July 3 to July 15, 2022 | Oxford University
We are inviting applications from PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty within 7 years of their PhD. Exceptional Master’s students in a research-track degree (e.g. MRes, MPhil) or those transitioning to a PhD programme will also be considered. We are hoping to have wide participation from researchers across different departments and institutes within the University of Oxford, both from the social sciences and STEM areas. We would also like to welcome participants from other institutions both in the UK and abroad. The Summer Institute will be held in English. We expect to invite about 25 participants for this partner location in Oxford.
The Summer Institute aims to bring together computational social scientists across all levels of technical experience. 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 SICSS boot camp. 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.
We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and fields of study, especially applicants from groups currently under-represented in computational social science. We evaluate applicants along a number of dimensions: 1) research and teaching in the area of computational social science 2) contributions to public goods, such as creating open source software, curating public datasets, and creating educational opportunities for others 3) likelihood to benefit from participation 4) likelihood to contribute to the educational experience of other participants 5) potential to spread computational social science to new intellectual communities and areas of research. Further, when making our evaluations, we attempt to account for an applicant’s career stage and previous educational opportunities.
Applicants must submit the following documents: (i) a curriculum vitae, (ii) a statement (maximum three pages) describing both any current research, your interest in computational science science, as well as why you would like to attend SICSS-Oxford (iii) one writing sample (no more than 35 pages). Co-authored work is acceptable but when submitting co-authored work we recommend you include a few sentences describing the contribution of each individual author to the work.
Applications must be submitted as one combined PDF file by email to sicss.oxford[at]nuffield.ox.ac.uk and are due by March 07, 23:59 (UK time).
Please also include in the body of your e-mail some basic data in this structured format (please copy and paste):
1. First Name:
2. Last Name:
3. Email Address:
4. Discipline of (expected) PhD degree:
5. Current University/College:
Please note that letters of recommendation are not required for application to SICSS-Oxford and any letters, if submitted, will not be considered when evaluating applications. This is to guarantee similar consideration of all applications.
Inquiries can be sent to sicss.oxford[at]nuffield.ox.ac.uk.
Yes, but not at the same time. For example, you can apply to SICSS-Oxford, and then if you are not accepted you can apply to one of the other locations if it has a later deadline. However, you cannot have an applications under review at two locations simultaneously.
No. Every year we have more applicants than we can accept, and we would like everyone to have a chance to participate in SICSS once before we allow folks to participate twice.
No, unfortunately applying is only possible for PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty within 7 years of their PhD.
This is unfortunately not possible.
We will consider applications from master’s students in a research track (e.g. MPhil, MRes degrees), or MSc students transitioning to a PhD degree who have demonstrated interest and commitment to research in the area of computational social science.
You can host a partner location of the Summer Institutes of Computational Social Science (SICSS) at your university, company, NGO, or government agency.