Jackie Ng Wins First Place in the Northwestern University Computational Research Day Visualization Challenge

SONIC PhD student Jackie Ng took home the gold in the Northwestern University Computational Research Day Visualization Challenge for her presentation on Nebula, an innovative new tool that uses network science to visualize discussion board threads. For winning first place, Jackie received an NVIDIA GeForce Titan X graphics card which retails for over $1,000!… Read the rest

En el marco del Programa La UBA para el Siglo XXI, comienza el ciclo de actividades con motivo del 30º aniversario de la creación del Programa de Educación a Distancia UBAXXI, con la conferencia “Potenciando la Ciencia de Redes para abordar los grandes retos sociales”, a cargo del Prof. Noshir Contractor.

El acceso a grandes volúmenes de información sobre los fenómenos sociales en general y sobre la red en particular tiene un valor extraordinario para los científicos sociales. Pero esta apasionante oportunidad debe estar acompañada de la reflexión sobre cómo los big data pueden dar lugar a nuevas teorías y métodos.… Read the rest

Indian Monsoon: Novel approach allows early forecasting

Scientists from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research used network analysis to predict Indian monsoon timing more accurately and significantly earlier. The new predictions will help farmers in the region decide when to plant their crops. As co-author Jürgen Kurths explains, “On Facebook or Twitter, you can follow how news is spreading, one posting leading to many others.… Read the rest

SONIC Researchers Publish “Citation Distance: Measuring Changes in Scientific Search Strategies” in the Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on World Wide Web

SONIC JD/PhD candidate Ryan Whalen, along with coauthors Yun Huang (senior research associate at SONIC), Craig Tanis, Anup Sawant (senior software developer at SONIC), Brian Uzzi (SONIC affiliated faculty) and Noshir Contractor (SONIC lab director) recently published an article titled “Citation Distance: Measuring Changes in Scientific Search Strategies” in the Proceedings of the 25th International Conference Companion on World Wide Web.… Read the rest

SONIC Receives Funding from Northwestern University’s Office of the Provost to Create New Discussion Board Platform

Lab Director Noshir Contractor, IEMS Professor Seyed Iravani, and SONIC PhD candidate Jackie Ng were recently awarded a unique grant from Northwestern University’s Office of the Provost and Faculty Distance Learning Workshop. Their project titled “Fostering Effective Online Discussion in Higher Education With ‘Nebula’, a Graphical Interface for Discussion Boards” was one of only nine projects to receive funding as part of an initiative to increase Northwestern’s visibility in digital and online teaching environments.… Read the rest

The SONIC Speaker Series Job Talk: Brian Keegan on Nov. 13th, 2015

SONIC Lab is proud to welcome Brian Keegan, who will present a talk on Friday, November 13th, 2015 at 1:30 PM in the SONIC Lab in the Frances Searle Building 1-459. All are welcome to attend.

TitleKeegan Headshot

Collaboration in Bursty Information Systems: Wikipedia’s Coverage of Breaking News Events

Abstract

Bursts are characterized by a sudden onset, significant change in intensity, and temporary duration of collective social behavior.… Read the rest

Mapping 16th Century Social Networks with Six Degrees of Francis Bacon

Six Degrees of Francis Bacon is a collaboration between Georgetown University and Carnegie Mellon University to map out social networks in the 16th and 17th centuries. After data-mining the entire Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Professor Daniel Shore of Georgetown and Jessica Otis of CMU were able to digitize the social networks of the period between 1500-1700, and now the project is accepting contributions from the public.… Read the rest

A Lesson in Network Build from Ants

A two-year long field study recently provided a large data set consisting of several trail networks built by the Australian meat ant to connect different nests spread over a wide territory.

By studying these networks, researchers at Uppsala University, Fordham University, and the University of Sydney, have found the basic rules that allow ants to build efficient and low cost transport networks that can scale to larger networks.… Read the rest