Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS) cordially invites applications for participation as an expert and supervisor in the computational social science (CSS) summer school on data-driven modeling of conflict to take place at Jacobs University Bremen (Germany) from 23 July to 3 August 2018. The summer school will serve as a research incubator aimed at fostering the use of computational methods in the social sciences and developing a topical contribution to the field.
Eight teams of five people will be working on a specific research project. Each team will consist of three junior researchers (MA/PhD/early Postdoc) and two senior experts/supervisors, one with strong methodological expertise in CSS and the other with strong topical expertise in conflict research. The goal is to train the 24 participating junior researchers in CSS methods and to give them hands-on expertise in a cutting-edge research project on conflict using CSS methods. Each team will work through the whole research process with the aim to prepare a manuscript for scientific publication. Depending on its quality, the resulting output may be published in an edited volume or the special issue of a peer-reviewed journal.
Each project should combine CSS methods with a topical focus on conflict. This may involve the data-driven modelling of the onset, development, or duration of violent or non-violent social conflicts. It may make use of simulations and predictions, or it might look into the consequences of conflict, for instance its relation to migration and social cohesion. A special focus shall be given to methodological approaches fostering predictive models. We intend to tackle a blend of research questions pre-defined by the experts and research questions proposed by the junior participants of the summer school. The chosen experts for the summer school will closely work together with the organizers in preparing the call for participation at the summer school and in the selection process of the junior participants. Travel expenses (economy class) and accommodation during the summer school will be covered for experts/supervisors. A symbolic honorarium can be granted.
To apply, please submit the following material in one pdf file by 15 October 2017 at http://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=bigssscss2018:
– Proposal for a project to be carried out in one team at the summer school (incl. a description of potential data and methods) and/or a summary of your expertise in CSS in case you intend to participate as a methods expert (2 pages max.). Applications as a team of two with a common project idea are welcome.
– CV (incl. list of publications)
The summer school is part of a series of three summer schools financed by the Volkswagen Foundation as part of its program International Research in Computational Social Sciences. It will be followed by a summer school on migration in Cagliari, Sardinia (Italy) in 2019, and a summer school on social cohesion in Groningen (Netherlands) in 2020. For further information, please visit css.bigsss-bremen.de. Questions can be addressed to css@bigsss-bremen.de.
