University of Tampere
Department of Mathematics, Statistics & Philosophy
Statistics Unit
Short Course on Modern Statistical Computing
Thursday, 7 October to Friday, 8 October 2004
Coordinators: Erkki Liski & Simo Puntanen
This announcement in pdf format.

(Website updated 27 Sep 2004)


MODERN STATISTICAL COMPUTING
Short Course

by

Professor Robert Gentleman

Department of Biostatistics
Harvard School of Public Health, USA

Short Course is supported by
the University of Tampere Foundation and the StatNet.



Thursday, 7 October 2004
  • 14:00-16:00 Lecture room B1100, new Pinni Building

    14:00-14:20 Registration (in the front of B1100)
    14:20-14:30 Opening remarks by Professor Erkki Liski (U of Tampere)
    14:30-15:30 Robert Gentleman: "New Challenges in Statistical Computing"
    Abstract:
    Computing has evolved substantially over the past 20 years. Some of the new challenges and opportunities for statistical, and scientific, computing will be presented. These in turn raise questions about pedagogy, research and publication. An overview of some of the issues involved will be provided and some suggestions for the future will be made.

    15:30-16:00 Markus Jäntti (Abo Akademi, Turku) , Antti Penttinen (U of Jyväskylä): Prepared comments

  • 16:00-18:00 Auditorium Paavo Koli, old Pinni Building (note the change of the venue)

    16:00-16:30 Coffee break: coffee & tea provided near Auditorium Paavo Koli

    16:30-17:30 Seppo Mustonen (U of Helsinki): "MSC as I see it"
    17:30-18:00 Reijo Sund (STAKES, Helsinki): Prepared comments

    18:15-22:00 Short Course Dinner, in the Department, 5th floor, old Pinni



    Friday, 8 October 2004
  • 10:15-11:45 Lecture room A1, University Main Building

    10:15-11:00 Robert Gentleman "An Overview of the Bioconductor Project: Scientific Computing for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics"
    11:00-11:10 Coffee break
    11:10-11:45 Robert Gentleman Continued
    Abstract:
    Computational Biology and Bioinformatics present an interesting and exciting range of problems that need to be addressed. Statistics has much to offer, but the size of the problems, the immediacy of the analysis and the rapidly evolving scientific landscape present substantial challenges. The Bioconductor Project (www.bioconductor.org) was initiated to address some of these issues. A broad overview of the project will be given. Specific examples, including microarray analysis, proteomics, and machine learning will be presented.

    11:45-13:00 Lunch

  • 13:00-16:00 Auditorium Paavo Koli, old Pinni Building (note again the change of the venue)

    13:00-13:30 Pentti Manninen (U of Tampere): "Tixel - a Statistical Software for Excel"

    13:40-14:20 Robert Gentleman: "Graphs (nodes and edges)"
    14:20-14:30 Coffee break
    14:30-15:15 Robert Gentleman: Continued
    Abstract:
    Graphs provide an interesting and important data structure. They can provide a valuable abstraction for a wide variety of problems. In statistics they have been mainly used for graphical models and for social network analysis. However, they are more broadly interesting. Work in the Bioconductor project has produced three software packages for working with graphs. These will be presented together with their application to various problems.

    15:15-15:45 Pasi Koikkalainen (U of Jyväskylä): Prepared comments



    Participants are expected to pre-register at their earliest convenience: on Thursday, 30 September 2004 at latest. Please provide your name and full address (preferably by email) to

    Secretary Riitta Järvinen, email: marija 'at' uta.fi

    The Workshop Dinner will be provided in the Departmental environment. The price is 5 euros for full-time students and 10 euros for others. Note that there is no registration fee for the Short Course.

    Those wishing to attend the dinner, should do the pre-booking to Riitta Järvinen no later than 30 September 2004. The payment should be done (in cash) to Riitta Järvinen preferably in good time before the Short Course or during the registration, at latest. (Early booking is encouraged to smoothen the arrangements.) This course is supported by the University of Tampere Foundation and StatNet. StatNet is a network of Finnish university departments, research institutes, and professional societies that specialize in statistical research or statistics production.


  • This announcement in pdf format.
  • MTF, Tampereen yliopisto