[Air-L] DSST 2014 Research Summer Institute

[Gurzick, David]

I know myself and other AoIR folk have benefitted greatly from the
CSST/DSST summer workshops. Don¹t miss out on the opportunity.
===

Let's see if this works....

Call for Participation: 2014 Digital Societies and Social Technologies
(DSST) Summer Institute

July 8 - July 10, 2014 (arrival July 7; departure July 11 for 3 full days)
University of Missouri - Columbia, Columbia, MO
http://www.sociotech.net/v2/dsst2014

MOOCs, Education and learning; personal health and well-being; open
innovation, eScience, and citizen science; co-production, open source, and
new forms of work; cultural heritage and information access; energy
management and climate change; civic hacking, engagement and government;
disaster response; cybersecurity and privacy - these are just a few
problem domains where effective design and robust understanding of complex
sociotechnical systems is critical. To meet these challenges a
trans-disciplinary community of scholars has come together from fields as
wide ranging as CSCW, HCI, social computing, organization studies,
information visualization, social informatics, sociology, information
systems, medical informatics, computer science, ICT for development,
education, learning science, journalism, and political science.

Through summer institutes (CSST), extended workshops (Social Webshop),
preconference workshops at a wide variety of venues, and other activities
(Digital Societies and Technology Research Coordination Network) this
community of researchers from academia and industry has developed a strong
focus on problems and opportunities arising from the interplay of social
and technological systems which span individuals, groups, organizations,
and societies.

The 2014 Summer Institute builds on this tradition to strengthen and
expand this diverse community by bringing together graduate students, post
doctoral students, faculty, and other researchers in four groups at the
University of Missouri - Columbia on July 8 - 10, 2014:

Doctoral students, post doctoral students, pre-tenure faculty, and early
career researchers - Through mentoring, peer networking, and
skill-building tutorials, doctoral students, post doctoral students,
pre-tenure faculty, and early career researchers will identify substantive
ways that the theories, approaches, and tools within the larger community
can advance their work with the design and study of sociotechnical systems.

Established researchers - Prior summer institute/workshop participants and
established researchers will network with other researchers (senior and
junior), explore ideas and new directions, shape emerging research
agendas, articulate critical challenges, and share knowledge about
practices, tools, and approaches which have the potential to advance the
design and study of sociotechnical systems.

Emerging multi-disciplinary research teams - Nascent groups of researchers
seeking to develop cross-disciplinary collaborations will work with peers
and mentors to refine problem statements and research goals; connect with
collaborators with complementary skills and interests; and create
actionable research agendas and funding proposals. Preference will be
given to groups interested in designing and studying sociotechnical
systems that address societal grand challenges such as (but not limited
to) healthcare; energy management and climate change; cybersecurity and
privacy; education and learning; disaster response; technology development
and innovation; economic development and work; and civic engagement and
participation.

Research infrastructure development teams - Groups of researchers
interested in creating computational or analytic tools, data resources,
training materials or other infrastructure to support the design and study
of sociotechnical systems will work with one another, other Summer
institute participants, and local developers. These infrastructure
"hackathon" sessions will result in the creation of use cases, prototypes,
draft materials, and when possible deployable systems and resources.

Applying for DSST 2014
Applications are encouraged from all academic, industry, NGO, and public
sector organizations worldwide. To apply for the 2013 Summer Institute,
select the group that best fits your needs and situation and send the
appropriate materials to the Summer Institute co-coordinator (Sean
Goggins) atgogginss at missouri.edu by March 20, 2014:

Doctoral students, post doctoral students, pre-tenure faculty, and early
career researchers should send their CV and a short (~ 1 page) response
to: "How does/will your work advance our ability to design and understand
critical sociotechnical systems?" Several core references should be
included to situate your work within the larger research community.
Doctoral students should also provide a letter of recommendation from
their advisor/department chair indicating their expected graduation date.

Established researchers should send their CV and a short (~ 1 page)
response to: "What are the most interesting challenges and opportunities
related to the design and study of critical sociotechnical systems? What
activity (30 minutes to 4 hours long) could you run that would help the
Summer Institute participants better engage these challenges and
opportunities?" Proposed activities can be for any (or all) Summer
Institute participants and might include, but are not limited to: focused
presentations; brainstorming sessions; in-depth problem descriptions;
method, tool, or data tutorials; or research agenda setting exercises.

Emerging multi-disciplinary research teams should apply as a group,
sending their CVs and a short (~ 1 page) response to: "What is the
research focus/problem domain? What types of activities/studies are needed
to engage that domain? How will pursuing this agenda help advance our
ability to design and understand critical sociotechnical systems?"
References potential funding sources can be included, if known, to situate
the proposal within the larger research community. Groups invited to the
Summer Institute will have between 4-6 people. However, only 3 individuals
need to be part of an application for it to be considered (assistance will
be provided prior to the Summer Institute to help invited teams recruit
additional participants as needed). Preference will be given to
cross-institutional teams in which junior/mid-career researchers play
significant leadership roles.

Research infrastructure development teams should apply as a group, sending
their CVs and a short (~ 1 page) response to: "What is the problem you are
seeking to address? What will you do to address that problem? How will
creating these technologies, tools, materials or infrastructure improve
our ability to design and understand critical sociotechnical systems?"
References to examples from other domains can be included to situate your
proposal. Teams invited for the Summer Institute will have between 4-6
people from multiple disciplines and institutions. However, only 3
individuals need to be part of an application to be considered (assistance
will be provided prior to the Summer Institute to help invited teams
recruit additional participants as needed).
Lodging, meals, and other onsite costs will be covered for all Summer
Institute participants. Limited travel support is available, if needed,
for participants from US and Canadian institutions (with preference given
to doctoral and post-doctoral students). Travel support may also be
available for other Summer Institute participants. To be considered for
all available financial support you should provide the following
information when you apply:

What college or university do you attend?
What is your primary department affiliation?
If you are applying from a Canadian university, are you a member of the
GRAND network?

Materials should be sent to Summer Institute co-coordinator (Sean Goggins)
at gogginss at missouri.edu by March 20th, 2014. Applications will be
reviewed by the Summer Institute Advisory Group beginning March 30th, 2013
using the following criteria:

-Clear articulation of the hoped-for contribution to the theory, practice,
or design of sociotechnical systems
-Likelihood of Summer Institute participation providing significant
practical benefit for the individual/team
-Contribution to a balanced and diverse group of participants

The number of participants selected will depend on the available funding
and the fit between applicants' interests and goals.

For more information about the Summer Institute, contact the Summer
Institute co-coordinators, Sean Goggins (gogginss at missouri.edu) and Diane
Bailey (debailey at ischool.utexas.edu). For information about the broader
community of researchers interested in design and study of sociotechnical
systems, see: CSST (www.sociotech.net), the "Researchers of the
Socio-Technical" Facebook group, or the CSST listserv
(csst at listserv.syr.edu).

2014 Mentors
Mark Ackerman, University of Michigan
Diane Bailey, University of Texas (Co-Director)
Paul Dourish, University of California - Irvine
Nicole Ellison, University of Michigan
Sean Goggins, University of Missouri (Co-Director)
Erik Johnston, Arizona State University
Tony Salvador, Intel
Jennifer Stromer-Galley, Syracuse
Susan Stuckey, IBM
Steve Sawyer, Syracuse (Digital Societies RCN)
Wayne Lutters, UMBC (Digital Societies RCN)
Brian Butler, Maryland (Digital Societies RCN)
Andrea Hoplight-Tapia, The Pennsylvania State University (Digital
Societies RCN)