STATSTRO 2026: Sampling, Simulation, and Scientific Discovery

STATSTRO (formerly Stellar Stats) is an annual interdisciplinary workshop that brings together statisticians, astronomers, members of the broader scientific community, and particularly early-career researchers working on interdisciplinary research in astrostatistics and astroinformatics.

Building on the Stellar Stats workshops (2021–2023) and previous STATSTRO editions (2024–2025), the workshop fosters connections between the Department of Statistical Sciences (DoSS), the Data Sciences Institute (DSI), and the astronomy communities of DADDAA, Dunlap, and CITA at the University of Toronto. This year's edition expands the workshop into an international 2-day gathering, with a focus on communities around the Great Lakes area in the US and across Canada — though it is open to participants from anywhere in the world, both in person and remotely.

This year's theme, Sampling, Simulation, and Scientific Discovery, explores how modern sampling methods, computational simulations, and statistical inference are driving new discoveries across the sciences. The extended format allows for longer tutorials, more in-depth discussions, stronger recruitment of statistics and machine learning researchers, and deeper engagement from both local and international participants.

Each of the four thematic sessions features a keynote overview talk, a hands-on coding tutorial (Jupyter/Colab), and a contributed science presentation. Each day also brings a round of lightning talks from early-career researchers — each paired with a poster — followed by a dedicated poster session over the extended midday break. There is no registration fee, and catered meals and networking activities provide ample opportunities for cross-disciplinary connections.

For more details and the full schedule, click here.