[AISWorld] CFP for the Consortium for the Science of Sociotechnical Systems (CSST) 2016

[Lionel Robert]

The *Consortium for the Science of Sociotechnical Systems* (CSST) Calls for
Participation in the 2016 Summer Research Institute

When:        27 June to 1 July, 2016
Where:       Skamania Lodge, Stevenson WA (one hour east of Portland, OR)

To learn more about the venue, see: http://www.skamania.com.

Deadline: Apply by 29 March, 2016, notifications by end of April, 2016

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; education and learning – these are just a few problem domains
where effective design and robust understanding of complex sociotechnical
systems are critical.

To meet these challenges, a trans-disciplinary community has come together,
drawing in scholars from intellectual communities such 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 Research Institutes, extended workshops,
preconference workshops, and other activities, 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 that span individuals, groups, organizations, and
societies.

For 2016, we are delighted to have commitments from the following scholars
who will serve as mentors. We anticipate that several other scholars will
join this group:

Jenna Burrell (Berkeley)
Sue Fussell (Cornell)
Nicole Ellison (Michigan)
Andrea Wiggins (Maryland)
Tom Erickson (IBM)
Erik Johnston (Arizona)
Carsten Oesterlund (Syracuse)
Tony Salvador (Intel)
Magy Seif El-Nasr (Northeastern)
Lynnette Yarger (Penn State)

The 2016 Summer Research Institute builds on and extends this tradition to
strengthen and expand this diverse community by bringing together graduate
students, post-doctoral students, faculty, and other researchers in three
groups:

Doctoral students, post-doctoral students, pre-tenure faculty, and early
career researchers – Mentoring, peer networking, and skill-building
tutorials will help doctoral students, post-doctoral students, pre-tenure
faculty, and early career researchers 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.

Emerging multi-disciplinary research teams – Groups of researchers seeking
to develop cross-disciplinary collaborations will work with 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 come together to work on new challenges.
These infrastructure “hackathon” sessions will result in community
resources such as use cases, prototypes, draft materials, and deployable
systems.

*Applying for CSST 2016 Summer Research Institute*

We encourage applications from all academic, industry, NGO, and public
sector organizations worldwide. To apply for the 2016 Summer Research
Institute, select the group that best fits your needs and situation:

Doctoral students, post-doctoral students, pre-tenure faculty, and early
career researchers should send their CV and a short (up to 300 words)
response to the question “How does/will your work advance our ability to
design and understand critical sociotechnical systems?” Include three
relevant references to situate your work within the larger research
community. Doctoral students should have completed their dissertation
proposal prior to attending and should seek a letter of recommendation from
their advisor/department chair indicating their expected graduation date as
well as how the CSST Summer Research Institute will advance their
scholarship.

Emerging multi-disciplinary research teams should apply as a group, sending
their CVs and a short (up to 500 words) response to these questions: “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?”
Include references and potential funding sources, if known, to situate the
proposal within the larger research community. Your team may have from
three to six people. 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 (up to 500 words)) response to these questions: “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?” Include references to examples from other domains,
if possible, to situate your proposal. Your team may have from three to six
people from multiple disciplines and institutions.

Lodging, meals, and other onsite costs will be covered for all Summer
Research Institute participants. Limited travel support is available, if
needed, for participants from US institutions (with preference given to
doctoral and post-doctoral students).  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?

Send your application materials to Summer Research Institute Co-Director
Steve Sawyer at ssawyer at syr.edu by 29 March, 2016. The CSST Summer Research
Institute Advisory Group will review applications beginning 2 April, 2016
using the following criteria:

Clear articulation of the hoped-for contribution to the theory, practice,
or design of sociotechnical systems
Likelihood of Summer Research Institute participation providing significant
practical benefit for the individual/team
Contribution to a balanced and diverse group of participants
The number of participants we select will depend on the available funding
and the fit between applicants’ interests and CSST goals. We expect to
share out invitations by late April, 2016.

For more information about the Summer Research Institute, contact the Steve
Sawyer (ssawyer at syr.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).



Lionel Robert
-- 

New Paper: “Far but Near or Near but Far?: The Effects of Perceived
Distance on the Relationship between Geographic Dispersion and Perceived
Diversity” <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/116792>

Lionel P. Robert Jr.
Assistant Professor of Information
School of Information
University of Michigan
4381 North Quad
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285
Phone: 734-764-5296
Fax: 734-615-3587
Email: lprobert at umich.edu
School Website: https://www.si.umich.edu/people/lionel-robert
Personal Website:https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/lionelrobert/