SEIO and CUNEF University are hosting the second edition of the International Workshop on Bayesian Statistics

TheSecond International Workshop on Bayesian Statistics, organized by the SEIO Bayesian Statistics Working Group and CUNEF University, brought together more than 40 experts from the international academic and research communities in Madrid to discuss and exchange perspectives on Bayesian statistics and its applications to various fields.

The workshop, structured as a single-track event, featured plenary presentations by Sylvia Frühwirth-Schnatter ( WU Wien), Stefano Cabras ( Carlos III University of Madrid), José Miguel Hernández-Lobato (University of Cambridge), Daniel Hernández Lobato ( Autonomous University of Madrid), Peter Mueller ( The University of Texas at Austin), David Rossell ( Pompeu Fabra University), and María Dolores Ugarte ( Public University of Navarra).

The program also included time for the presentation of research papers and sessions for young researchers.

Knowledge Exchange 

Daniel Corrales, from the Autonomous University of Madrid and the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (ICMAT-CSIC), who attended the first edition of the workshop, believes that one of the most notable aspects of the second edition is that“the focus on Bayesian statistics has been broadened, addressing not only traditional Bayesian methods but also Bayesian Machine Learning, which is currently a very hot topic.”

Specifically, Corrales was one of the young researchers who took advantage of the opportunity to present his research on Bayesian adaptation during online testing, in which,“we try to perform a kind of unsupervised fine-tuning so that the model is capable of detecting and learning when changes occur in the data during the testing phase or once deployed in real-world environments.” Thanks to his presentation at the workshop, he was able to gather opinions, perspectives, and new avenues of research from the other attendees.

Researchers in computing and statistics 

Meanwhile, Roi Naveiro, a professor in the Department of Quantitative Methods at CUNEF University and one of the event’s main organizers, echoed Corrales’ remarks. Naveiro, who also coordinates the Bayesian Inference section of the SEIO alongside Professor Remedios Sillero of the University of Seville, stated that,“unlike the first edition, we’ve had a greater presence of researchers from the field of computer science—particularly those focused on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning—and not just from statistics; and, for me, this interaction between different academic communities is especially valuable.”

This second edition of the International Workshop on Bayesian Statistics has once again demonstrated the ability of Bayesian statistics to adapt to new areas of research. In particular, its impact on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is undeniable today, as it provides the mathematical foundations necessary to manage uncertainty and develop more robust predictive algorithms. In this way, it continues to foster dialogue between different disciplines and strengthen an increasingly diverse and international scientific community.

At CUNEF University, we will continue to support initiatives like this one, which help to update and advance the field of statistics and quantitative methods, as part of our commitment to cutting-edge research and the highest quality education.