SICSS-WITS-StAndrews

June 15 – June 27, 2025 | Johannesburg, South Africa

Apply

Eligibility

Participation is open to PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, untenured faculty within five years of their PhD. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, fields of study, and countries within Africa. We strongly encourage women and other minority groups to apply. There are no restrictions based on citizenship, country of study, or employment, but we will prioritise applicants from African countries. There is no registration fee for participating in SICSS-WitsStAndrews, and most of the costs will be covered. The language of instruction will be English. About 20 participants will be invited, and participants are expected to fully attend, participate, and engage in the entire program.

Participants with less experience with social science research will be expected to complete additional readings in advance of the Institute. Participants with less coding experience will be expected to complete a set of online learning modules on the R programming language. Students requiring this preparatory work will be supported by a teaching assistant who will hold online office hours two months before the Institute.

Applications will be evaluated based on:

  • Applicant’s professional and research experience. Preference will be given to postgraduate students and researchers/academics within five years of their PhD.
  • Applicant’s experience with coding or the potential to be proficient before the summer institute.
  • Motivation and ambition to make a personal contribution to computational social science.
  • Potential to fully participate and engage in the entire program.

How To Apply

Applicants must submit the following documents:

  • A curriculum vitae (max 4pages).
  • A motivation letter (max three pages) describing why you wish to attend SICSS-WitsStAndrews, your current research interests, and a brief description of your planned project with clear objectives and potential data source.

In order to be guaranteed full consideration, all application materials must be submitted online via https://forms.gle/QDfknUWDdT3XaEi7A by May 25, 2025. Applications that are not complete by the deadline may not receive full consideration. We will notify applicants solely through e-mail by June 5, 2025 and ask participants to confirm their participation soon after.

Inquiries can be sent to eoo1@st-andrews.ac.uk

Application Frequently Asked Questions

Can I apply to more than one Summer Institute location?

Yes, but not at the same time. For example, you can apply to SICSS-WITS-StAndrews, 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.

Can I participate in SICSS-WITS-StAndrews if I have already participated in SICSS at another location?

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.

What is the level of the summer institute?

SICSS-WITS-StAndrews is planned to be an entry-level programme in computational social science. We will lay a solid foundation for computational social science during the summer institute through several activities such as invited lectures, research happy hour, tutorials and participant-led group research projects. You can read about our experience organizing SICSS-Covenant 2022 here: https://sicss.io/2022/post-mortem#covenant-university

I have limited coding experience. Should I still apply?

Some previous coding experience is highly recommended to make the most out of the summer institute. However, this should not discourage you from applying, as we aim to enrol all accepted participants with limited coding experience in our coding bootcamp. During the bootcamp, we will introduce you to R-programming and support you in enriching your programming skills before the summer institute.

How much does the summer institute cost?

There is no registration cost for participating in the summer institute. Furthermore, thanks to our generous sponsor, the National Science Foundation, we will be able to cover accommodation and meals for all accepted participants. We also have limited scholarships to cover round-trip airfare for participants from other African countries.

Host a Location

You can host a partner location of the Summer Institutes of Computational Social Science (SICSS) at your university, company, NGO, or government agency.

Learn More