WORKSHOP: Doctoral Consortium for the International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling & Prediction and Behavior Representation in Modeling and Simulation

University Of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports student travel to participate in the 2019 International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling & Prediction and Behavior Representation in Modeling and Simulation (SBP-BRiMS). The primary goal of the SBP-BRiMS conference is to bring together researchers, system scientists, and domain experts from diverse disciplines to discuss multidisciplinary problems related to computational social science and cultural and behavioral modeling, with the goal of developing novel theories and methodologies to advance our understanding of social interactions. The SBP-BRiMS conference has grown steadily, with approximately 130-220 participants per year attending from academia, industry and government sectors; along with its interdisciplinarity, this diversity in work contexts offers a rare opportunity for cross-fertilization between researchers from different backgrounds. This proposal's goal is to further enhance that diversity by supporting the participation of junior researchers from underrepresented and marginalized groups in STEM in both the main conference and the conference's doctoral consortium, help junior scholars get both deep feedback on their proposed research and chances to connect to the broader community of research around computational methods for modeling behavior. The conference will be held at George Washington University in July 2019. Participants will be recruited through a number of channels, including professional mailing lists related to SBP-BRiMS research areas and lists maintained by organizations whose goal is to increase participation of underrepresented groups in computing. Up to 15 students will be supported to attend the doctoral colloquium and conference, with selection criteria based on the potential contributions of students' work to the field and to the diversity of ideas at the conference and administered by the conference and doctoral consortium co-chairs. Selected students will participate in a number of activities, including research presentations, interdisciplinary tutorials, and cross-fertilization round table sessions involving researchers and program staff from federal agencies, that will offer them research training, professional development, and community building opportunities. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.