Dear {Contact_First_Name},
For most of us this will have been a short week, with Australia Day placed neatly right in the middle of it. I hope you had a good day yesterday, whether you were attending a quintessential backyard barbeque, enjoying a trip to the beach or pottering around the house, like I did.
Earlier in the week I was thrilled to receive a first book review, after only having suggested a regular book review column in the last newsletter! I hope you enjoy Professor Steven Miller review of "The Art of Statistics" by David Spiegelhalter.
In this edition of the newsletter you will find a COVID-19 vaccination chart, developed by Professor Colleen Lau. It demonstrates clearly how each step of the vaccination schedule further reduces a person’s risk of dying from the infection. I played around with the Immunisation Coalition’s COVID-19 Risk Calculator (CoRiCal) mentioned in the same context. Why don’t you give it a go and see where you’re at?
Whatever the outcome, stay safe!
Kind regards
Marie-Louise Rankin
SSA Executive Officer
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SSA Mentoring Program Update
The SSA Mentoring Committee has spent the first couple of weeks of January busily pairing mentees and mentors for the 2022 mentoring program.
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Excitingly, we had an overwhelming number of applications, with more than 60 SSA members applying for one of the coveted 20 spots in the program. With a bit of juggling and thanks to a larger number of mentor applications than anticipated, we have been able to expand the 2022 program to just over 30 pairs and will be introducing mentees to their mentors in early February.
Although disappointing for mentees who missed out this year, these applicants will be prioritised for future mentoring programs and will have the opportunity to participate in supported peer group mentoring to help build greater connections and support across the Australian statistical community.
The committee would like to say a huge thank you to all members who expressed an interest in the mentoring program, particularly those supporting as mentors. We are excited to work with you all in 2022 and look forward to hearing how you all get on. For members interested in participating in future (particularly mentors!), further details about the mentoring program can be found on the SSA mentoring webpage. |
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SSA NHMRC Investigator Grant Fellowship Top-Up Awards
Are you applying for an NHMRC Investigator Grant at Emerging Leadership Level 1 or 2 this year? To help our early-career members in this highly competitive scheme, we are awarding up to five SSA Fellowship Top-Up Awards, worth $3000 each, to support their applications. A panel of senior members and recent fellowship winners will select up to five winners. Please see the website here for details and an application form. |
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Dr David Gruen recognised in the 2022 Australia Day Honours list
Australia’s Chief Statistician Dr David Gruen was made an officer of the Order of Australia yesterday. He was recognised not only for being ”the man behind Australia's data and statistics during COVID-19” but also for his time in a senior role in Treasury during the global financial crisis in 2007-08. Congratulations! |
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Book Review
The Art of Statistics – David Spiegelhalter - Pelican (28 March 2019)
By Steven Miller
Professor Emeritus of Information Systems
School of Computing & Information Systems
Singapore Management University
A TREASURE so you finally understand key concepts/assumptions underlying basic statistical methods
What this book does better than ANYTHING I have ever come across (and I have come across a lot of books on statistics and analytics over the years) is to get you to understand-really understand-- the key concepts, principles, assumptions and even mindsets that underlie the use of the basic-- and foundational-- statistical concepts.
Prof Spiegelhalter has a remarkable ability to write and tell stories in clear and simple ways that get you to understand the essence of the principles. He walks you through many real and relevant examples so you understand the essentials of the underlying math models and mental models, and in parallel, that you also understand common mistakes and misconceptions.
Some of you might say-- why do I need to visit-- or more likely- revisit these basic-- and ubiquitously applied- principles and methods? After all, isn't this becoming increasingly automated? Can't I just "trust" the outputs of my AI-enabled analytic systems? Read the full book review here to find out why. |
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Chart demonstrating the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination Check out this easy to use chart demonstrating the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination, created by Professor Colleen Lau, an NHMRC Fellow and Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Queensland School of Public Health. Professor Lau developed the chart to be used as a tool that can be used either on its own, or alongside the Immunisation Coalition’s COVID-19 Risk Calculator (CoRiCal), a collaboration with UQ, Queensland University of Technology, and Flinders University. |
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Wiley Researcher Academy Now Available Through R Upskill
Enabling researchers to better communicate their work and drive research impact is at the heart of what Wiley does.
That’s why Wiley is excited to partner with Researcher.Life, the researcher-focused ecosystem of Cactus Communications, to host Wiley Researcher Academy on their R Upskill learning platform. This means that – for the first time – Wiley Researcher Academy content is available to individual researchers and learners.
Wiley Researcher Academy can help you navigate the publishing process and increase your chances of publishing successfully. The academy has 14 courses covering various topics, such as:
- Best practices in writing scientific articles
- Key components of a research article
- Managing research data
- Selecting the appropriate journal for your paper
And many more.
These self-paced online courses are written and presented by a global network of journal editors and industry experts from Wiley’s scientific publishing portfolio.
This means that you can get immediate access to expert content that will help you advance your career and make informed choices to meet your publishing goals.
Through R Upskill, Wiley Researcher Academy modules can be purchased individually, or as part of an all-access platform subscription. R Upskill’s affordable subscription rates make this a great choice for individuals at any stage in their research journey who want high-quality educational content.
Explore available learning modules for Wiley Researcher Academy now to discover unique courses in research writing, ethics, journal selection, and more. |
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Sample_SizeSample Size and Power Calculations, presented by UNSW
8 Feb 2022, 9:00 AM (AEDT) – 9 Feb 2022, 1:00 PM (AEDT), Online
Power calculations and sample size determination are essential parts of planning a scientific study. In this online course (run over two half-days), participants will be introduced to the basic principles of precision-based and power-based sample size calculations. Using practical examples, the presenter will demonstrate how to perform sample size calculations for common designs in single-sample studies and for comparing groups, as well as discuss practical issues such as multiple comparisons. No knowledge of statistical software will be required. |
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If you have news from the Australian statistical community to share in Stats Matters and Events, please get in touch with us! We love getting feedback too.
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Statistical Society of Australia | PO Box 213 Belconnen ACT 2616 Australia 02 6251 3647 | www.statsoc.org.au |
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