We invite you to follow one of the workshops that will be given during this congress. These workshops are primarily aimed at young researchers. Two workshops are on statistical topics. Two other workshops concern communicating research, that is one communicating with the public and the other with peers.
The format of a workshop will be an educational or an interactive lecture, followed by discussion of the expert presenters with the audience.
On the registration form you can state which workshop has your preference. In assigning access to the workshops, PhD students will be given priority.
A short description of the workshops:
The workshops will be given during this congress. Two workshops are on statistical topics. Two other workshops concern communicating research, that is one communicating with the public and the other with peers. The format of a workshop will be an educational or an interactive lecture, followed by discussion of the expert presenters with the audience.
Statistical topics I: Missing data
Thursday June 29 11.30-12.30
Speaker: Prof. dr. T. Stijnen
This workshop will be an educational lecture on missing data by professor Stijnen from the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics of the Erasmus MC Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Every clinical or epidemiological study suffers from the problem of missing data. In practice mostly simple solutions are chosen, such as restricting the analysis to individuals without missing data or imputing missing values by the mean value of the individuals with observed data. It is not always realized that these simple approaches can lead to considerable bias in the estimates and standard errors of the parameters of interest. In the last 10 to 15 years much research has been done to better methods for dealing with missing values. In this workshop first an overview will be given of the methods that are available and their advantages and disadvantages will be discussed. Most attention will be given to multiple imputation, to date generally considered as the best method for dealing with missing values. Also the available software in important statistical packages such as SPSS and SAS will be shortly discussed.
Statistical topics II: Bayesian statistics
Friday June 30 11.30-12.30
Speaker: Prof. B. van Hout
This workshop will be an educational lecture on Bayesian statistics by professor van Hout from the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care of the UMC Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Communicating research to the public
Thursday June 29 14.30-16.00
Speakers: H. van Maanen, Prof. dr. ir. D. Kromhout
Most researchers will at some point in their career face difficulties in communicating research results to the public. Whereas most scientific publications will pass by the larger public in silence, now and then a publication provokes profound interest of popular press. Interest from the general public should be regarded as positive. After all, public money is put into research and a researcher has a societal responsibility of spreading new knowledge. However, often, general press interest is regarded upon as negative by the researcher. The messages get shortened, distorted or ridiculed.
Whose responsibility is this misunderstanding between press and researchers? Should a researcher foresee press reaction and what can be done to prevent negative consequences? Is the press responsible for accurate translation of research results and for prevention of negative societal reactions?
Speakers from both the scientific community and the press will shortly elucidate their experiences and point of view. Hans van Maanen is a scientific journalist who writes about research in a Dutch newspaper, the Volkskrant. Professor Kromhout works at the Division of Human Nutrition at the Wageningen University and is vice-president of the Netherlands Health Council for the areas Nutrition, Environment and Public Health.
After a short introduction of the panel members, a debate will be started with the audience.
Communicating research to the peers
Friday June 30 14.30-15.30
Speakers: Prof. dr. A. Hofman, Prof. dr. J.A. Knottnerus,
Prof. dr. S. Ebrahim
The ultimate goal of research is successful publishing of the results, preferably in a high impact journal. Primary focus of the researcher is on quality of the study. However, the decision of publication is made by the editor of a journal.
What happens with your article after you have submitted it? Is quality of the research all that counts? Which items are important and lie within the researchers influence.
Speakers with experience both from research and editorship will elucidate what is important during the review and selection process. All speakers are (co)editors of peer-reviewed journals in the field of epidemiology: professor Hofman (European Journal of Epidemiology), professor Knottnerus (Journal of Clinical Epidemiology), and professor Ebrahim (International Journal of Epidemiology).
After a short introduction of the panel members, a debate will be started with the audience.