International Society for Bayesian Analysis

ISBA Program Council Procedures for Planning Meetings and Requests for Support

(Revised: Dec 2012)

ISBA sponsors, co-sponsors or endorses an array of meetings and events around the world!  ISBA sponsors the biennial ISBA World Meetings, ISBA section meetings, and smaller research meetings on current topics.  ISBA co-sponsors regional meetings with  ISBA chapters or at special request other meetings co-organized with other societies and organizations. ISBA will endorse meetings sponsored by other groups, individuals or societies who request ISBA endorsement.   Please see the sections below for more details and links for meeting sponsorship or endorsement. Any questions should be addressed to the chair of the Program Council

1.  World Meetings:  the premier meeting of the society! The biennial ISBA World Meetings occur in even-numbered years. World Meetings are typically run during June or July, although timing may vary depending on the local circumstances of the chosen venue. Planning a World meeting starts 2.5 years in advance. Please see the  Planning a World Meeting page for more details if you are interested in proposing/planning a World Meeting. 
    
2. ISBA Section Meetings: provide focused meetings organized by ISBA sections around research themes and typically occur during alternate years from World Meetings.   Please see  Planning a Section Meeting for guidelines.  Final proposals should be submitted using the Sponsored Meeting Request Form. 
    
3. Other Sponsored Meetings: ISBA will organize meetings, workshops or other events around current research topics. If you are interested in proposing such an event, please complete the Sponsored Meeting Request Form. 
    
4. Regional meetings of ISBA Chapters: Regional meetings of ISBA Chapters around the world serve important functions for ISBA. The ISBA Program Council has no responsibility for organizing such meetings, but coordinates discussion about such meetings between Chapters and the Board. ISBA assists organizing committees by officially endorsing proposals for funds where necessary, and providing publicity to the broader membership and Bayesian community. Please submit the co-Sponsored Meeting Request form so that the event is added to the meeting calendar.  ISBA Chapters may receive modest funding from ISBA for regional meetings. Any such support will be predominantly or wholly committed to support student and junior researcher participants. 
    
5.  Co-sponsored Meetings: ISBA co-sponsors and will consider contributing modest financial support to other meetings, typically smaller research workshops strongly related to ISBA's mission or explicitly co-organized by ISBA, and meetings related to ISBA scientific and international outreach. Any financial support for such meetings will be predominantly or wholly committed to support student and junior researcher participants. ISBA will not provide financial contributions in support of "general" statistical meetings, memorial/festschrift events, or ongoing series of meetings with strong business/professional support in place. Financial support from ISBA will be considered when the meeting is judged by the Program Council and Board to be strongly consistent with ISBA's mission, and emerges with strong involvement of ISBA in initiation and organization. In the case of co-sponsorship ISBA cannot be exposed to any losses nor expects to receive any profits, unless explicit agreements have been made in advance.  Submit the co-Sponsored Meeting Request form.
    
6. Endorsed Meetings: ISBA supports and endorses other meetings to encourage Bayesian activity at workshops of other groups and societies, and to aid in developing relationships with other societies and professional communities. Support of these meetings will not involve a financial contribution from ISBA and ISBA cannot be exposed to any loss or expects to receive any profits.  See the Endorsement Meeting Request page for more details and to submit a request of endorsement.

General criteria: The decision to lend ISBA's name to meetings is made with careful consideration of the nature of each meeting, depending on criteria including: (1) quality and appropriateness; (2) whether the conference theme is of potential interest to ISBA membership; (3) timing; (4) who the other co-sponsoring organizations are. The terms and conditions associated with ISBA co-sponsorship of meetings include the following:

• ISBA members will receive a discount on registration fees.
• Meeting organizers will include the ISBA logo and a link to the ISBA web site on the conference web site and in all printed announcements.
• Organizers will include the ISBA logo and printed flyer in the conference packet, and have flyers displayed at the meeting registration.
• In some cases, ISBA will be invited to organize a session or sessions at the meeting, and participate in other aspects of programming.
• In cases of financial contribution from ISBA, the primary if not exclusive use of ISBA funds will be for junior participant support. Conditions imposed by ISBA may, depending on context, include use of ISBA funds preferentially for senior/advanced students over young researchers post-PhD, and/or preferentially to students from economically disadvantaged countries. ISBA expects that such awards will be spread to ensure the maximum participation. When travel awards are made, they will carry a note to the effect that "partial support comes from ISBA".
• As part of ISBA support for meetings not organized by ISBA, the Society may agree to provide registration services using the ISBA membership and event management data base system and personnel support. This support will be provided based on negotiations between ISBA and the group organizing the meeting, and typically involve ISBA costs being covered by an agreed fee charged to the registrations.  See the ISBA Event Registration Demo Site for more information