[ecrea] 2014 Digital Societies and Social Technologies (DSST) Summer Institute

Call for Participation: 2014 Digital Societies and Social Technologies 
(DSST) Summer Institute

July 8 – July 10, 2014 (arrival July 7; departure July 11 for 3 full days)
University of Missouri – Columbia, Columbia, MO
http://www.sociotech.net/v2/dsst2014

MOOCs, Education and learning; personal health and well-being; open 
innovation, eScience, and citizen science; co-production, open source, 
and new forms of work; cultural heritage and information access; energy 
management and climate change; civic hacking, engagement and government; 
disaster response; cybersecurity and privacy – these are just a few 
problem domains where effective design and robust understanding of 
complex sociotechnical systems is critical. To meet these challenges a 
trans-disciplinary community of scholars has come together from fields 
as wide ranging as CSCW, HCI, social computing, organization studies, 
information visualization, social informatics, sociology, information 
systems, medical informatics, computer science, ICT for development, 
education, learning science, journalism, and political science.

Through summer institutes (CSST), extended workshops (Social Webshop), 
preconference workshops at a wide variety of venues, and other 
activities (Digital Societies and Technology Research Coordination 
Network) this community of researchers from academia and industry has 
developed a strong focus on problems and opportunities arising from the 
interplay of social and technological systems which span individuals, 
groups, organizations, and societies.

The 2014 Summer Institute builds on this tradition to strengthen and 
expand this diverse community by bringing together graduate students, 
post doctoral students, faculty, and other researchers in four groups at 
the University of Missouri – Columbia on July 8 – 10, 2014:

Doctoral students, post doctoral students, pre-tenure faculty, and early 
career researchers – Through mentoring, peer networking, and 
skill-building tutorials, doctoral students, post doctoral students, 
pre-tenure faculty, and early career researchers will identify 
substantive ways that the theories, approaches, and tools within the 
larger community can advance their work with the design and study of 
sociotechnical systems.

Established researchers – Prior summer institute/workshop participants 
and established researchers will network with other researchers (senior 
and junior), explore ideas and new directions, shape emerging research 
agendas, articulate critical challenges, and share knowledge about 
practices, tools, and approaches which have the potential to advance the 
design and study of sociotechnical systems.

Emerging multi-disciplinary research teams – Nascent groups of 
researchers seeking to develop cross-disciplinary collaborations will 
work with peers and mentors to refine problem statements and research 
goals; connect with collaborators with complementary skills and 
interests; and create actionable research agendas and funding proposals. 
Preference will be given to groups interested in designing and studying 
sociotechnical systems that address societal grand challenges such as 
(but not limited to) healthcare; energy management and climate change; 
cybersecurity and privacy; education and learning; disaster response; 
technology development and innovation; economic development and work; 
and civic engagement and participation.

Research infrastructure development teams – Groups of researchers 
interested in creating computational or analytic tools, data resources, 
training materials or other infrastructure to support the design and 
study of sociotechnical systems will work with one another, other Summer 
institute participants, and local developers. These infrastructure 
“hackathon” sessions will result in the creation of use cases, 
prototypes, draft materials, and when possible deployable systems and 
resources.

Applying for DSST 2014
Applications are encouraged from all academic, industry, NGO, and public 
sector organizations worldwide. To apply for the 2013 Summer Institute, 
select the group that best fits your needs and situation and send the 
appropriate materials to the Summer Institute co-coordinator (Sean 
Goggins) at (gogginss /at/ missouri.edu) by March 20, 2014:

Doctoral students, post doctoral students, pre-tenure faculty, and early 
career researchers should send their CV and a short (~ 1 page) response 
to: “How does/will your work advance our ability to design and 
understand critical sociotechnical systems?” Several core references 
should be included to situate your work within the larger research 
community. Doctoral students should also provide a letter of 
recommendation from their advisor/department chair indicating their 
expected graduation date.

Established researchers should send their CV and a short (~ 1 page) 
response to: “What are the most interesting challenges and opportunities 
related to the design and study of critical sociotechnical systems? What 
activity (30 minutes to 4 hours long) could you run that would help the 
Summer Institute participants better engage these challenges and 
opportunities?” Proposed activities can be for any (or all) Summer 
Institute participants and might include, but are not limited to: 
focused presentations; brainstorming sessions; in-depth problem 
descriptions; method, tool, or data tutorials; or research agenda 
setting exercises.

Emerging multi-disciplinary research teams should apply as a group, 
sending their CVs and a short (~ 1 page) response to: “What is the 
research focus/problem domain? What types of activities/studies are 
needed to engage that domain? How will pursuing this agenda help advance 
our ability to design and understand critical sociotechnical systems?” 
References potential funding sources can be included, if known, to 
situate the proposal within the larger research community. Groups 
invited to the Summer Institute will have between 4-6 people. However, 
only 3 individuals need to be part of an application for it to be 
considered (assistance will be provided prior to the Summer Institute to 
help invited teams recruit additional participants as needed). 
Preference will be given to cross-institutional teams in which 
junior/mid-career researchers play significant leadership roles.

Research infrastructure development teams should apply as a group, 
sending their CVs and a short (~ 1 page) response to: “What is the 
problem you are seeking to address? What will you do to address that 
problem? How will creating these technologies, tools, materials or 
infrastructure improve our ability to design and understand critical 
sociotechnical systems?” References to examples from other domains can 
be included to situate your proposal. Teams invited for the Summer 
Institute will have between 4-6 people from multiple disciplines and 
institutions. However, only 3 individuals need to be part of an 
application to be considered (assistance will be provided prior to the 
Summer Institute to help invited teams recruit additional participants 
as needed).
Lodging, meals, and other onsite costs will be covered for all Summer 
Institute participants. Limited travel support is available, if needed, 
for participants from US and Canadian institutions (with preference 
given to doctoral and post-doctoral students). Travel support may also 
be available for other Summer Institute participants. To be considered 
for all available financial support you should provide the following 
information when you apply:

What college or university do you attend?
What is your primary department affiliation?
If you are applying from a Canadian university, are you a member of the 
GRAND network?

Materials should be sent to Summer Institute co-coordinator (Sean 
Goggins) at (gogginss /at/ missouri.edu) by March 20th, 2014. Applications will 
be reviewed by the Summer Institute Advisory Group beginning March 30th, 
2013 using the following criteria:

-Clear articulation of the hoped-for contribution to the theory, 
practice, or design of sociotechnical systems
-Likelihood of Summer Institute participation providing significant 
practical benefit for the individual/team
-Contribution to a balanced and diverse group of participants

The number of participants selected will depend on the available funding 
and the fit between applicants’ interests and goals.

For more information about the Summer Institute, contact the Summer 
Institute co-coordinators, Sean Goggins ((gogginss /at/ missouri.edu)) and 
Diane Bailey ((debailey /at/ ischool.utexas.edu)). For information about the 
broader community of researchers interested in design and study of 
sociotechnical systems, see: CSST (www.sociotech.net), the “Researchers 
of the Socio-Technical” Facebook group, or the CSST listserv 
((csst /at/ listserv.syr.edu)).

2014 Mentors
Mark Ackerman, University of Michigan
Diane Bailey, University of Texas (Co-Director)
Paul Dourish, University of California – Irvine
Nicole Ellison, University of Michigan
Sean Goggins, University of Missouri (Co-Director)
Erik Johnston, Arizona State University
Tony Salvador, Intel
Jennifer Stromer-Galley, Syracuse
Susan Stuckey, IBM
Steve Sawyer, Syracuse (Digital Societies RCN)
Wayne Lutters, UMBC (Digital Societies RCN)
Brian Butler, Maryland (Digital Societies RCN)
Andrea Hoplight-Tapia, The Pennsylvania State University (Digital 
Societies RCN)




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