Conference: Southern California Probability Symposium

This grant funds the Southern California Probability Symposium, a conference at UC San Diego, May 20-21, 2023. It is an expanded version of an annual gathering, meant to set the stage for the next 50 years of this important showcase of research in probability theory and related fields in the Southern California community. The primary goal of the grant is to fund the travel and local expenses of those plenary speakers who are non-local and do not have separate funding, along with the travel expenses of up to 24 participants from Southern California and nearby areas. The funding prioritizes participant funding for early career researchers and researchers traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields. The principal function of this conference is the promotion and exchange of research ideas in the Southern California probability community. The two-day event features 5 distinguished plenary talks. Also featured are several talks by early career researchers from Southern California, and a poster session for other participants, especially graduate students and postdocs to communicate their current work. The schedule is designed to foster small group discussions and new collaborations among participants, growing the connections and research accomplishments of the strong probability community in the region. In a world that is ever more data and technology dependent, with models of randomness playing a central role in all parts of science, conferences like this are key to the development of new avenues for progress on real-world applications in the years to come. The website for the Symposium is https://scps.pstat.ucsb.edu/SCPS2023.html This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.