PROGRAM STRUCTURE

• All exchange visits will be structured around a research project formulated in advance (explained below). A senior researcher (sponsor) at the host institution will act as a collaborator and supporter.
• The Social Comquant project will cover the costs of in-person exchanges for a period of up to a month. Purely remote exchanges may exceed a month. The exact duration of the visits will be decided on a case-by-case basis and will be determined by the preferences of the candidate, the research project, the host institution, and the project budget. Remote exchanges can start anytime and then can be followed by an in-person exchange. In-person exchanges will take place depending on CoViD-19 related regulations.
• At the end of the exchange period, researchers who participated in the program are required to submit a detailed report regarding their research.

LOGISTICS AND EXPENSES

• In case of in-person exchange, accommodation and travel expenses will be covered by the Social Comquant project, including a specified sum of daily allowance that will be provided for meals. Visiting researchers will be provided office space and have access to facilities of the host institutions.
• In case of remote exchange, no expenses will be covered.

APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS

• Candidates must prepare and submit a research proposal. This proposal must be endorsed by a scholar (sponsor) at GESIS or ISI, who supports the research idea and will be a collaboration partner throughout the research visit. In order to proceed with the application, candidates must come up with a research idea, actively approach a potential sponsor, and secure a sponsor’s support to work with them during their visit. The project idea should be either (i) a formulation of how the applicant will collaborate with, and contribute to, an ongoing research project at GESIS or ISI, or (ii) the applicant’s own research project (e.g., related to their PhD dissertation or a research grant application). In the latter case, the applicant’s own research idea should be related to the broader research agenda of GESIS or ISI.
• Applicants from universities other than KU need to identify at least one researcher from KU (senior or early-stage researcher) to collaborate on a joint publication or grant application.
• To find a scholar who is specialized in the topic related to the applicant’s research proposal please see the document “How to find a sponsor”.
  • Please click here for the contact information of the Computational Social Science Team of GESIS. The pre-allocated mentor at GESIS to facilitate the match-making process is Dr. Gizem Bacaksizlar-Turbic (gizem.bacaksizlarturbic@gesis.org).
  • Please click here for the complete list of ISI Scientists. The pre-allocated mentor at ISI to facilitate the match-making process is Dr. Michele Tizzoni (michele.tizzoni@isi.it).
  • Please click here for the departments at the Graduate School of Social Sciences of KU. The pre-allocated mentor at KU to facilitate the match-making process is Dr. Erdem Yörük (eryoruk@ku.edu.tr).
• In all communications with GESIS, please CC the project email address socialcomquant@gesis.org. Also, send questions or inquiries there.
• Selection will be made by the Social ComQuant review committee.

PRE-SELECTION OF TOPICS OF POTENTIAL INTEREST

• For GESIS:
  • Digital Behavioral Data
  • Survey Methodology
  • Electoral Behavior
  • Integration of Survey and Big Data
  • Total Error Framework for Digital Traces of Human Behavior
  • Social Media Monitoring
  • Online Data Acquisition
  • Text Mining
  • Social Network Analysis
  • Altmetrics
  • Gathering Knowledge from User Generated Content
  • Reading Cross-cultural Relations from Wikipedia
  • Data Scraping with Python

• For ISI:

• • Modeling of socio-economic systems
  • Complex Systems
  • Machine Learning
  • Topological Data Analysis
  • Structure and Dynamics of Networks
  • Network Theory
  • Computational Epidemiology
  • Digital Epidemiology
  • Data Science for Social Impact
  • Data Science for Public Health
  • Data Science for Humanitarian Action
  • Data and Philanthropy
  • Algorithmic Analysis of Social Dynamics
  • (Deep) Learning for Text and Images

ELIGIBILITY AND SELECTION CRITERIA

• PhD students or post-doctoral researchers enrolled at Turkish universities at the time of the application.
• Full-time and part-time faculty members at Turkish universities.
• Previous experience in Data Science, CSS, or QSS methods will be expected, along with programming and/or coding skills (e.g., Python, R, STATA, SPSS).

DEADLINE AND APPLICATION DOCUMENTS

• The deadline for the second round of exchanges is June 15, 2022.
• At the point of the application, you must have received the endorsement of your sponsor.
• To apply, please submit these three documents to socialcomquant@ku.edu.tr (with the subject: SCQ Exchange Program Application):
  • (i) Research proposal (2 pages maximum, single-spaced). The proposal must specify a project title, the research or proposal idea, if the exchange project is part of a larger project (and if so which and how), how the idea is related to research at the host institution, how the candidate and sponsor intend to collaborate, and how the research visit will benefit you in your research career in CSS or QSS;
  • (ii) “Form for application to scholarly exchange with GESIS or ISI”;
  • (iii) CV.

PLEASE NOTE!: HOW TO FIND A SPONSOR?

The application and selection process is two-staged. In the first stage, applicants must prepare and submit a research proposal that must be endorsed by a scholar (sponsor) from GESIS or ISI who supports the research idea and will be a collaboration partner throughout the research visit. This section is supposed to help identify researchers who are specialized in a particular topic.

Finding a sponsor at GESIS

Searching the GESIS hierarchy of departments and teams:

GESIS has five research departments: Computational Social Science, Data Archive for the Social Sciences, Monitoring Society and Social Change, Survey Design and Methodology, and Knowledge Technologies for the Social Sciences. Each department consists of three to seven teams. To find a GESIS scholar, you can browse the staff websites, either alphabetically or by department and team. Please click here for the contact information of the Computational Social Science Team of GESIS.

Using the search engine:

GESIS provides services for the social sciences that are based on the four research areas: Survey Methodology, Applied Computer Science, Research Data Management, and Contemporary Societal Issues. Each area consists of four to six topics. Besides continuing our focus on survey data, we are increasingly focusing on Computational Social Science and digital behavioral data. To find a GESIS scholar on one of these or any other topic, you can enter a query into the search window at the top of the GESIS website. You can then display search results by category. Chose the “GESIS Webpages” category. Then chose “GESIS Mitarbeiterseiten” as a source.

Searching ongoing GESIS projects:

Here you will find updated information about ongoing projects at GESIS. When you click on a project, there is a small icon on the right that gives you the contact information of the project leader.

Finding a sponsor at ISI

Search the ISI research areas and teams:

ISI has 3 research areas: Data Science for Social Impact and Sustainability, Learning and Algorithms for Data Analytics, Mathematics and Complex Systems. Each research area is characterized by a list of topics, highlighted in the webpage. There is one coordinator for each area, and 5-6 senior research scientists in each area. To find a ISI scholar, you can browse the list of researchers under the webpage of each area. Please click here for the complete list of ISI Scientists.

Searching ongoing ISI projects:

Projects are listed under the webpage of each research area:

1. https://www.isi.it/en/research/data-science-for-social-impact-and-sustainability
2. https://www.isi.it/en/research/learning-and-algorthms-for-data-analytics
3. https://www.isi.it/en/research/mathematics-and-complex-systems

To know more about a specific project, please contact the research area coordinator.