About: Integrated nested Laplace approximations

Integrated nested Laplace approximations (INLA) is a method for approximate Bayesian inference based on Laplace's method. It is designed for a class of models called latent Gaussian models (LGMs), for which it can be a fast and accurate alternative for Markov chain Monte Carlo methods to compute posterior marginal distributions. Due to its relative speed even with large data sets for certain problems and models, INLA has been a popular inference method in applied statistics, in particular spatial statistics, ecology, and epidemiology. It is also possible to combine INLA with a finite element method solution of a stochastic partial differential equation to study e.g. spatial point processes and species distribution models. The INLA method is implemented in the R-INLA R package.