September 8 to September 19, 2025 | Saarbrücken, Germany
We invite applicants from advanced PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty within 7 years of their PhD who are able to attend the Summer Institute in Saarbrücken, Germany. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and fields of study, particularly Computer Science and Social Sciences. Participants are expected to have beginner to intermediate knowledge of Python; those who don’t will be required to complete additional readings before the program. Those with less experience in social sciences are recommended to go through the reading materials provided prior to the summer school. However, there are no restrictions based on citizenship, country of study, or country of employment.
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: 1) a curriculum vitae, 2) a statement (maximum 300 words) describing:
In order to be guaranteed full consideration, all application materials must be submitted by April 25, 2025. All application materials must be submitted through this Google Form. Applications that are not complete by the deadline may not receive full consideration. We will notify applicants solely through e-mail by May 30, 2025, and will ask participants to confirm their participation very soon thereafter.
Inquiries can be sent to hello@i2sc.net.
The summer institute is free of charge and we will take care of lunches on the weekdays and other scheduled events. Most participants in the nearby area should already have the Deutschland ticket (free travel on regional buses and trains in Germany) as part of their semester fees. Where needed, we can also provide travel grants for a limited number of participants, if they are within a reasonable radius.
We will also negotiate with local hotels to offer discounted rates, typically less than 77 Euros (USD 82) including tax per night and complimentary breakfast. However, we do not offer other scholarships or free accommodation for participants.
Yes, but not at the same time. For example, you can apply to SICSS-Saarbrücken, 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 simultaneously have multiple applications under review.
Unfortunately, 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.