REU Site: Interdisciplinary Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Massive Online Social Networks

Suffolk University, Boston MA

Investigators

Abstract

In this new REU site proposal the goal is to provide interdisciplinary research experiences for promising students in building massive social networks and exploring applications of these. Specific targeted projects involve topics in the areas of distributed regular path query evaluation in social networks, privacy- preserving distributed architectures for social networks, mechanisms of 'virtual' friendship relationships, and the impact on understanding and modeling of online/offline human behaviors. The proposed REU site will recruit promising undergraduates each year and provide a structured plan of activities for the duration of the project. Special emphasis on attracting high quality students from under-represented groups in research. An eight- week summer session will be organized for all REU students.