25 June 2024
From 21 June to 5 July, FOSSR is organizing a summer seminar series as part of the Master in Social Data Science, co-organized with the University of Milano-Bicocca.
This interdisciplinary program explores the key themes of data science and the advanced use of social research data.
The series opened with a seminar on machine learning, a topic of growing importance as the foundation of artificial intelligence.
Giovanni Cerulli, FOSSR’s scientific coordinator, introduced the origins and applications of machine learning techniques in data science, focusing on predictive algorithms for policy optimization — tools capable of estimating the impact of new initiatives based on data from past implementation cycles.
The following seminars covered:
Causal Bayesian Networks, delivered a presentation by Lorenzo Giammei;
Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs), discussed by Antonio Zinilli, illustrating statistical models for analyzing various network types — from social and organizational to knowledge and scientific collaboration networks;
The value and potential of Research Infrastructures in the Social Sciences, led by Andrea Orazio Spinello and Emanuela Varinetti;
A session on science communication and stakeholder engagement, curated by Serena Fabrizio, Rita Giuffredi, and Elisa Storace, which explored the cultural background, motivations, and communication practices involved in building research infrastructures.
The Master in Social Data Science, born from the collaboration between FOSSR and the University of Milano-Bicocca, is a multidisciplinary postgraduate course designed to provide students with up-to-date expertise on the state of research in social sciences and the data science techniques required to analyze and interpret today’s complex socio-economic phenomena.
Complete seminar program:
21 June 2024, 9:00–11:00: Dr. Giovanni Cerulli, “The Ontology and Practice of Machine Learning”
21 June 2024, 11:30–13:30: Dr. Lorenzo Giammei, “Causal Bayesian Networks”
27 June 2024, 10:00–13:00: Dr. Andrea Orazio Spinello & Dr. Emanuela Varinetti, “Value and Potential of Research Infrastructures in the Social Sciences”
4 July 2024, 10:00–13:00: Dr. Serena Fabrizio, Dr. Rita Giuffredi & Dr. Elisa Storace, “The Whys and Hows of Science Communication: Communicating Science and Stakeholder Engagement in Social Science Research Infrastructures”
5 July 2024, 10:30–12:30: Dr. Antonio Zinilli, “Exponential Random Graph Models: Estimation and Applications”