From: Statistical Science Majors Union
Date: October 27, 2025
Subject: SSMU Snapshots: Week of Oct 27, 2025


This week's news, fresh off the press!

📣 Announcements

1. GBM Slides 📝
Thank you to everyone who showed out to our second GBM - we hope you enjoyed some tasty banh mi and were able to get your questions answered! Here is the link to the slides. Feel free to reach out with more questions!

2. Register for a new House Course by our very own co-presidents: Statistical Methods in Research! 🔬
Course Code: HCS 59-11
Instructors: Liane Ma, Cooper Ruffing; Advisor: Dr. John Zito
🗓️ Mondays 7:00 - 8:30 PM
📍 Old Chem 001
Course Description: In this house course (0.5 cred, P/F), students will explore the statistical fundamentals necessary for understanding and conducting research in a variety of fields. Students will engage with real-world research papers and datasets across disciplines, exploring how statistics are used (and sometimes misused) in published work. Instead of focusing solely on technical skills, this course emphasizes interpretation, critique, and application of basic statistical tools in research. From exploratory data analysis to research bias, Statistical Methods in Research aims to provide students with a deeper understanding of when, why, and how to best utilize statistical methods in their future storytelling. The course culminates in a student analysis and presentation of a research paper and dataset, applying concepts from class. No previous experience is required in statistical science, research, or data science.
We aim to tailor the course to students’ interests, so please consider registering!

🍵 Upcoming Events

1. Bookbagging Drop-in + Boba 🧋
If you weren't able to make it to our GBM/bookbagging event on West, we are holding another bookbagging session this Wednesday! Drop by, ask questions, and get boba! (RSVP)
🗓️ 7-9 PM on Wednesday, October 29th
📍 East Duke 108

2. Sign up for Group FLUNCH with Dr. Alex Fisher 🍎
FLUNCHes are a great way for faculty and students to connect over lunch, fostering mentorship and informal conversation outside the classroom. There are still spots open for our next group FLUNCH with Dr. Fisher in November, and you can sign up here!*
🗓️ 12-1 PM on Wednesday, October 29th
📍 The Commons (3rd floor of WU)

*Please note that by signing up, you’re committing to the FLUNCH and will need to fill out the official FLUNCH request form.

3. SSMU Game Night 🎲
Join us for a fun-filled evening, featuring a variety of card decks, several friendly rounds of poker (no betting), and other statistics-themed games! We'll have delicious donuts to go with the games!
🗓️ 8 PM on Thursday, November 13th
📍 Keohane Atrium
🌱 Competitions & Opportunities

1. The Career Center is hosting a webinar on November 5th from 7-8:30 pm. The session will give students the opportunity to network with alumni from various statistical science careers, including sports analytics, entertainment data science, consulting analytics, and healthcare data science. Alumni come from companies such as Disney, Deloitte, the American Heart Association, and the Tampa Bay Rays. Seating is limited! Sign up and learn more about this session in Handshake: https://duke.joinhandshake.com/stu/events/1835607 

2. Interested in machine learning, data science & robotics? Apply for a contest on https://mlcontests.com/!
Registration is open for many competitions in fields such as climate, education, finance, healthcare, sports, science, and more! Competitions offer prize pools ranging from $1K to $50K and do not require entry fees.

3. Register for the University of South Carolina (USC) Big Data Health Science Student Case Competition! Participating teams will be given the same business problem and datasets to solve a challenging healthcare data analytics problem. Team members will present their methods and analysis results at the Big Data Health Science Conference. The competition will be held virtually from February 6-8, 2026, and the conference will be in Columbia, SC, on February 12th. The competition has a $150 entry fee for teams of 3 and monetary prizes for 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-place teams. Learn more here: https://www.sc-bdhs-conference.org/competition2026/
📅 Stay Connected

Want to keep track of all our events? Add our Google Calendar here (SSMU Events Calendar) and follow us on Instagram @dukessmu!

That’s all for this week - stay safe and warm everyone!

Take care,
SSMU

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EVENT

SSMU Bookbagging for First Years Event!

clock Wednesday, October 29, 2025
7:00pm - 9:00pm
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This will be another bookbagging event that is first-year oriented. It will take place while shopping carts are open - with plenty of upperclass students to help out!
REGISTER