June 10 - 16, 2024
Hybrid - Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA USA
Gates/Hillman Center, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Room 6115, 6th floor
The Summer Institute is a week-long training event that provides an intense hands-on introduction to network analysis and visualization from a combined social-network, network-science, link-analysis and dynamic network analysis perspective. Social network, high-dimensional networks, semantic networks, and meta-networks are covered as are network dynamics and geo-spatial networks. The training will also review the theories, methods, and tools to identify and combat disinformation, hate speech, and extremism online. This institute is for graduate students, faculty, and personnel from industry, education and government who also want to learn more about social-cybersecurity, an emerging field of research and policy.
Participants learn about current trends, practices, and tools available for analyzing complex systems as networks. Basic social network and dynamic network measure for one-mode, bi-partite and multi-mode data are covered. Network statistic, analysis and visualization techniques are covered for static and dynamic networks. Techniques for extracting networks from text and social media are covered. Simulation techniques for forecasting change in these networks and their impact on the diffusion of ideas and beliefs are covered. Topics covered during training include: how social media is used to spread disinformation, hate-speech and extremism online, types of technologies used to identify, combat, or measure the impact of these influence campaigns, and how communities can be more resilient in the face of such campaigns.
Instruction will begin Monday June 10th and conclude by 5pm US Eastern on Saturday June 15th. For those attending in-person who wish to have additional one-on-one instruction with their projects can do so on Sunday June 16th which will be scheduled during the workshop. All participants will have access to recordings of presentations for a limited duration after instruction ends on June 15th.Sessions will include seminars and technology demonstrations. Additional material for those who want to learn several of the key tools will be available. Participants will gain experience through a series of hands-on exercises. Data sets are provided for these exercises; however, in-person participants can bring their own data and use it in these exercises if they choose. An examination of social network methods, complexity theory and procedures for integrating network-based metrics and statistics into computational models completes the program.
The software tools participants will learn and work with include: ORA-PRO, NetMapper, and Construct, which are network analysis & visualization, information extraction/text mining, and simulations tools, respectively, that are used at CASOS and IDeaS and used globally in business, government, and education. All participants will be given trial software for use in the institute, and a deep discount on the professional versions of the tools if interested.
Certification: In person participants who attend and successfully participate in the majority of sessions will receive a certificate at the conclusion of the program. There will be no certification provided for virtual participants.
Curriculum:
The hands-on curriculum builds on both social network and computational analysis techniques, and illustrates how to use these techniques to study social, organizational and policy issues. Final agenda will be posted in May, please check back for additional information.
Topics Covered:
- Social Network Analysis
- Dynamic Network Analysis (multi-mode, multi-network), meta-networks and high-dimensional networks
- Geo-networks, putting networks on maps, geo-network measures
- Grouping and community detection techniques
- Social media network analytics
- Semantic networks and extracting networks from texts
- Agent-based dynamic network simulation
- Simulation model validation and docking
- Hands-on introduction to CASOS tools: ORA, NetMapper, and Construct
- How social media is used to spread disinformation
- Hate-speech and extremism online
- Types of technologies used to identify, combat, or measure the impact of these influence campaigns how communities can be more resilient in the face of such campaigns
Software:
All participants will be given trial software, and a deep discount on the professional versions of the tools ORA, Construct, and NetMapper.
Faculty:
- Kathleen M. Carley, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University, Director of CASOS
- Other Faculty TBA
Additional information for in-person participants:
Carnegie Mellon University Campus COVID Protocol Information: https://www.cmu.edu/coronavirus/visitor-protocol/.
Local Hotel Accommodations
We have a room block availble at our University rate through the Hampton Inn Pittsburgh - University / Medical Center less than a mile from campus.
Carnegie Mellon University has many local hotels in the area around campus that offers amenities like free WiFi and transportation to and from campus. While making your reservations, mention that you are here for a workshop at Carnegie Mellon University to get our corporate rate. If you have any additional questions on lodging, please contact the us at 412-268-3163.
How to Register:
Registration is now open. Registration fees for 2024 Summer Institute are posted below with the login to register for the event through Regpacks. Participation is open to graduate students, faculty, and personnel from industry, education, and government. Those who attend in-person will have the opportunity to use their own data, have an opportunity for additional one-on-one instruction, receive personalized help with loading software into machines and learn more about the research projects at our center. In-person attendees will also have breakfast and lunch provided on instruction days and have the ability to network with CASOS and IDeaS Center faculty, staff and students as well as other participants. We will be using zoom for remote instruction.
Registration fees:
In-person attendance
Industry: $2,500.00
Government/Military (with ID): $1,250.00
Faculty/Postdocs: $1,250.00
Students/Postdocs: $925.00
Virtual Attendance - can participate while sessions are in progress or review recordings and materials remotely after sessions.
Industry: $2,000.00
Government/Military (with ID): $1,000.00
Faculty/Postdocs: $1,000.00
Students: $750.00
We are offering fellowships to Carnegie Mellon University students to defray the cost of registration for this year's institute. To apply, interested students should email a letter from their advisor stating they are in good standing and why attendance is valuable for the student, just a short paragraph with contact information of the advisor. Also a statement from student applying for the fellowship about what they want to learn and how they will apply network analytics, no more than 2 paragraphs. Application information or inquiries from outside students can be sent directly to casos@cmu.edu.
Other Information:
You will need to use your own machine:
-
- Due to the virtual format you will need to use your own laptop.
- Warning: Please make sure that your laptop is running Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10. The software may not run properly under Windows VISTA. If using a MAC OS laptop please load Windows or a functional emulator since not all the software will run on a Mac OS. Here is a suggested list of emulators:
Data:
Data will be provided to all participants for the hands-on sessions. ONLY In-Person Participants are invited to use their own data during the workshop. We will provide data for all hands on sessions to all participants for use during the workshop. Make sure your machine is large enough for your data. You can have multiple networks and each network can be in its own file or in one. Data can be in the forms listed below:
-
- Texts in .txt format that you want to run through NetMapper.
- Examples are: email messages, webpage content, paper abstracts, news articles, comment fields from fixed formatted files. Restrictions: Put one message, page, abstract, article per file. Exclude pictures and images.
- Some type of relational data in DL, dynetml, csv, excel, or other standard network format. Data can also be in mysql or access if you know how to write queries to extract it.
- Examples are: who talks to whom, trade level between countries, semantic networks, event networks.
- Texts in .txt format that you want to run through NetMapper.