June 12 to June 23, 2023 | University of Edinburgh
The Summer Institute aims to bring together aspiring computational social scientists across all levels of technical experience. We invite applications from doctoral 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. There are no restrictions based on citizenship, country of study, or country of employment. About 20-25 participants will be invited.
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 take applicant’s career stage and previous educational opportunities into account.
Participants with less experience in 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.
Applicants must submit the following documents: (i) a curriculum vitae, (ii) a statement (maximum two pages) describing both any current research, your interest in computational social science, and why you would like to attend SICSS-Edinburgh (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. Application materials must be submitted as one combined PDF file. The form to apply can be found by following this link
In order to be guaranteed full consideration, all application materials must be submitted by 23:59 GMT, March 17, 2023.
Inquiries can be sent to christopher.barrie[at]ed.ac.uk.
We aim to notify successful applicants by the beginning of April.
Yes, but not at the same time. For example, you can apply to SICSS-Edinburgh, 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.
You can host a partner location of the Summer Institutes of Computational Social Science (SICSS) at your university, company, NGO, or government agency.