The RSS is looking for a new editor to serve on its Discussion Meetings Committee from 1 January 2021. The editor’s term of office is normally four years.
Discussion Meetings are a unique vehicle for presenting ground breaking statistical ideas and play a traditional and fundamental role in the Society.
Together with the Discussion Meetings Committee, the editor is responsible for selecting suitable papers to be prepared for publication in one of the RSS journals series A, B or C.
The procedure for discussion meetings themselves is that comments are invited on the selected paper and the work is presented at an open meeting. Attendees can make their comments in person and any comments received in writing before the meeting can also be read at the meeting. All comments received by two weeks after the meeting are added to the publication together with a rejoinder by the paper’s authors. The meetings are filmed and made available afterwards on the RSS YouTube channel.
Discussion Meetings (formerly known as Ordinary Meetings or Read Papers) started when the Society was formed in 1834. The format is unusual amongst professional societies and the events have a special place in the history of the RSS. Past Discussion papers back to 1997 are available on line free of charge, and are being compiled into a database.
The Discussion Meetings Committee was created to provide a holistic, energetic and efficient forum to encourage, assess and process proposals for Discussion Meetings. Discussion Meeting papers are usually selected from those offered to the RSS for publication, but can also be specifically commissioned. The Committee welcomes submissions from all domains where there is an important message for statistics. Discussion Meetings provide the opportunity for the RSS to showcase the best and internationally most important contributions.
The outgoing editor is Paul Smith who is happy to discuss the role with interested parties.
The editor needs to be committed to the Society and to the wider understanding of statistics, and be willing to make the time commitment necessary to take on the responsibility of this important role.
The Discussion Meetings Committee is chaired by Dr Shirley Coleman who is an honorary officer of RSS Council, the main governing body of RSS.
RSS strongly supports diversity.
We are keen to receive members' suggestions of people who would make an effective Discussion Meetings editor (who is also Honorary Secretary of Discussion Meetings Committee), and to hear from those who would like to put themselves forward.
Please send your suggestions to one of the search committee comprising Nial Friel by Monday 30 March 2020.
The search committee aims to recommend the nominated Discussion Meetings editor to Council for ratification at Council’s meeting in June.
For more information, please see our Discussion meetings for the latest pre-prints.