There are two main professional societies related to the field of Statistics:
- American Statistical Association (ASA)
The ASA is an umbrella organization that seeks to include all working statisticians. Students are encouraged to join the ASA early to take advantage of the student membership rate.
- Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS)
The IMS is more oriented toward academic researchers. You should join the IMS if you intend to pursue an academic career.
In addition to these organizations there are a number of more subject-specific organizations:
- The International Biometric Society
- The Econometric Society
- The International Environmetrics Society
- Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
- Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
- International Biometric Society, ENAR
- Bernoulli Society for Mathematical Statistics and Probability
- International Association for Statistical Computing
- Royal Statistical Society
- Statistical Society of Australia, Inc.
- Statistical Society of Canada
Other Related Societies
All of these societies hold frequent meetings, the most important being the combined annual Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM). Graduate students often attend JSM meetings during their graduate careers; and are encouraged to present contributed papers or at poster sessions. These meetings allow students and faculty to make professional contacts and to meet other people who share their particular interests. Some travel funding for graduate students to attend meetings may be available through the Department, or from the Graduate School, or through the professional societies themselves. Some commentary on these matters is available from the New Researchers' Guide.