The International Biometric Society’s (IBS) International Biometric Conference (IBC) offers a very robust scientific programme for anyone with an interest in biometry. The scientific programme is made up of the following components: invited sessions, contributed sessions, poster sessions and short courses.

IBC invited sessions brings together a small number of speakers (two – four) on a particular statistical topic. A discussant may also form part of an invited session. The discussant of a session should describe the latest research in the area of statistical theory or application of the session and make it accessible to a ‘non-expert’ audience, as well as provide commentary on the various talks in the session.

Contributed sessions are also 90 minutes in length. All contributed oral presentations are typically allocated to a 12-minute slot within a particular scientific session, with each session lasting 90 minutes and therefore containing six oral presentations and time for discussion. All poster presentations are also allocated to a particular scientific session, and presenting authors are present at their posters during the session.

Normally, short courses are held on the Sunday before the start of the conference. The course can either last the full day (six – eight hours) or a half day (four hours). Our goal is to provide courses that will attract attendees from a number of different application areas, while simultaneously reaching potential participants from economically developing countries. Course selection will take into account how the courses complement and enhance the scientific programme of the IBC. A conference short course is usually taught by one or more instructors on a topic that is of interest to many potential IBC participants.

The scientific programme of the IBC also includes various special sessions, as well as showcase sessions, such as the Young Statisticians’ Showcase, the International Statistical Institute (ISI) Showcase, a Statistics in Practice Session and both the Biometrics and JABES Showcase Sessions.

The mission of the IBS is to promote the development and application of statistical and mathematical theory and methods in the biosciences, including agriculture, biomedical science and public health, ecology, environmental sciences, forestry and allied disciplines. Contributions at the conference are therefore welcome across a wide range of both methodological topics and application areas relevant to the mission of the IBS.

The IBS 2018 International Biometric Conference (IBC2018) is sure to again attract upwards of 1,000 international statistics and biostatistics researchers and practitioners from academia, industry and government. You won’t want to miss it! Check the conference website frequently for programmatic updates.