| YSM01 - 1996: Bleiburg/Austria | YSM02 - 1997: Bleiburg/Austria |
| YSM03 - 1998: Piran/Slovenia | YSM04 - 1999: Pécs/Hungary |
| YSM05 - 2000: Udine/Italy | YSM06 - 2001: Ossiach/Austria |
| YSM07 - 2002: Piran/Slovenia | YSM08 - 2003: Balatonföldvár/Hungary |
| YSM09 - 2004: Rimini/Italy | YSM10 - 2005: Seggau/Austria |
| YSM11 - 2006: Opatija/Croatia | YSM12 - 2007: Piran/Slovenia |
| YSM13 - 2008: Balatonfüred/Hungary | YSM14 - 2009: Basovizza/Italy |
| YSM15 - 2010: Vorau/Austria | YSM16 - 2011: Rijeka/Croatia |
| YSM17 - 2012: Piran/Slovenia | YSM18 - 2013: Balatonfüred/Hungary |
| YSM19 - 2014: Basovizza/Italy | YSM20 - 2015: Vorau/Austria |
It was in Summer 1995, when Anuka Ferligoj (University of Ljubjjana, Slovenia), Mushtaq Hussain (Joanneum Research Institute of Applied Statistics, Graz, Austria), and Herwig Friedl (Technical University Graz, Austria) again met at their favorite Statistics Conference (held in Preddvor/Slovenia). When chating about the situation of their students, the idea of establishing a joint meeting of young statisticians soon was born. The meetings main intention was (and still is) to bring together students as well as younger Faculty members from Ljubljana and Graz in order to deepen the relationships between both Statistics Departments and to offer their students a somewhat international platform within a very friendly atmosphere to present their work by official talks in English. They decided to invite some of their best students as speakers and some others building the audience.
A year later, during a weekend in October 1996, a group of 32 people met in Bleiburg(Pliberk)/Austria. This small city was chosen because of two natural advantages: It is almost central to Graz and to Ljubljana, and because people there are bi-lingual (German and Slovene). Hermann Katz (Joanneum Research Institute of Applied Statistics, Graz, Austria), a former citizen of this nice city, offered his contacts to the Mayor and to other important city fathers and organized a phantastic first Austrian Slovene Joint Statistics Meeting of Young Statisticians. All the participants will never forget the phantastic reception given by the Mayor on Saturday evening or the visit to the Werner Berg Galerie on Sunday afternoon.
Because of the awesome success of the inaugural meeting, it was repeated the year after in 1997 again in Bleiburg/Austria. Then in 1998 the meeting's venue changed to Piran/Slovenia, where also representatives from Hungary attended for their first time. The meeting's name changed to Austrian, Hungarian, and Slovenian Joint Meeting of Young Statisticians and the total number of participants increased up to 46. Because of Trieste's closeness to Piran, Italian statisticians have been invited to join the Piran meeting and the in the year later the fourth meeting in 1999 was already called Austrian, Slovenian, Italian and Hungarian Young Statisticians Meeting and took place in Pécs/Hungary. The same four countries met for the next three years. In 2000, the fifth meeting was hosted in Udine/Italy and attracted 62 participants. Then it was held 2001 in Ossiach/Austria, followed again by Piran/Slovenia in 2002, where a further representative from Croatia attended for the first time.
Since 2003, the number of participating countries is five. The group became larger and more international and the meeting is called Austrian, Slovenian, Italian, Hungarian, and Croatian Young Statisticians Meeting. The young statisticians of these five countries still meet every year, and the atmosphere still is as it was at the beginning in 1996. Examples of such successful meeting are Balatonföldvár/Hungary in 2003, and then Rimini/Italy in 2004. Because all started in Austria, it has been decided to come back to Austria and to celebrate the tenth anniversary Young Statisticians Meeting in castle Seggau near Leibnitz. Consecutive meetings have been organized in Opatija/Croatia in 2006, then Piran/Slovenia in 2007, and then in Balatonfüred/Hungary in 2008, and in Basovizza/Italy in 2009. We came back again to Austria and met for the 15th meeting in Stift Vorau in 2010. The next round started in Rijeka/Croatia in 2011, followed then by Piran/Slovenia in 2011, Balatonfüred/Hungary in 2012, and Basovizza/Italy in 2014. This year Austria is happy to organize the 20th anniversary meeting again in Stift Vorau.
We, the organizers, are very proud of the steady continuation of our first main idea over a period of 20 years, to offer our youngsters a warm and cordial first step into the scientific world of the international research community.
Information about the Conference Venue
The monastery of Vorau was founded in 1163. Today it has 15 towers, more than any other monastery in Austria, and is not used by the monks alone. There is a school for domestic science (home economics), an adult education centre, a tavern and some apartments for private families.
