CASOS Summer Institute 2012

Date: June 11-17, 2012
Place: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA USA
Website: http://www.casos.cs.cmu.edu/events/summer_institute/2012/
Registration Page: http://www.casos.cs.cmu.edu/events/summer_institute/2012/register.php

Topics Covered Include:
* Social Network Analysis
* Dynamic Network Analysis (multi-mode, multi-network)
* Link analysis
* Network grouping techniques - Cliques, fuzzy groups, Newman-Girvan
* Unstructured text extraction to network representation, and analysis techniques
* Basic Approach to building and evaluating multi-agent simulation systems
* Simulation model validation and docking
* Hands-on introduction to CASOS tools: ORA, AutoMap, and Construct

Faculty:
Kathleen M. Carley, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University, Director of CASOS
Additional Faculty TBA

Purpose:
The purpose of the CASOS Summer Institute is to provide an intense and hands-on introduction to dynamic network analysis and computational modeling of complex socio-technical systems. Both network analysis and multi-agent modeling will be covered. Participants will be able to complete the institute without programming skills or in-depth understanding of particular social theories. Computer programming and basic social or organizational theory are not included under the topics covered.

Participants learn about current trends, practices, and tools available for social networks analysis, link analysis, simulation, and multi-agent modeling. Basic social network and dynamic network representations, statistics, analysis and visualization techniques are covered. Techniques for designing, analyzing, and validating computational models with and without network components are presented. There is also an emphasis on appropriate and inappropriate ways to critique computational models and network analyses. The strengths and weaknesses of computational and network approaches to examining complex socio-technical issues are discussed. Multiple computational platforms are explored and hands-on experience are provided. 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 students will learn and work with include: ORA, AutoMap, and Construct, which are network analysis, information extraction, and simulations tools, respectively, that are developed at CASOS and widely used globally in business, government, and education.

Students are encouraged to bring their own data and to learn to use the CASOS tools to code, analyze, reason about and visualize there data. Hands-on instruction and assistance will be provided on how to import data to ORA from CSV files, SQL databases, email servers, UCINET formats, PenLink, I2/Analyst Notebook and other raw data formats. Students will work through a tool chain where they extract networks from texts, analyze those networks, and the using simulation techniques evolve those networks.

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.

Who participates?
Participation is open to graduate students, faculty, and personnel from industry, education and government. Due to space restrictions we are limited in the number of participants, so register early.

Registration:
Registration information is on the website: http://www.casos.cs.cmu.edu/events/summer_institute/2012/

A direct link to the registration page is:
http://www.casos.cs.cmu.edu/events/summer_institute/2012/register.php

Please visit the website: http://www.casos.cs.cmu.edu/events/summer_institute/2012/ for additional information such as What to Bring, Where to Stay, Commonly Asked Questions, Parking, Maps, etc.