Professional Statistician's Network webinars


These meetings enable professional statisticians to share experiences and discuss professional development. The meetings are intended for Chartered Statistician (CStat) and Graduate Statistician (GradStat) members, but all RSS members are welcome.

Meetings typically run for 90 minutes with speakers followed by a Q&A session. Meeting papers and slides are available on our website at least a week ahead of an event.
 
Future events

Coming soon.

Past events
  • 2020
    20 October
    Continued Professional Development Watch Video (YouTube)
    How do you demonstrate your professional development so that it meets the requirements to be a Chartered Statistician? Robert Mastrodomenico, a former member of the Society’s Professional Affairs Committee, who obtained his CStat via the Society’s competency-based route, advises on how best to construct your CPD utilising a mixture of professional, educational and work-based examples.

    10 September
    Professional Development workshop: Get Involved - Watch Video (YouTube)
    Join us to find out how statisticians of all ages have been volunteering for the RSS and how you may be able to get involved. The session will kick off with a talk about how to get involved in the society’s sections and local groups, followed by speakers sharing their experiences volunteering with Statisticians for Society and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences.
     
    How to develop your 'so what' message Watch Video (YouTube)
    How to develop your technical work and answer the ‘so what’ questions that inevitably come from the stakeholders. Learn how to gain traction and ways to present your outcomes to gain buy in.
     
    9 September
    Statistical consultancy advice for going it alone Watch Video (YouTube)
    How to develop your technical work and answer the ‘so what’ questions that inevitably come from the stakeholders. Learn how to gain traction and ways to present your outcomes to gain buy in.
     
    8 September
    The art of blended and virtual learning in statistics and data science Watch Video (YouTube)
    When learning about difficult or complex concepts, such as those involved in data science and statistics, research indicates that the best approach is through peer discourse. However, strategies for implementing this is not straightforward, particularly in online learning environments.

    7 September
    Professional Development workshop: Interactive visualisation using dashboards Watch Video (YouTube)
    Interactive data visualisation has transformed the way data can be presented for effective story telling. R packages such as Shiny and Markdown empower users with the ability to get real value from large amounts of data.
    This session provides some insight into the world of dashboards using RShiny.


     
  • 2019

    5 February 2019
    CStat and CSci revalidation – your questions answered (download presentation) (Watch webcast)
    Speaker: Trevor Lewis
    This meeting will outline the Chartered Statistician (CStat) revalidation processes being carried out in 2019 for professionally active Chartered Statisticians who have a revalidation date of 1st January 2020. The process for those CStats who do not also hold the Chartered Scientist (CSci) award will be covered, as will the process for those CStats who also hold the CSci award. The presentation will also summarise the outcome of the revalidation process in previous years and will clarify the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirement that underpins revalidation. The meeting should be of interest to all Chartered Statisticians and to all Graduate Statisticians who are on the pathway to CStat status. There will be an opportunity to raise any outstanding questions.

  • 2017-2018

    7 December 2018
    Challenges and highlights in statistical consulting careers (videos will be available soon)

    Presenters: Shirley Coleman, Tim Davis, Andy Grieve, Anne Hasted, Dennis Lendrem
    Organiser: Gemma Hodgson
    This meeting will feature a series of interesting presentations from leading statisticians in a cross-section of fields, talking about challenges and highlights in their careers. There will be plenty of opportunity for discussion and networking.


    16 October 2018
    CStat and GradStat: What? Why? How? - Watch webcast (YouTube)
    Speaker: Paul Baxter
    This webinar is intended for anyone who is thinking about applying for Gradstat or CStat status or anyone interested in knowing more about Gradstat and CStat.


    16 October 2018
    Continuing professional development – how to make it effective - Watch webcast (YouTube), download presentation
    Speaker: Trevor Lewis
    The presentation focuses on the value of continuing professional development (CPD) in supporting career development and describes the framework and scope of CPD as laid out in the RSS CPD Policy. In particular on advancing your ability to fulfil your current job role or progress to an aspired role, demonstrating your professionalism to clients or employers, and retaining your professional status (CStat, CSci) with the RSS. 


    16 May 2018
    Excellence in Official Statistics – engagement, insight and building trust - Watch webcast (YouTube)
    Speakers: Alastair McAlpine (download slides), Scottish Government; Laura Watson-Heard (download slides), Department for Work and Pensions; Ian Polanowski (download slides), Health and Safety Executive; Rob Green (download slides), Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
    The RSS Official Statistics Awards, jointly awarded by the RSS and by the UK Statistics Authority, recognise and celebrate developments in Official Statistics. In this meeting you will hear from the winners and those short-listed for the 2017 Awards. They will talk about the motivation for the work, how it was done, the key outcomes and how things have developed since. In particular:

    • The Scottish Government, winners of the Award, with the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD16). This was commended for excellent processes to develop understanding of user needs, communication of findings to decision makers, clever use of case studies and user engagement to build public trust, and clear advice on what the SIMD can and cannot be used for.
    • The Department for Work and Pensions on the presentation of the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper Data Pack and on work to strategically bring together the outputs to improve public accessibility and user engagement.
    • The Health and Safety Executive on its work on user-focus and accessibility of Health and Safety Statistics for Great Britain 2015/16.
    • The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on innovations and improving ease of use of its Live Performance Dashboard.


    8 May 2018
    Missing data in clinical trials: making the best of what we haven’t got - download slides (PDF), Webcast (YouTube)
    Speaker: Michael O’Kelly (Principal Scientific Advisor, IQVIA)
    Researchers in the last twenty years have come up with a snowstorm of ideas about how to interpret the results of clinical trials that have missing data. Michael O’Kelly summarises the landscape of ideas as he and his colleagues found it. A key change was the move from trying to “handle” missing data, to realising that missing data should be included in our understanding of clinical trial results. We can try to include missing data in our results by coarsening the outcome so as to include the missingness itself as part of that outcome; or by qualifying any estimate of treatment effect with sensitivity analyses; or by modelling some kind of counterfactual so as to attempt causal inference on a stratum of interest such as subjects who would have had no missing data. There are strong objections to each of these options, and the arguments continue. Michael will describe how in his own company, IQVIA, local Missing Data Superusers have improved the understanding of the issue of missing data, and also notes the strong co-operation in industry and academia in sharing methodologies for missing data. Current publicly available resources for statisticians will be summarised. Finally, Michael will talk about three key points: preventing missing data in clinical trials; how evidence from previous clinical trials can help give confidence in results when there is missing data; and the importance of clinical interpretability of results from trials with missing data.


    16 April 2018
    The career value of effective communication skills: Case studies from the RSS statistical ambassadors programme - watch video (YouTube)
    Speakers: Robert Cuffe (BBC News), Liberty Vittert (University of Glasgow), David Beckett (Office for National Statistics)
    The RSS statistical ambassadors programme is helping early-career professional statisticians to respond to requests from event organisers and the media, but what is it all about? With a call out to the membership to apply for the next cohort of statistical ambassadors this webinar will show what the programme is about from the perspective of three ambassadors. The aim of their presentations will be to discuss how the programme has been beneficial to their careers and how communication is a very important aspect of everyone’s careers.


    27 March 2018
    Forum for recent GradStat awardees – the RSS and you
    Presenters: Trevor Lewis, Ricky McGowan, Rob Mastrodomenico
    This meeting is primarily aimed at those who have recently been awarded GradStat status (in 2016 or 2017), to provide more information about what the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) has to offer and to provide an opportunity for networking with fellow GradStats and some CStats.
    This meeting includes:
    - The RSS Professional Pathway and the route to Chartered status (CStat and CSci)
    - Support provided along the pathway (including the GradStat mentoring scheme and mid-term review)
    - Continuing Professional Development (CPD) – what’s expected in terms of doing and recording CPD
    - Professional development events held by RSS (including the Professional Statisticians Forum and the Young Statisticians Section).
    Download slides: Ricky McGowan (PowerPoint), Trevor Lewis (PDF)


    6 February 2018
    CStat and CSci revalidation – your questions answered Download slides (PDF), Webcast (YouTube)
    Speaker: Trevor Lewis (RSS Professional Affairs Committee)
    This meeting will outline the Chartered Statistician (CStat) revalidation processes being carried out in 2018 for professionally active Chartered Statisticians who have a revalidation date of 1st January 2019. The process for those CStats who do not also hold the Chartered Scientist (CSci) award will be covered, as will the process for those CStats who also hold the CSci award. The presentation will also summarise the outcome of the revalidation process in previous years and will clarify the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirement that underpins revalidation. The meeting should be of interest to all Chartered Statisticians and to all Graduate Statisticians who are on the pathway to CStat status. There will be an opportunity to raise any outstanding questions.


    23 May 2017
    The RSS Graduate Statistician (GradStat) mentoring scheme – how to benefit from participation as a mentor or mentee  Download slides 1, Download slides 2, Download slides 3, webcast (YouTube)
    Presenters: Sarah Barker (Royal Statistical Society), Paul Baxter (University of Leeds) and Apostolos Fakis (Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)
    The RSS mentoring scheme was set up in 2008, with the aim of providing help and advice to GradStats on how to progress their careers and document their professional experience and development, with the aim of making a strong application for Chartered Statistician (CStat) status. Over 100 mentees and over 50 mentors have participated in the scheme to date. 
    Sarah Barker will provide an overview of the scheme and how it operates, including how to apply and mentor-mentee matching process.
    Paul Baxter and Apostolos Fakis will give an account of their experiences from the mentor and mentee perspective, including how participation in the scheme has been of benefit to them, what challenges they have faced and what advice they would offer to existing and potential mentors and mentees.  
    This webinar will be of interest to mentors and mentees who have already joined the scheme, Chartered Statisticians who are considering volunteering as a mentor and Graduate Statisticians who want to find out more about how the scheme could benefit them.


    26 April, 2017
    Excellence and Innovation in Official Statistics – engaging and communicating with users - Slides1, slides2, webcast (Youtube)
    Daryl Lloyd and David Mais, Department for Transport
    Baljit Gill, Cabinet Office (formerly DCLG)
    The RSS Official Statistics Awards, jointly awarded by the RSS and by the UK Statistics Authority, recognise and celebrate developments in Official Statistics. In this meeting the winners and runners-up of the 2016 Awards will describe the work which led to the awards: the Department of Transport, whose winning entry on Road Safety Statistics used innovative methods and clear and engaging communication, and the Department for Communities and Local Government, whose work with the Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion was Highly Commended, being praised for its quality assurance methods and clear communication. Speakers will reflect on the way the work arose, was supported and was taken forward, and what was and might be learned from that. There will be opportunity for discussion and questions.


    Monday 30 January 2017
    CStat revalidation – your questions answered - Slides (PDF), webcast (Youtube)
    Trevor Lewis (RSS Professional Affairs Committee)
    This meeting will outline the Chartered Statistician (CStat) revalidation processes being carried out in 2017 for professionally active Chartered Statisticians who have a revalidation date of 1st January 2018. The process for those CStats who do not also hold the Chartered Scientist (CSci) award will be covered, as will the process for those CStats who also hold the CSci award. The presentation will also summarise the outcome of the revalidation process in previous years and will clarify the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirement that underpins revalidation. The meeting should be of interest to all Chartered Statisticians and to all Graduate Statisticians who are on the pathway to CStat status. There will be an opportunity to raise any outstanding questions.

  • 2015-2016

    21 November 2016
    Working as a Data Scientist in sport: are empirical models good enough and how do we measure good enough? - Slides (PDF), webcast (YouTube)
    Dave Hastie (Sporting Data Science)
    In this webinar Dave will discuss his consultancy work within the sports industry as a data scientist at Sporting Data Science. Having started in this area in 2003, Dave has worked with professional sports teams and confederations, broadcasters, companies building fan engagement products and organisations linked to sports betting. To date his work has focussed on football, tennis and cricket but the approach can apply to many other sports. The talk will provide a flavour of Dave’s work, giving examples covering the whole data science pipeline, including data wrangling, data analysis, visualisation and statistical modelling. The webinar will cover some of the challenges working within the industry. Specifically, Dave will focus on communicating complex ideas and receiving buy-in amongst traditional sports executives and fans, who rarely have a statistical background but are considered to be experts in their domain. The final part of the talk will look at the specific question of how empirical based models developed by domain experts compare to the parametric or non-parametric models that are the basis of the statistical modeller’s toolbox. As part of this question, Dave will also address the issue of model assessment and some of the difficulties in comparing models within this domain.


    31 October 2016
    CStat applications – The How? and Why? questions answered - webcast (YouTube), slides1 (PDF), slides2 (PowerPoint), slides3 (PDF), slides4 (PowerPoint)
    Rob Mastrodomenico (Global Sports Statistics), Matt Sperrin (University of Manchester), Trevor Lewis (RSS Professional Affairs Committee), Sarah Barker (RSS Professional Affairs & Examinations Manager)
    This meeting is aimed at individuals who are considering or in the process completing their Chartered Statistician (CStat) application and is intended to offer some insight into the benefits of CStat and the process for completing the CStat application. The first talk by Trevor Lewis will give an overview of the CStat award and the benefits of holding the award. Matt Sperrin will then offer his personal perspective as an academic of completing the CStat application outlining his experience. Rob Mastrodomenico will then offer much the same but this time from the perspective of someone in industry. By looking at the application process from the perspective of individuals from both academia and industry it is hoped that attendees will be able to gain insight to help them with their own applications. Following this there will be a talk from Sarah Barker who oversees the CStat application process for the Society and will describe the support the Society gives to those seeking chartered status (CStat).
    The event will finish with a drinks reception where you will be able to network with other individuals who are in the CStat process. On top of this the event can be considered as a professional development activity and so can feature in support of your own application.


    6 September 2016
    A Journey into the Uncertain: Identifying and Modelling Risk in Financial Services - webcast (YouTube)
    Ashley Kanter (Analytics Manager, Aviva)
    In this presentation Ashley will describe his experience working in the finance sector at Legal & General. In particular, he will describe how uncertainty features strongly in the structure and pricing of pensions - and how statisticians are well-placed to tame it. The focus of Ashley’s presentation will be on both the use of statistical techniques in this setting and also on how he has influenced his organisation to implement his work. Thus his presentation will cover the range of technical and non-technical skills and knowledge that he has found necessary to make an impact. The presentation will be suitable for a non-financial audience. Issues will be introduced generally at a high level, although some basic financial concepts will be covered.


    15 June 2016
    The state of and prospects for professional accreditation for statisticians - webcast (YouTube), slides
    Ron Wasserstein, Executive Director (American Statistical Association)
    The ASA has been accrediting statisticians for just over five years (PStat and more recently GStat). Some things have gone very well. Others have been disappointing. In a rapidly evolving, high demand field, how will credentialing keep up. What will its purposes be in the future? Ironically, accreditation is needed by the profession but perhaps not required by many members to practice as professional statisticians. This webinar will review the current status of accreditation, and reflect on what may need to change. The perspective is that of the ASA, but in the Q&A we will be able to generalize to include the RSS perspective with CStat, CSci and GradStat.


    20 April 2016
    Innovation and Development in Official Statistics: communicating for users - webcast (Youtube), slides 1 , slides 2 
    Luned Jones (Welsh Government) and Michael Hardie (Office for National Statistics)
    The RSS Official Statistics Awards, jointly awarded by the RSS and by the UK Statistics Authority, recognise and celebrate developments in Official Statistics. In this meeting the winners and runners-up of the 2015 Awards will describe the work which led to the awards: the Welsh Government, whose winning entry on the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation made major innovations in presentation, and the Office for National Statistics who were runners up with their engaging "digital day". Speakers will reflect on the way the work arose and was supported, will describe the work and how it is being taken forward, and what others might learn from that. There will be opportunity for discussion and questions.


    8 February 2016
    CStat revalidation – your questions answered - webcast (YouTube), slides (PDF)
    Trevor Lewis (RSS Professional Affairs Committee)
    This meeting will outline the general CStat revalidation process, the experience with the process over the past 2 years, and discuss the specifics of the process for those undertaking the revalidation activity in 2016. There will be an opportunity to raise any outstanding questions.


    27 January 2016
    Statistics on the economy, jobs, immigration, crime, travel and so much more fill the airwaves and news channels every day. Where do they come from? - professional statisticians, of course - webcast (YouTube) slides (PowerPoint)
    John Pullinger (National Statistician)
    In this lecture John Pullinger will discuss how his role as President of the RSS was perfect preparation for his current jobs as UK National Statistician and Chair of the United Nations Statistical Commission. He will also talk about how other professional statisticians can contribute to the urgent task of capability building in the world of official statistics.

    17 December 2015
    RSS/HRA co-sponsored workshop for statistician members of Research Ethics Committees
    Workshop outline: This workshop was co-sponsored by the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) and the Health Research Authority (HRA) and was for statisticians who are members of Research Ethics Committees (RECs). The agenda included the following general topics: (i) Discussion of statistical experiences and issues arising from REC submissions and their assessment – both process and technical aspects, (ii) Training and support for statistician members of RECs – what works well and what could be improved/added, (iii) How to encourage greater participation of statisticians in the work of RECs.


    8 December 2015
    Using prior elicitation and Bayesian thinking to help shape decision-making in the pharmaceutical industry - webcast (YouTube) Download slides (PDF)
    Prof Nicky Best, GSK
    For the past 18 months, clinical statisticians at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have been using prior elicitation techniques to enable quantification of existing knowledge in the absence of directly relevant data, and to help predict probability of success of next study(s) at key milestone decision points for all phases of clinical drug development. This initiative forms a key component of an R&D-wide focus on innovation in clinical design at GSK, which aims to establish Bayesian approaches and use of prior distributions as standard practice to support internal decision-making and analysis. In this talk, Nicky Best will give a flavour of what the prior elicitation process involves, and discuss her experiences of using prior elicitation techniques and other Bayesian approaches within the pharmaceutical industry. Some of the challenges along the way have included first having to teach ourselves on both the statistical and psychological aspects of an elicitation process and then educating our clinical colleagues and senior management about this, as well as encouraging and influencing project teams to work with us and then to use our material in their decision-making and investment review meetings. Nicky will also share some personal reflections on what it has been like to make the transition from academic to industry statistician.


    15 October 2015
    Driving the Robustness of Preclinical Research within the Pharmaceutical Industry - webcast (YouTube) slides (PDF)
    Katrina Gore, Director, Pfizer Research Statistics & Joint winner of the 2015 RSS / PSI prize for statistical excellence in the pharmaceutical industry It is unusual to pick up a recent issue of Nature or Science that doesn’t include an article on the issue of non-reproducible research. It would seem that research is plagued by findings that are not reliable and cannot be reproduced. The pharmaceutical industry is not immune to these same issues. Replication of published research findings is a key component of drug target identification and provides confidence to progress internal drug projects. Additionally, we use data from internal assays to assess the biological and pharmacokinetic activity, selectivity and safety of novel compounds, and to make decisions that impact their progression towards clinical development. While pharmaceutical companies often employ statisticians specifically to engage with research scientists, the ratio of statisticians to scientists is typically low. This talk will describe the role of a preclinical statistician, outline the key challenges they face and focus on the Assay Capability Tool. The ACT was created by Research Statistics within Pfizer to guide the development of drug discovery assays and to address issues of robustness and reproducibility in research. It promotes easy to follow but absolutely essential experimental design strategies and represents the distilled experience of the provision of over three decades of statistical support to laboratory scientists.


    21 September 2015
    The New RSS Consultants Directory – How to make it work for you - audio (MP3), slides (PDF) Nigel Marriott (Marriott Statistical Consulting Limited) The RSS regularly receives enquiries for recommendations for a statistical consultant. They are directed to the Directory of Consultants on the RSS website but previous versions have had a number of issues. The new Consultant’s Directory will be launched in the summer of 2015 and has been designed by a working group of statistical consultants to overcome these issues and make it far easier for prospective clients to find the right consultant. In this webinar, Nigel Marriott will explain how statistical consultants can use the new Directory to describe their services and generate new business prospects.


    4 June 2015
    A conceptual, technical and practical framework for missing data in longitudinal clinical studies - webcast (YouTube), slides (PowerPoint)
    Dr Craig Mallinckrodt of Eli Lilly & Co
    Over the past two decades I have had the good fortune to work with many outstanding researchers in the prevention and treatment of missing data in clinical trials. Although my individual contribution to this research is small, there have been isolated pockets where I have had an opportunity to shape thinking and lead change. Through these experiences I have come to believe in certain critical skills and important habits that are essential for having a productive and rewarding career as a statistician. Using my experiences in missing data research as a focal point, I will discuss these critical skills and important habits.


    20 April 2015
    Research Ethics Committees – the role of the statistician - webcast (YouTube)
    Chair: Trevor Lewis - slides
    Chris Foy (Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Chair of the Oxford B Research Ethics Committee) - slides
    John Kirkpatrick (PPD, Member of the Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee) - slides
    Every proposal for research with human participants in the UK National Health Service must receive a favourable opinion from a Research Ethics Committee (REC) before it can proceed. In this meeting the presenters will describe the role of the statistician as a member of a REC and cover their own experiences in the role. The meeting will be particularly useful for statisticians wishing to learn more about the work of RECs and/or who are considering joining a REC; as well as those with a wider interest in the role of statistics in promoting ethical research. Details will be given on how to follow-up and make enquiries about joining a REC in your area of the UK. In addition, the meeting will also be of interest to those already participating on RECs, who will have opportunity to make input from their own experiences during the Q&A part of the meeting.


    25 March 2015
    Exploiting administrative data to help users of Official Statistics: developments - webcast (YouTube),
    Mary Gregory (Department of Energy and Climate Change) - slides (PowerPoint)
    Georgina Eaton and Tillie Paul (Ministry of Justice) - slides (PowerPoint)
    The RSS Official Statistics Awards, jointly awarded by the RSS and by the UK Statistics Authority, recognise and celebrate developments in Official Statistics. In this meeting the joint winners of the 2014 Awards will describe the work which led to the awards: linking of public and private sector data by DECC to provide insight into energy use by households, and the use of statistical modelling techniques by MoJ to assess the impact of other organisations' work with ex-offenders. Speakers will reflect on the way the work arose and was supported, will describe the work and how it is being taken forward, and what others might learn from that. There will be opportunity for discussion and questions.


    9 February 2015
    CStat revalidation – your questions answered Trevor Lewis (RSS Professional Affairs Committee member) - slides (PDF), webcast (YouTube), This meeting outlined the general CStat revalidation process, discussed the specifics for those undertaking the revalidation activity in 2015 and answered any questions raised