The Institute for Statistics and Mathematics is pleased to invite you to this semester’s first research seminar, taking place on campus with the following two talks:

• Gregor Kastner (Department of Statistics, University of Klagenfurt)
  Bayesian Nonparametric Priors for Model-Based (Partial) Clustering
  
  Wednesday, January 28, 2026, 17:15, Building D4, Room D4.0.127
  
  Abstract:
  We discuss variations of prior distributions for finite and potentially infinite mixture models. First, we extend standard Bayesian nonparametric spatial priors to additionally incorporate the temporal dimension, thereby allowing for spatio-temporal clustering. Second, we show how these priors can be modified to cater for partial effects by a priori distinguishing between control and target variables. Third, we propose a novel prior for modeling the weights in mixture models. It is based on the Selberg Dirichlet distribution, an extension of the standard Dirichlet with a repulsive term, and penalizes mixture weights that lie close to each other. The approaches are illustrated with applications from various fields: modeling unemployment, quantifying the effect of European agricultural subsidies, and uncovering patterns in biomedical data.

Please note that currently there are no Zoom streams planned for the talks in this semester.
For further information (such as related papers, linked software etc.) and the seminar schedule, please see:
www.wu.ac.at/en/statmath/research/resseminar