News & Events

Please join us for a series of talks on AI for Philadelphia. Students and faculty from across Penn will showcase how advances in AI are directly benefiting the city’s schools, infrastructure, and technology.

In addition to exploring the impact of AI, we will discuss prospects for new ventures, including potential partnerships with city agencies. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how AI is shaping the future of Philadelphia.

Event date and time to be announced. Please check back soon.

The Data Driven Discovery Initiative is proud to co-sponsor this year’s International Conference for Computational Social Science (IC2S2). This year’s conference will be held at the University of Pennsylvania from July 17th-20th, 2024.

IC2S2 has emerged as the dominant conference at the intersection of social and computational science, bringing together researchers from around the world in economics, sociology, political science, psychology, cognitive science, management, computer science, statistics and the full range of natural and applied sciences committed to understanding the social world through large-scale data and computation. IC2S2 is the annual conference of the International Society for Computational Social Science.

The full-scale three-day conference (July 17th-20th) will feature research and researchers from around the world, across a broad range of relevant fields, and working on all areas of computational social science to advance its many frontiers.

The IC2S2 community actively balances and maintains a conversation between social and computational scientists which integrates technological advances and opportunities with social scientific rigor and insight.

Learn more about IC2S2 and view the conference program here.

DDDI is excited to support the launch of the University Atlas project (uAtlas): an effort to map Penn’s vibrant research community. Visitors to uAtlas can explore decades worth of publications authored by faculty in the School of Arts and Sciences map, with more schools coming soon. Founded by DDDI executive director Colin Twomey, uAtlas leverages recent advances in large language models to automatically organize scholarly publications according to their topics and themes. The result is a collection of visually engaging maps that showcase the interdisciplinary nature of research at Penn, highlighting the many connections between Penn’s departments, centers, and faculty. uAtlas offers researchers a new way to quickly identify potential collaborators across fields, identify emerging trends, and orient newcomers to Penn’s research community.

To learn more, read Penn Today’s featured article about uAtlas.

Please join us for the Data Driven Discovery Initiative’s 2024 Summer Hangouts program! Undergrads, grad students, and postdocs are all invited to participate in informal, hands-on tutorials led by our team of experienced DDDI postdoctoral research fellows. These tutorials are open to students from all backgrounds and skill levels, covering a wide range of data science topics including machine learning and generative AI for scientific discovery. The series will kick off with a faculty talk from Prof. Lyle Unger, and close with a special guest tutorial from MindCORE Associate Director Russell Ritchie.

Hangouts will be held twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon – 1pm, June 11th to June 25th, in the RDDSX space in Van Pelt-Dietrich Library. A pizza lunch will be provided. We will also have a live-stream (links below) of the session for those who cannot attend in person.

Tuesday sessions live-stream link here.

Thursday sessions live-stream link here.

Please see here for more details – and be sure to RSVP!

Join us for the second Penn Data Scientists Meetup! This event aims to bring together practitioners of data science, engineering, and visualization from across the University. There are many staff members across Penn who work in isolated clusters on these topics, and we are looking to foster collaboration between Penn’s various schools.

Please share this announcement with staff members who are involved in data science-adjacent activities, particularly those in roles such as Research Software Engineer, Systems Architect, or Data Scientist.

Event Details

Date: Wednesday, May 29th
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Location: Glandt Forum (Singh Center for Nanotechnology)
Hosts: The Data Driven Discovery Initiative (DDDI), Institute for Biomedical Informatics (IBI) and Innovation in Data Engineering and Science (IDEAS)

Key topics include

• High-performance computing
• Data visualization
• Causal inference
• Machine Learning
• Generative AI

Agenda

2:00 – 2:05 – Introductory remarks
2:05 – 2:20 – 3-minute/3-slide lightning talks
2:20 – 3:00 – Moderated panel discussion
3:00 – 3:30 – Refreshments and casual discussion

Lightning talks are recommended for new attendees interested in introducing themselves to the group or previous attendees interested in sharing something new they are working on. The panel discussion will center on the theme of generative AI in data science and evolving career paths.

We kindly request attendees to RSVP by May 20th May 22nd (deadline extended!) using this form.

The DDDI Postdoctoral Fellows program is expanding! In response to the rapid evolution of the AI landscape and the increasing importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, we are launching a unified postdoctoral fellows program that spans the sciences and AI. The program aims to seamlessly integrate the strengths of the Center for Innovation in Data Engineering and Science (IDEAS) and the Data Driven Discovery Initiative (DDDI) into a single home for data science postdoctoral fellows in SEAS and SAS.

See the announcement for more details.

Cultures of Datafication in & across South Asia
Registration required

Event Organizer: Kim Fernandes; Zehra Hashmi; Sandeep Mertia; and Rahul Mukherjee (University of Pennsylvania) and Ranjit Singh (Data & Society)
Date: 4/12-13/24
Location: Day 1 – Fisher Bennet Hall #401; Day 2 – CASI, 133 S 36th St, #230

This event aims to bring together interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners to discuss historical and emergent trajectories of data-driven knowledge production in South Asia. In doing so, participants will examine how under-explored social relations in South Asia shape data-driven technologies and vice versa. The workshop will also explore the past, present, and/or future of datafication across South Asia as it relates to three broad themes: identity, governance, and energy.

Date: March 26, 2024

Time: 6:00pm – 7:00pm

Location: Terrace Room, Cohen Hall

The Data Driven Discovery Initiative (DDDI), in collaboration with Penn Arts & Sciences College Alumni Mentoring Series (CAMS), is excited to host a career mentorship panel event highlighting careers in data science. Students will have an opportunity to hear from and connect with a diverse group of professionals working in a variety of data-driven careers. The panelists – listed below – will share their professional experiences over provided dinner. An opportunity for Q&A will follow the moderated discussion.

Registration is required to attend this event.

Panelists:

Eric Edell C’99 W08 (moderator)
Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner at 22C Capital

Randy Winn
Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner, 22C Capital

Melissa Honour
Chief Product Officer at Aster Insights

Tara Thiagarajan, Ph.D.
Founder and Chief Scientist at Sapien Labs

Christian Smith
President, Service Lines and Solutions at LMI

Applications for the DDDI Postdoctoral Fellowship are now open for the 2024/2025 cycle. 

The DDDI Postdoctoral Fellowship is an opportunity open to all postdocs in the School of Arts & Sciences who use data science as a significant part of their research methodology. We encourage postdocs across the natural and social sciences to apply.

Accepted applicants will join a group of data-driven postdoctoral fellows who regularly meet together as well as with faculty and visitors to discuss their research and exchange ideas. Fellows will receive a research stipend (up to $5,000 total) for one year to support their research efforts.

The application deadline is April 8th April 26th, 2024. To learn more about the DDDI postdoctoral fellowship and for information on how to apply, please see here.

Join the AI Literacy Interest Group at Penn Libraries for its second session!

The AI Literacy Interest Group will be hosting its second session on Tuesday, February 27. Join us to engage in insightful discussions about non-Western perspectives of AI and technology, and to foster a nuanced and informed understanding on topics like gender, labor, multilingualism, globalization, and environmentalism with AI as the focal point. Connect with a vibrant community of mindful practitioners, stay up to date on the latest AI news, and explore responsible use-cases in the real world.

Student Debate & Showcase on Gender and Technology

Date: February 27, 2024
Time: 9:45 am – 2:00 pm
Location: Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center (Sixth Floor)

The second session will delve into the relationship between AI, gender, multilingualism, and the environment in a day filled with stimulating talks and debates exploring the diverse facets of AI’s impact. Attendees will also have an opportunity to view a curated set of historical collections and rare book manuscripts from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, followed by fun activities and socializing.

See the Penn Libraries event page for more information.

Image Credit: Hazem Asif (@worldofhazem)