Conference: Computational Approaches for Contagion on Complex Social Systems

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

Contagion processes are mathematical descriptions of the way something spreads through a system. In a social system, in which things spread from person to person, what spreads might be an epidemic, ideas and opinions, or radicalization and polarization. Understanding these kinds of processes is important for many reasons, including not only contributions to basic science but also the development of effective public policy and the preservation of national security. This award provides funding for the conference “Computational Approaches for Contagion on Complex Social Systems” (CACCSS). The conference promotes the exchange of ideas around novel computational tools for the modeling of contagion in complex social systems. The conference features speakers who will give talks on topics including epidemic modeling, misinformation spread, higher-order contagion, and behavioral models. The conference is also dedicated to training participants on these topics and the use of software that facilitates the analysis of contagion data. The workshop will promote the use of computational tools that will facilitate modeling of contagion in complex systems for researchers with a wide variety of backgrounds. The award subsidizes the travel of students, postdocs, and junior faculty to attend the workshop, and trains young researchers to contribute to this important area of research. It supports accessibility and inclusion of researchers from underrepresented groups, and in so doing increases the diversity of researchers in this field. 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.