REU Site: Computational Social Science at the University of Notre Dame

University Of Notre Dame, Notre Dame IN

Investigators

Abstract

This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the SBE Directorate. As such, it has both scientific and societal benefits, and it integrates research and education. This award promotes the progress of social science discoveries through the application of advanced computational (computer) applications to solve problems of national interest such as personality analysis (psychology), interpersonal networks (sociology), family savings (economics) and digital introspection and archiving of architectural landmarks (anthropology). Broader impacts will include the critical advancement of education in computational social science as identified in the Presidential Information Technology Advisory Committee report and development of the nation's future social scientists. The program's engagement of under-represented groups and the opportunities for interaction with high school students and international research peers will have a broad impact in their professional STEM development. This award establishes an REU Site at the Center for Research Computing (CRC) at the University of Notre Dame; an ideal setting for the REU student to become familiar with interdisciplinary computational social science research. The CRC provides access to research groups working across a diverse range of social science problems including (a) Multivariate Data Mining for the Analysis of Personality, (b) Explorations on the Effects of Pervasive Networking on Social Relationships, (c) Developing Large Overlapping Generations Models of Household Savings, and (d) Digital Anthropological and Archaeological Data Capture, Archive, and Analysis. The social science students learn how to use the most current cyberinfrastructure tools and receive training on fundamental scientific computing skills and techniques. The program involves 10 students every summer, and each student spends 10 weeks at the University of Notre Dame. Intellectual merit of the project is grounded in four core areas of expertise: computational psychology, computational sociology, computational economics, and cyberinfrastructure development for the social sciences. The program gives students and faculty participants a chance to carry out collaborative, interdisciplinary research in the computational sciences. Students become part of an interdisciplinary team and experience the rewards of scientific collaboration. For faculty, the REU program offers an opportunity to explore novel research areas and form new collaborations.