Oceania Stata Conference 2026 - Call for abstracts

[David White]

Call for abstracts

We are pleased to announce the call for abstracts for the Oceania Stata Conference 2026. We invite submissions showcasing the application of Stata in research, methodological presentations discussing or proposing innovative methods in Stata, and technical presentations utilising Stata to advance research outcomes. We welcome presentations from all fields of research that demonstrate advanced and proficient use of Stata. We are particularly interested in presentations pertaining to the following themes:

• Novel and innovative applications of Stata
• Development of new techniques in Stata
• Programming and automation using Stata
• Contemporary use of Stata 19 features, e.g., Machine Learning via H2O, Conditional Average Treatment Effects (CATE), Bayesian Variable Selection for Linear Regression, Meta-analysis for Correlations, etc

Authors are encouraged to submit their original and high-quality contributions. The conference aims to bring together Stata users from various disciplines and provide a platform for sharing knowledge, insights, and best practices in using Stata for cutting-edge research.



Abstracts should be a single page of not more than 250 words and must be submitted as a .PDF by Monday 15 December 2025. New to OSC - Swift Stata Stories

A Swift Stata Story is a 5-minute presentation on an interesting use of Stata or your community-contributed Stata command. A prize will be awarded for our favourite story!

The Oceania Stata Conference 2026 Scientific Committee invites you to submit your concept. A concept should be no more than 1 paragraph describing your intended presentation. If your concept is accepted, you will be invited to prepare a 5-minute recording. This might include 3-5 PowerPoint slides, or a poster, or live use of Stata. Recorded presentations will be shown at the conference. Foreign languages e.g., Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaya, Mandarin, Maori, Tagalog or other are welcome; however, translations must be available, and the initial concept must be written in English.

The Committee will select the winning Swift Stata Story which will be announced on the day. Submissions will be judged on clarity of presentation; novelty of the use of Stata; and general interest.

Concept submissions should be a single paragraph of not more than 100 words and must be submitted as a .PDF by Monday 15 December 2025.


https://oceaniastataconference.net/paper.html#call

[Mark Chatfield]

No time zone problem for a Swift Stata Story! If concept submission accepted, you could prepare a 5-minute recording at a time that is convenient, and then have it shown during the conference!

[Rosmaiza Ghani]

Hi David.

Thanks so much for sharing the Call for Abstracts, looks great and super clear overall. Just wanted to suggest a couple of small tweaks that might help.

1. Maybe separate the instructions for the full abstract and the Swift Stata Story into two clearer sections. Right now, the info is all there, but splitting them up could make it easier for people to follow and not mix up the rules or deadlines.

2. It might also help to include a suggested file name format (like FirstName_Abstract2026.pdf) and clearly mention how/where to submit.

[Stephen Jenkins]

David White Sounds interesting. When and where is the conference itself?

[Nick Cox]

Registration

Registration details

• Place: Live on Zoom
• Date: Thursday 5 February 2026
• Time: 9:00am - 5:00pm AEST
• Cost: FREE

[David White]

Some updates on the conference:
1. Nick Cox will be our first keynote speaker, presenting on "Thirty Graphical Tips Stata Users Should Know, Revisited"
2. Aramayis Dallakyan from StataCorp presenting "Introduction to Explainable Machine Learning Using Stata"
3. As part of the "Swift Stata Stories" we will be presenting a prize to the best recording. This will be selected by the committee. The winner will receive a Stata/MP4 12 month licence.

There is still plenty of time to prepare abstracts and concepts. Submit your abstract or concept at https://oceaniastataconference.net/paper.html#call

See the latest details in our recent newsletter https://www.surveydesign.com.au/newsletter/2509.html

[David White]

We have more exciting news on the conference. We have received the abstract for Aramayis' presentation. Amarayis will present "Introduction to Explainable Machine Learning". The abstract for his presentation is:

Machine learning (ML) has become a powerful tool for modeling complex data and providing accurate predictions. However, the "black-box" nature of many ML models often raises concerns about their explainability and trustworthiness. Explainable machine learning (XML) seeks to address these concerns by enhancing the transparency and understanding of ML predictions. This talk aims to provide a practical guide to XML techniques. It begins with an overview of ensemble decision tree models such as random forests and gradient boosting, which are widely used but often difficult to interpret. I then introduce methods for explaining predictions using both global and local XML techniques. These include state-of-the-art approaches such as SHAP values, individual conditional expectation (ICE) plots, variable importance measures, partial dependence plots, and global surrogate models.