the Russell Sage Foundation will sponsor the first Summer Institute in
Computational Social Science, to be held at Princeton University (
https://compsocialscience.github.io/summer-institute/2017/)<
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-
3A__compsocialscience.github.io_summer-2Dinstitute_2017_&d=CwMFaQ&c=
imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=MT-Z8xM6IWJcuwrMhSS_
orYu7NXahq6npuGw-mSN924&m=9iFVrzpRG14-VsKktVSawIccmFNdDRSqrg0hfZycg3
E&s=ytKgofeqcOX2OivsJle-81wNtObHglPNMHMcFuyqGR0&e=>. The purpose of the
Summer Institute is to introduce graduate students, postdoctoral
researchers, and beginning faculty to computational social science. The
Summer Institute is for both social scientists (broadly conceived) and data
scientists (broadly conceived). The co-organizers and principal faculty of
the Summer Institute are Christopher Bail and Matthew Salganik.
The instructional program will involve lectures, group problem sets, and
student-led research projects. There will also be outside speakers who
conduct computational social science research in academia, industry, and
government. Topics covered include text as data, website scraping, digital
field experiments, non-probability sampling, mass collaboration, and
ethics. There will be ample opportunities for students to discuss their
ideas and research with the organizers, other participants, and visiting
speakers. Because we are committed to open and reproducible research, all
materials created by faculty and students for the Summer Institute will be
released open source.
Participation is restricted to Ph.D. students, postdoctoral researchers,
and untenured faculty within 7 years of their Ph.D. Most participant costs
during the workshop, including housing and most meals, will be covered, and
most travel expenses will be reimbursed up to a set cap. About thirty
participants will be invited. Participants with less experience with social
science research will be expected to complete additional readings in
advance of the Institute, and participants with less experience coding will
be expected to complete a set of online learning modules on the R
programming language. Students doing this preparatory work will be
supported by a teaching assistant who will hold online office hours during
the two months before the Institute.
There is no application form or program information beyond this
Announcement. To apply, send (i) a curriculum vitae, (ii) a statement
(maximum three pages) describing both any current research and your
interest in computational social science (especially as it relates to RSF
research priorities such as behavioral economics, social inequality, future
of work, and immigration), (iii) one writing sample (no more than 35
pages), and (iv) for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, two
letters of recommendation from faculty advisors. Letters of recommendation
should be as informative as possible about your standing in your program,
general ability, research potential, and (if applicable) special interest
in computational social science. All applications must include an e-mail
and an alternative means of contact (e.g., phone number). Send your CV,
statement, and writing sample (all collapsed into a single pdf file) to
rsfcompsocsci@gmail.com
recommenders to send their letters to the same email address, with the
following subject line: RSF recommendation letter for APPLICANT NAME.
We anticipate a large pool of highly qualified applicants and to make final
decisions quickly, so applications and letters must be received by the
deadline. Complete applications, including letters of recommendation, must
be received by Friday, February 24. We will notify applicants solely
through e-mail, by Friday, March 10 and will ask participants to confirm
their participation very soon thereafter. Inquiries can be sent to
rsfcompsocsci@gmail.com
