From August 4 to August 15, 2025 the Social Media Lab will host a Summer Institute in Computational Social Science to be held at Stanford University (SICSS-Stanford). The purpose of the Summer Institute is to bring together graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, and others interested in computational social science. The Summer Institute is for both social scientists (broadly conceived) and data scientists (broadly conceived).
The instructional program will involve lectures, group activities, guest speakers, and participant-led research projects, and SICSS-Stanford will focus on studying online information systems and emerging technologies. Our guest speakers will include computational social scientists from a variety of settings, such as academia, industry, and government, as well as policy experts who will help bridge the gap between computational social science research and policy. Among the topics we will cover are data collection and research design, text and network analysis, privacy and ethics, and machine learning and generative AI. 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.
Participation is generally restricted to Ph.D. students, postdoctoral researchers, and junior faculty (within 7 years of their Ph.D), but we will also consider applications from data journalists and other researchers. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and fields of study, especially those from neighboring institutions near Stanford, California, and those with limited experience in computational methods. About 25-30 participants will be invited. Participants are expected to fully attend and participate in the entire 10-day program, but we are open to alternative arrangements for faculty members.
Instructions on how to apply are available on the Apply page, and applications are due on May 2, 2025.