Mediterranean summer school complex networks

This summer school will be of interest to readers of this blog.

We are calling for applications from students and young researchers in Network Science for the 7th edition of the Mediterranean School of Complex Networks, which will take place in Salina (Italy), 5-12 Sep 2020.

Early applications are expected before 31 March 2020 (no payment required at this step). Seats are limited to 50 attendants.

Since its first edition in 2014, our School trained more than 230 early-career researchers in Network Science from 4 continents. All details about previous editions, location, important dates and travel are available at the official website: http://mediterraneanschoolcomplex.net/
You might also want to watch the School teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN9Pmi5GOsg

Please, note that for the youngest researchers (no more than two years from their PhD completion) who are members of the Complex Systems Society, we will grant up to two scholarships covering the registration fee.

We kindly ask you to circulate this call among your peers, students and other potentially interested applicants.

Best wishes,
Manlio De Domenico & Alex Arenas
MSCX Directors

Jobs: 6 postdocs Social Network Analysis

Readers of this blog might be interested in these jobs (Via Humanist).

Deadline for applications 19/02/2020.

We are currently recruiting 6 Post-doctoral Research Fellows with
expertise in social research methods to work within the Trento Center
for Social Research Methods.

Computational/digital sociology and social network analysis
Two post-doctoral research fellows for researchers with experience in
computational/digital sociology and social network analysis. This
includes, among others:
·       computational methods for “statistical learning”, using R or Python,
·       design and analysis of experiments, including field and online
experiments and use of digital devices (e.g. smartphones, wearables),
·       advanced social network analysis and recent developments in
ERGM, SAOM/SIENA, multilevel and multimodal networks, large-scale networks,
·       The quantitative analysis of texts through text mining and the
use of techniques such as LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation), CTM
(correlated topic model) and LSA (latent semantic analysis)
·       the simulation of social phenomena with agent-based modelling (ABM).

For more details, please
see: https://www.unitn.it/ateneo/bando/61292/dipartimento-di-sociologia-e-
ricerca-sociale-avviso-di-selezione-per-il-conferimento-di-n-2-assegni

The application deadline is: 19/02/2020, 12:00 (noon), CET.

CFP: computational approaches to Roman economy, EAA

At this year’s EAA there will be a session very close to my research interests: computational approaches to the Roman economy.

Be sure to submit your abstracts via the EAA website.

Deadline: 13 February 2020.

From abacus to calculus. Computational approaches to Roman Economy

Content:

The study of the Ancient economy is an interdisciplinary endeavour on the intersection of archaeology, classics and historical economy, that tries to reconcile evidence from written and material sources across a wide range of regions, with different degrees of data availability and diverse traditions of studying these sources. The ‘Roman economy’ is a concept that has many possible interpretations, and accommodates a wide range of case studies from estimating production capacities and local trade networks to Empire-wide investigations on demography, wealth distribution and trade volumes.

 

With the advent of ever-growing and better accessible digital datasets, increasing computer power and more sophisticated computer science approaches to data mining and modelling, the analysis of the Roman economy is now entering a new stage. We can now start to meaningfully connect disparate data sets and use formal computational modelling to explore their potential, e.g., to elucidate the mechanisms that led to the different economic trajectories in the various parts of the Empire, or to reconstruct the social and political networks that enabled economic growth.

 

In this session, we invite speakers to present studies of the Roman economy that have used computational modelling as a tool to bridge the gap between fragmented, disconnected data sets and interpretive frameworks. This can include but is not limited to:

– statistical modelling,

– data mining,

– agent-based modelling and simulation,

– network analysis,

– spatial modelling

– machine learning,

– or a combination of approaches.

 

These can be applied to any topic relevant to Roman Economy: demography, land use, trade networks, craft production, finance, administration and others. We are also welcoming more theoretically oriented papers on the role of computational modelling in historical economic studies of the Roman Empire and comparative case studies from other periods.

 

Job: Postdoc computer vision and machine learning applied to cultural heritage

This job will be of interest to readers of this blog. Computer vision and machine learning applied to cultural heritage, archaeology and digital humanities.

Deadline 15 February.

Via Dr Arianna Traviglia.

PostDoc on Computer Vision and Machine Learning (CCHT@Ca’Foscari) – [ Postdoc ]

Added on: 26/09/2019 – Expires on 15/02/2020

The IIT Centre for Cultural Heritage Technology (CCHT@Ca’Foscari) of the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in Venice has been established for researching and promoting new technologies and approaches for recording, documentation, analysis and preservation of Cultural Heritage in a broad sense (artistic, archaeological, archival, historical heritage). A strongly interdisciplinary infrastructure, the Centre combines expertise from computing and conservation sciences domains, integrating these competencies to foster cutting-edge research.

CCHT@Ca’Foscari is currently seeking to appoint a Senior PostDoc (i.e. minimum of 3 year experience outside PhD program) with a solid background in Computer Vision and Machine Learning approaches and methods, to be applied to Cultural Heritage applications. The search seeks at consolidating CCHT expertise especially in one or more of the following applications (not comprehensive list): 3D artefact digitisation and recording, document and text analysis, artefact classification and remote sensing data processing.

The selected candidate will join an interdisciplinary team of researchers, contributing to the development of next generation Computer Vision and Machine Learning approaches applied to the Cultural Heritage and, more broadly, Digital Humanities domains.

Required qualifications:

• a Ph.D. in computer science or related field (with specialisation in either Computer Vision or Machine Learning) and +3 years CV/ML experience outside PhD, OR demonstrated similar experience;
• Knowledge of programming languages, e.g. Python, MATLAB etc.;
• Experience in grant proposal preparation at National and/or European level;
• Interest in cultural heritage (applications to archaeology, art, artefact studies etc) and, more broadly, Digital Humanities
• Proven interdisciplinary collaborations with scientific staff or stakeholders in the Cultural Heritage /Digital Humanities fields.
• Good communication skills and ability to cooperate;
• Proficient in English language (written and oral).

Desirable skills:

• Strong track record of research publications in top tier conferences and journals (e.g. CVPR, ICCV, ECCV,  ICML, NIPS, PAMI, JMLR, etc.).
• Experience in supervising or co-supervising Ph.D. students or postdocs;
• Knowledge of OpenCV, PCL and Open3D libraries;
• Experience on Deep Learning algorithms and relevant platforms (e.g. TensorFlow, PyTorch, Theano, Caffe);

The successful candidate will be offered a competitive salary commensurate to experience and skills.

The call will remain open until the position is filled but a first deadline for evaluation of candidates will be on February 15^th, 2020. Please send your application to applications@iit.it quoting “CCHT Computer Vision and Machine Learning Senior PostDoc BC 77512” in the e-mail subject. Your application must include (as separate documents):

• a detailed CV
• a research statement, expanding on current and past research
• 3 representative publications.
• name and contacts of two referees

Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia – IIT (www.iit.it) – was founded with the objective of promoting Italy’s technological development and further education in science and technology. In this framework, IIT’s scientific program is based on the combination of basic scientific research with the development of technical applications, a major inspirational principle. The research areas cover scientific topics of high innovative content, representing the most advanced frontiers of modern technology, with wide application possibilities in various fields ranging from medicine to industry, from computer science to robotics, life sciences and nanobiotechnology.

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia is an equal opportunity employer that actively seeks diversity in the workforce.

Please note that the data that you provide will be used exclusively for the purpose of professional profiles’ evaluation and selection, and in order to meet the requirements of Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia.

Your data will be processed by Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, based in Genoa, Via Morego 30, acting as Data Controller, in compliance with the rules on protection of personal data, including those related to data security.

Please also note that, pursuant to articles 15 et. seq. of European Regulation no. 679/2016 (General Data Protection Regulation), you may exercise your rights at any time by contacting the Data Protection Officer (phone +39 010 71781 – email: dpo[at]iit.it )

Contacts
applications@iit.it

 

CFP: “Network Approaches to Near Eastern Archaeology and History” (Boston ASOR)

This session will be of interest to readers of this blog.

Deadline 15 February.

CALL FOR PAPERS: “Network Approaches to Near Eastern Archaeology and History” (Boston ASOR)

We invite submissions for the session “Network Approaches to Near Eastern Archaeology and History” at the 2020 ASOR Annual Meeting in Boston (November 18–21, 2020). This is a member-organized session chaired by Steven Edwards (Centre of Geographic Sciences), Ioana Dumitru (Johns Hopkins), and Christine Johnston (Western Washington University). Papers should be 20 minutes in length.

Session Description: This session will explore current applications of network analysis across a range of case studies spanning the Near East. From the rise of social and economic inequality to the development of interregional trade systems, network analysis provides archaeologists and historians with a suite of statistical tools to explore patterns in large, complex datasets. The contributions in this session highlight how network analysis is being used to tackle challenging and important questions of archaeological and historical significance, and showcase the amenability of network approaches to engaging with diverse types of data—whether archaeological or textual in nature.

Information for the call for papers can be found here: http://www.asor.org/am/2020-call-for-papers

The submission deadline for abstracts is February 15, 2020. Please note that you must be a member of ASOR in good standing and must register for the Annual Meeting in order to submit an abstract and participate in the meeting.

If you have any questions about the session or about the submission process please contact us at steven.edwards@nscc.ca, idumitr1@jhu.edu, or christine.johnston@wwu.edu.

CFP: Historical Network Research 2020 Luxembourg 17-19 June 2020

Join us in Luxembourg for a fantastic new edition of the Historical Network Research conference! This is also a great venue for archaeologists to present their work.

CFP deadline: 20 February 2020.

Call for papers for HNR2020

The Historical Network Research community is very pleased to announce the call for papers for the next Historical Network Research conference which will take place at the University of Luxembourg, from Wednesday 17 until Friday 19 June 2020. The conference will run over three days opening with a workshop day and two conference days.

Social network analysis theories and methods have emerged as a persuasive extension of purely metaphorical uses of network concepts in historical research. The HNR conference series explores the challenges and possibilities of network research in historical scholarship and serves as a platform for researchers from various disciplines to meet, present and discuss their latest research findings and to demonstrate tools and projects.

The Historical Network Research community has its roots in the year 2009 when the first in a series of workshops on the application of network analysis in the historical disciplines took place. In 2019, the thirteenth workshop on „Networks Across Time and Space: Methodological Challenges and Theoretical Concerns of Network Research in the Humanities“ was hosted by the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz, Germany. In 2013, the European Digital Humanities research network Nedimah enabled us to organize the first international conference on Historical Network Research in Hamburg. This was followed by conferences in Ghent 2014, Lisbon 2015, Turku 2017, and Brno 2018. From 2013 onwards, we organised sessions on historical networks at the International Sunbelt Conferences of the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA), and from 2014 on at the corresponding European Regional Conferences (EUSN). The year 2017 saw the publication of the inaugural issue of the Open Access Journal of Historical Network Research (www.jhnr.uni.lu). JHNR is devoted to the study of networks (social or otherwise) from a specifically historical perspective and encourages the exchange between different areas of historical research (in the broadest sense), the (digital) humanities at large as well as the social, information and computer sciences. These events and activities are supplemented by the website Historical Network Research (www.historicalnetworkresearch.org), which provides a bibliography, a calendar of events and an email newsletter.

For our 2020 conference, we welcome submissions for individual contributions discussing any historical period and geographical area. Authors may be historians, linguists, librarians, archaeologists, art historians, computer scientists, social scientists as well as scholars from other disciplines working with historical or archaeological data. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Cultural and intellectual networks
• Geospatial networks
• Citizen science, crowdsourcing and other forms of public engagement
• Networks extracted from texts
• Networks and prosopography
• Methodological contributions with immediate relevance for Historical Network Research such as missing data, temporality, multilayer networks, ontologies, linked data
• Pedagogy, teaching, and digital literacy in Historical Network Research

Keynotes

The closing keynote will be delivered by Petter Holme, Specially Appointed Professor at the Institute of Innovative Research at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, the speaker for the opening keynote will be announced in the near future.

 

Workshops

Participants are invited to take part in one or two of three half-day-workshops:

• Introduction to Social Network Analysis (Matthias Bixler, Independent Researcher)
• Exponential Random Graph Models for Historical Networks (Antonio Fiscarelli, University of Luxemburg)
• Analysis of Two-Mode Networks with Python (Demival Vasques Filho, Leibniz Institute of European History Mainz)

Formats

For HNR 2020 we welcome three types of proposals: (1) individual papers; (2) software/tool demonstrations and (3) posters. Abstracts should clearly state the title, name and affiliation of the authors and the presenters; if you have one please include your Twitter username, too.

1) Individual papers:

abstract (500-1000 words maximum, plus 3 citations) will be required for 20-minute papers (presentation 15 mins + 5 minutes for questions). The content of your abstract should be appropriate for the nature of the paper you intend to present. Your abstract should include:

• Background – an overview of the topic and the research questions that will be addressed by your paper
• Methods and data – an overview of the data used and the methods employed in your research
• Findings – a description of the results of your research

You may also include a single figure that shows the key results or main argument of your paper. Figures should be submitted in a format that can be displayed in a standard web browser and should have a minimum resolution of 300 DPI. Citations should use the Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition Author Date style.

2) Software/tool demonstrations:

HNR provides an opportunity for demonstrations of software and tools for historical network analysis. Accepted demonstrations and tools will be presented within a main conference session (presentations 15 mins + 5 minutes for questions) and at demo booths during the poster presentations. Abstracts (200-500 words maximum) will be required and should include information on the novel contribution it makes, its state of development and licensing.

3) Posters:

Abstracts (200-500 words, plus 3 citations) will be required for posters. Your abstract should include:

• Background – a brief overview of the topic or research questions addressed by the poster
• Methods and data – a description of the data used and the methods employed
• Discussion/findings – a discussion of the wider implications of your research for network analysis in history.

Submissions

Please submit your abstract by Thursday 20 February, 2020 (23:59 CET) via EasyChair (https://easychair.org/my/conference?conf=hnr2020#). Papers for presentation will be selected following a double-blind peer review procedure. Notifications of acceptance/rejection will be announced by 15 March 2020. The conference language is English.

Selected papers and posters will be invited to prepare a submission  for a peer-reviewed publication in the Journal of Historical Network Research (https://jhnr.uni.lu/).

Please do not hesitate to contact the organising team for any questions you may have at HNR2020@historicalnetworkresearch.org. Additional information on workshops, keynotes, and programme together with further practical information will be available shortly on the conference website.

Key dates

• 20.02.2020: deadline for submissions via Easychair
• 15.03.2020: notification of acceptance
• 01.04.2020: registration opening
• 15.06.2020: latest possible registration for participants
• 17-19.06.2020: conference (1 day workshops, 2 days sessions)
• 15.07.2020: invitation of selected articles to JHNR

Further information on the workshops will be provided on the conference website shortly.

Travel bursaries

Scholars without access to sufficient travel funds may apply for a travel bursary in parallel to submitting a paper or poster. A bursary will cover travel and accommodation costs for the duration of the conference. Please email a motivation letter together with a CV to HNR2020@historicalnetworkresearch.org. Only authors of accepted papers are eligible for bursaries.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

With best wishes,

The HNR 2020 Organisers:

Tom Brughmans (Aarhus University)
Aline Deicke (Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz)
Marten Düring (University of Luxembourg)
Antonio Fiscarelli (University of Luxembourg)
Ingeborg van Vugt (University of Utrecht)

Conference Bochum 14-16 May: Resources and Complex Systems

This event might be of interest to readers of this blog.

Via Frederik Schaff:

Dear colleagues,

 

In the attachment, please find an invitation to the ReSoc conference Resources and Transformation in pre-modern Societies, which takes place in Bochum from 14th to 16th of May 2020.

The conference is organised by the Leibniz Post-Doc School “Resources in Society” (ReSoc) hosted by the Ruhr-University Bochum (RUB) and the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum (DBM). The aim of the conference is to provide a forum for a transdisciplinary discourse on transformation of knowledge, culture and landscapes in relation to resources. In three sessions, with two distinguished keynote speakers each, we will cover aspects with a multitude of different methodological and theoretical perspectives.

In this mailing-list, we wish to highlight especially the third session on “Resources and Complex Systems”. Here, we will focus especially on agent-based modelling (or similar) approaches to gain a deeper understanding of transformation processes in a given geographical area over a long time span (typically several hundred years).

In order stimulate a lively and fruitful debate, we highly welcome proposals in the form of an abstract (until February 29^th) that:

·         formally cope with issues of complexity and resources by means of simulation models,

·         theoretically derive the practical relevance of a resource-based viewpoint to issues of complexity in an archaeological context,

·         review critically and/or comprehensively the existing literature on complexity and archaeology with the aim to understand the relevance of resources in the different approaches,

·         empirically (based on, e.g., ethnographic studies) determine and analyse such drivers of spatiotemporal human dynamics that are directly connected to concepts of resources,

·         or fit in any other way well within the context of the session.

All information is also available at the conference page: https://conference.resoc.de.

Please forward this email to interested colleagues.

Please excuse any cross-positings.

We hope to see many of you in Bochum.

Best wishes, on behalf of the organising committee,

Frederik Schaff

CfP:Networks and the study of the human past at the 2020 Sunbelt conference in Paris

The History and Archaeology sessions at the annual Sunbelt SNA conference are becoming a strong tradition. Submit your abstract now.

Via HNR mailing list:

Dear All,

please consider submitting an abstract for the Paris Sunbelt 2020 session on Networks and the study of the human past.

Deadline: 31 January 2020

Organizers: Julie Birkholz (Ghent University, Belgium), Henning Hillmann (University of Mannheim, Germany), Martin Stark (ILS, Dortmund, Germany), Bernd Wurpts (University of Lucerne, Switzerland)

Session Description:

Most network research focuses on contemporary data and is presentist in orientation, overlooking the vast store of interesting data from the past. The aim of this interdisciplinary session is to further extend the community of scholars working with historical data by promoting contacts between the various disciplines that aim at making sense of past phenomena through methods and theories derived from network analysis and network science.

We are looking for papers exploring the challenges and potential posed by such network studies of past phenomena. Examples of such challenges and avenues include, but are not limited to: selective samples; missing data; big data and textual/semantic network analysis based on sources of the past.

The session invites contributions from researchers from various disciplines applying the methods of formal network analysis and network science on the human past. We welcome submissions concerning any period, geographical area or topic. The authors may be archaeologists, historians, social scientists or economists, as well as scholars from other disciplines working with historical or archaeological data. Thus, the content of the networks may include but is not limited to: past revolutions; migration; industrial revolution; diffusion processes; transitions from authoritarianism to democracy; international trade; kinship; war; religion and science.

For more information use the following link: https://www.insna.org/call-for-oral-presentations-and-posters

 

We hope to see you in Paris!

Best,

Bernd Wurpts, Ph.D.

Oberassistent

Department of Sociology

University of Lucerne

Save the date: HNR conference 2020, June 17-19 2020, Luxembourg

Come to HNR 2020 in Luxembourg!

Via HNR mailing list :

Save the date: Historical Network Research conference 2020, June 17-19 2020, Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg)

Dear colleagues,

As the end of this year is closing in, we’re already looking forward to 2020: Save the date for the 6thHistorical Network Research conference hosted by the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH) in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg on June 17-19.

A call for papers with more information will follow in early January 2020. See also the conference website: http://hnr2020.historicalnetworkresearch.org

We look forward to welcoming you in Luxembourg!

With best wishes,

The organising committee

Aline Deicke
Marten Düring
Antonio Fiscarelli
Ingeborg van Vugt

Image: © Michel Brumat / Foersom sàrl 2015