About the Bayesian Network Modelling Association

We are pleased to announce that the BNMA 2025 conference will be held in Melbourne on the 2nd - 3rd of October, hosted by the University of Melbourne!

For the theme of this year's conference, our sights are set on Transparency and Reproducibility in modelling, and in particular, how we can support the rigorous and ethical use of BN modelling for impactful decision making and research. Governments and international organisations are increasingly turning to modelling approaches to support policy and decision-making and have begun asking questions about accountability. This year's theme provides an opportunity to show how BNs can address this, both directly and by example. As usual, we are looking forward to hearing about traditional and innovative applications of BN models on any topic including environment, health, defence, commerce, education or culture. We would also love to continue expanding our horizons by hearing how BNs can be adapted to take advantage of advances in other techniques.

The association's events over the past year have helped the community connect with colleagues and reach audiences from around Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. The 2025 conference will provide a great chance for the BN curious to exchange ideas and discuss projects at any stage of development, in person and online. We continue to observe the increasing use of BNs (including causal BNs and directed acyclic graphs, DAGs) across a wide array of disciplines, research cultures and statistical backgrounds. This is partly due to their natural links with decision theory, either natively within the models or as a support to human decision makers, and partly due to their accessibility to experts from diverse backgrounds.

We will be inviting abstracts and encouraging all speakers to discuss the transparency and reproducibility of their models. Stay tuned for our call for abstracts in May along with further conference details!