CISS and Spark! Invite Proposals From Social Scientists Seeking Data Science/Computational Supports

  • By: Deborah Carr
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) has generously provided funds to support an experiential learning initiative for undergraduate students to apply data science and computational skills to studying and building solutions to social problems. The Center for Innovation in Social Science (CISS) will partner with BU Spark! X-Lab (Experience Lab) to match selected faculty, postdoctoral, and graduate student research projects with undergraduate technical teams who will apply data science and computational skills to the project. CISS and BU Spark! will provide a shared cohort experience and technical mentoring for the interns. The undergraduate Spark! teams will carry out the faculty research and participate in the mentored program between January through August 2024. Faculty applicants should indicate whether they are seeking support for Spring ’24, Summer I ‘24, or both terms.
 Projects can cover the following computing and data science applications:

  • Data science: data collection (e.g., web scraping, Application Programming Interface (APIs), merging datasets, converting data from various formats), data cleaning, data analysis, data visualization, etc.

  • Machine learning: supervised or unsupervised learning, computer vision, deep learning, natural language processing, large language models, etc.

  • Web and mobile app development and user experience design.

Applications are due Friday January 5, 2024 at this link. Faculty, full-time lecturers, postdoctoral fellows, and PhD students are eligible to apply. Recipients of 2023 pilot grants also are eligible to apply for participation in the 2024 program. Applications will be reviewed by CISS and BU Spark!  leadership and evaluated on the basis of: (a) clarity of research goals; (b) clear articulation of desired project deliverables; (c) project feasibility and data access (d) project aims that are a strong fit with current student intern interests and skills. Student intern time expectations will vary depending upon the project.

Expectations for Project Partners:
*All projects provided should be discretely defined with clear deliverables.
*Partners should be able to meet weekly or bi-weekly with student teams throughout the project duration for updates and consultation.
*Participate in an end-of-program showcase event of projects.
If you are interested in proposing a project but would like further information about how you might work with Spark! to carry out the project, please reach out to Seth Villegas (sethvill@bu.edu), Postdoctoral Fellow for CDS’ BU Spark! Program and the Computational Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Initiative (CHASS).
 
CISS director Deborah Carr and BU Spark! Director Ziba Cranmer will host an informational and Q&A session on Thursday December 14 from 11 am – 12:30 pm. We will provide examples of the types of projects that social scientists bring to BU Spark!, the specific tasks carried out by student teams, and suggestions on how to structure a successful application.  Meghann Lucy (GRS, Sociology), a recipient of a 2023 pilot grant will share her experiences working with Spark! students. The session also will feature remarks from Dr. Villegas and  Taylor Beauvais, data science program manager at BU Spark!  and a PhD candidate in the Sociology department. Please register for this Zoom session here.

To learn more about BU Spark!, click here.

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