubmitted, submitted, or under review, but may not have appeared in a journal either online or in print at the time of the application or have been accepted for publication as of December 1.
• Be scheduled to present the same paper submitted at the 2014 Joint Statistical Meetings in Boston, Massachusetts, as either a talk or poster.
• Not have submitted the paper to other ASA section 2014 student/young investigator award competitions.

Applicants must submit their JSM abstracts to the Biometrics Section, which will organize a series of topic-contributed sessions to highlight the Byar award and travel awards winners. Applicants must submit the following materials by December 1:

• A cover letter certifying that the applicant meets the eligibility requirements and has not submitted the paper to more than one other ASA section student/young investigator award competition
• A current CV
• One copy of the finished paper

All materials must be submitted electronically to Jianwen Cai at cai@email.unc.edu. Finalists will be announced by January 15, 2014. An electronic submission system is being developed, and the submission web address will be announced on the section’s website.

Applications for Funding Sought

In addition to the Byar award, the section invites applications for funding to support projects developing innovative outreach projects focused on enhancing awareness of biostatistics among quantitatively talented U.S. students. The section is particularly interested in projects that will encourage students to pursue advanced training in biostatistics. The section anticipates funding up to three projects, with total funding of up to $5,000 per project. The project timelines would be from 1.5–2 years. All investigators are encouraged to apply. The deadline to send in an application is November 20.

For details, visit the section website.