MWSUG 2026 will feature numerous presentations and e-Posters spread across a variety of academic sections. Below are descriptions of the sections we expect to include in this year's academic program.
AI, Statistics and Analytic Methods
Papers on statistical and analytic methods encompass a range of topics on statistical and data analysis. Content might focus on a particular method or technique or showcase the application of techniques to industry problems. Submissions might be on subjects such as statistical modeling, time-series analysis, regression analysis, cluster analysis, hypothesis testing, estimation, survey data analysis, or machine learning. Specific methods include SAS procedures in the SAS/STAT or SAS/ETS package, such as PROC GLM, PROC MIXED, PROC ANOVA, PROC ARIMA, etc. AI papers encompass topics such as AI-assisted SAS coding, or AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Co-Pilot.
Open Source Tools and Development
The open-source tools and development section features content on any open-source coding languages, such as Python and R. Python papers might include use of specific Python packages to solve problems, such as Pandas, Matplotlib, NumPy, or SciPy. R papers might include papers on R Studio, R-Shiny, or other R platforms. They might also focus on specific R-packages, such as dplyr, ggplot2, rmarkdown, tidyverse, and others. Other relevant topics might be SAS modules for interfacing with R or Python, invoking R or Python code in a SAS session, SAS Viya, Git, GitHub, or Git Packages.
Basic and Intermediate SAS Coding
Paper topics in the basic and intermediate SAS coding section include traditional BASE SAS programming methods for performing various tasks in the DATA STEP, such as IF-THEN conditional logic, subsetting, using SAS functions, selecting and deriving variables, defining simple arrays, do-end loops, and the DATA STEP merge. Submissions on basic SAS procedures, such as PROC CONTENTS, PROC FREQ, PROC COMPARE and others are relevant as well. Other relevant content may focus on topics such as SAS/ACCESS for PC files and formats and SAS procedures such as PROC IMPORT and PROC EXPORT.
Advanced Programming
Papers in the advanced programming section focus primarily on the use or application of advanced SAS programming techniques. Specific topics include multi-dimensional arrays, PROC TRANSPOSE, building and debugging SAS macros, PROC SQL joins, DICTIONARY tables, set operators and subqueries, hash tables, code optimization techniques, and efficient programming practices. Efficiency techniques encompass parallel processing, threaded processing, generation data sets, indexes, data set compression, minimizing passes through the data and many other techniques. Topics on advanced open-source coding may be considered as well.
Pharma and Healthcare
Paper submissions in the pharma and healthcare section focus on the application of SAS and SAS coding to projects and problem-solving in the pharmaceutical and health care industry. Within the pharma and life-sciences industry, topics in both the clinical domain and the real-world evidence side of pharma will be showcased. Example topics include statistical programming, CDISC, clinical data standards, epidemiology, observational studies, claims data, cohort studies, and proprietary databases. Appropriate healthcare topics include using SAS with public health data, hospital data systems, health care surveys and electronic health records. Potential topics might be Medicare, Medicaid, HEDIS performance measures, and other administrative healthcare data.
Data Visualization and Reporting
The data visualization and reporting section focuses on SAS modules and techniques to produce and generate graphics and complex reports. Content from both the BASE SAS and SAS/GRAPH modules will be featured, as will SAS Visual Analytics (SAS VA) and SAS Visual Statistics. Generally, submissions on the Output Delivery System, ODS Graphics or SAS reporting procedures will be desired whether focusing on the construct itself, or the use-case of the construct to specific problems. Specific paper topics might involve ODS Graphics procedures, PROC TEMPLATE, Graph Template Language, ODS styles, PROC SGPLOT, PROC SGPANEL, and many others. Other potential papers could be on specific ODS destinations, ODS output objects, PROC TABULATE, and using compute blocks in PROC REPORT.
Hands On-Workshops and Live Demos
Hands-on workshops are longer presentations consisting of both a lecture component, and a practical exercises component where attendees can practice SAS coding or coding in other languages. The workshops will be either 75 minutes or 90 minutes in length, and attendees will need to bring their laptops to perform practical exercises. Live demos are 60-minute presentations, where the speaker will perform tasks using a SAS or open-source platform and attendees do not need to bring their laptop. Hands-on workshops are usually invited presentations by well-known SAS presenters or trainers, but submissions without invitation will be considered.
E-Posters
E-posters are structured presentations which are divided up into 5 sections showcasing the highlights of a paper or project. They follow the similar format of traditional conference posters with use of a laptop computer and flat screen monitor instead. Although they allow for the inclusion of some detail, only the primary or key points of a paper or presentation are usually included. A designated time during the conference will be scheduled when E-posters will be displayed with authors on hand, while attendees view them at their leisure and ask questions.