latent: R package for the efficient estimation of large latent variable models

Join our workshop on latent: R package for the efficient estimation of large latent variable models, which is a part of our workshops for Ukraine series! 

Here’s some more info: 

Title: latent: R package for the efficient estimation of large latent variable models

Date: Thursday, August 7th, 18:00 – 20:00 CET (Rome, Berlin, Paris timezone)

Speaker: MARCOS JIMENEZ (ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4029-6144) is a Doctoral student at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Postdoctoral researcher at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His research interests include computational statistics, rotation methods of factor models, causal modeling of latent factor models, and dimensionality assessment with graphical methods.

VITHOR ROSA FRANCO (ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8929-3238) is an assistant professor in the Post-graduate Program in Psychology at University of São Francisco. His research interests include measurement theory and quantitative modeling, being especially interested in Bayesian and computational methods applied to social decision making and educational assessment.

Description: Latent variable models are fundamental in psychology, education, and the social sciences. Yet their estimation often suffers from convergence issues and computational inefficiency, especially in large-scale applications. The latent R package addresses these challenges by providing a fast, flexible, and robust framework for latent variable modeling. Written in C++ and fully compatible with lavaan syntax, latent currently supports Factor Analysis and Latent Class Analysis, with planned extensions to Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), Item Response Theory (IRT), and Mixture Modeling. This presentation introduces the package’s core design, modeling capabilities, and optimization strategies, emphasizing its suitability for models that are otherwise computationally prohibitive. At the center of latent is an innovative optimization framework based on matrix manifolds, which ensures convergence by estimating covariance matrices over the partially oblique manifold. The package’s scalability is demonstrated through applications to personality data, showing that it consistently yields positive semi-definite solutions and avoids Ultra-Heywood cases in Factor Analysis. In addition, latent tackles local maxima in factor rotation and latent class models via fast, parallel estimation from multiple starting values. It also enables rapid computation of polychoric correlation matrices across hundreds of variables. Altogether, latent offers a high-performance, open-source solution for researchers needing both speed and generality in latent variable modeling.

Minimal registration fee: 20 euro (or 20 USD or 800 UAH)

Please note that the registration confirmation is sent 1 day before the workshop to all registered participants rather than immediately after registration

How can I register?

• Go to https://bit.ly/3wvwMA6 or https://bit.ly/4aD5LMC  or  https://bit.ly/3PFxtNA and donate at least 20 euro. Feel free to donate more if you can, all proceeds go directly to support Ukraine.

• Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

• Fill in the registration form, attaching a screenshot of a donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after donation).

If you are not personally interested in attending, you can also contribute by sponsoring a participation of a student, who will then be able to participate for free. If you choose to sponsor a student, all proceeds will also go directly to organisations working in Ukraine. You can either sponsor a particular student or you can leave it up to us so that we can allocate the sponsored place to students who have signed up for the waiting list.

How can I sponsor a student?

• Go to https://bit.ly/3wvwMA6 or https://bit.ly/4aD5LMC  or https://bit.ly/3PFxtNA and donate at least 20 euro (or 17 GBP or 20 USD or 800 UAH). Feel free to donate more if you can, all proceeds go to support Ukraine!

• Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

• Fill in the sponsorship form, attaching the screenshot of the donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after the donation). You can indicate whether you want to sponsor a particular student or we can allocate this spot ourselves to the students from the waiting list. You can also indicate whether you prefer us to prioritize students from developing countries when assigning place(s) that you sponsored.

If you are a university student and cannot afford the registration fee, you can also sign up for the waiting list here. (Note that you are not guaranteed to participate by signing up for the waiting list).

You can also find more information about this workshop series,  a schedule of our future workshops as well as a list of our past workshops which you can get the recordings & materials here.

Looking forward to seeing you during the workshop!