(Business Wire)  Rice University will host the Fifth Eubank Conference on Real World Markets March 26-27. This year’s theme is “A Focus on Energy,” and speakers will explore the shifting economics and geopolitics of the energy landscape, the changing North American energy portfolio resulting from advances in hydraulic fracturing, and regional and global dynamics associated with investment in energy markets.

Jointly sponsored by Rice’s Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES) and the Center for Energy Studies (CES), the conference will include a full slate of speakers and an evening banquet and keynote address on Thursday, March 26.

Featured speakers include Kenneth B. Medlock III, senior director of the CES; Peter Hartley, professor of economics at Rice and a faculty scholar at the Baker Institute; Chris Lafakis, senior economist at Moody’s Energy Analytics; Jeff Tooth, chief advisor G.T.R.C. Korea National Oil Company; Keith Phillips, senior economist and research officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; Robert W. Gilmer, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business; and Brian Domitrovic, chairman of the Department of History at Sam Houston State University and weekly contributor to Forbes.com under the byline “Past & Present.”

The second day of the conference will include two short courses. The first course will feature lectures by award-winning professors Edward E. Williams and John A. Dobelman, based on their recently published book “Investing for Profit: A Data-Based Approach.” The second course will introduce quantitative finance through the statistical language R.

“The Eubank Conference on Real World Markets provides a venue for scholars, business leaders and the public to discuss issues related to financial markets,” said Katherine Ensor, professor of statistics at Rice and director of CoFES. “This year, speakers will explore the shifting economics and geopolitics of the energy landscape, the changing North American energy portfolio resulting from advances in hydraulic fracturing, and regional and global dynamics associated with investment in energy markets.”

The complete conference agenda and speaker bios are available at the CoFES website.

The public must register to attend this event at http://bakerinstitute.org/events/1705.

For a map of Rice University’s campus with parking information, go to www.rice.edu/maps. Media are advised to park in the Central Campus Garage. Members of the news media who want to attend the conference must RSVP to Robyn Tinsley at [email protected] or 713-874-0828.

About the Eubank Conference

The Eubank Conference on Real World Markets aims to bring together a broad array of individuals interested in financial markets, their role in society and the ability of quantitative scientists to help understand the complex world of investing. The first Eubank Conference was held in 2009, sponsored that year and in the years that followed with annual gifts from Rice Trustee Emeritus J. Thomas Eubank and his wife Nancy. In 2013, the Eubanks established The Nancy Moore and J. Thomas Eubank Research Excellence Fund in Computational Statistics. This endowed fund supports research excellence in computational statistics related to real-world financial markets through the Center for Computational Finance and Economic Statistics (CoFES). Key activities supported by this generous gift are the Eubank Conference and the Eubank Prize in Computational Statistics related to real‐world financial markets.