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Do you have a drive to use social science, computer science, data analytics, and evidence to improve public well-being within underrepresented communities? From July 15, 2023 to July 28, 2023, Howard University and Mathematica are once again partnering on a Summer Institute in Computational Social Science (SICSS) at a Historically Black College and University focused on anti-Black racism and inequity. Applications are due on March 31st. Apply now!

WHO SHOULD APPLY?

SICSS-Howard/Mathematica invites both social scientists and data scientists (broadly conceived) who are graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and beginning faculty to apply for this *free* two week institute (and accompanying 2-day preparatory institute).  To learn more check out our website and look at our former participants on our “People” pages from 2021 and 2022. You might see someone you know! 

SICSS-Howard/Mathematica is particularly committed to the participation of individuals from diverse backgrounds. Participants from underrepresented backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. Academically, we are looking for participants with a broad range of expertise, backgrounds in the social sciences, and interests-especially those with demonstrable interest in topics related to enhancing, developing or working on future projects that will address or intersect with issues of anti-Black racism and inequity.

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?

Participants will benefit from opportunities and resources that are unique due to our (virtual) host, Howard University, our connection to the nation’s capital at a unique moment in our nation’s history, and given the generous support and deep engagement of Mathematica. Our interactive and instructional program will involve lectures, group problem sets, and participant-led research projects. There will also be outside speakers who conduct and use computational social science research in a variety of settings, such as 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.

HOW MUCH DOES THIS COST?

SICSS-Howard/Mathematica is available at no cost to participants thanks to Howard University and Mathematica. 

WHO WILL I MEET AT SICSS-H/M?

Besides all of your incredible classmates, in the past, SICSS-Howard/Mathematica speakers have included Safiya Noble, Timnit Gebru, Naomi Sugie, Chris Wheat, Laura Nelson, and many others. We have an incredible line-up for this year as well.  Keep an eye on our website and social media for regular announcements. 

WHAT IS SICSS?

Since its founding, SICSS institutes have been held all over the world. This coming summer, SICSS-Howard/Mathematica will be one of 29 partner sites. SICSS events reach tens of thousands of other people from around the world who frequent the vibrant open-source community we are also a part of. 

If you want to learn more about SICSS-Howard/Mathematica, check out the 9-part series co-written by our founder Naniette Coleman in Sage Publishing's MethodSpace blog "The Future of Computational Social Science is Black" or listen to Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast "Inside an Initiative to Diversify the Field of Computational Social Science.” We also invite you to print and hang up our promotional poster, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and join our email list!

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