Noshir Contractor Gives Talk at Machine Learning and Data Analytics Symposium

2015-03-31Posted inBlog, SONIC News
At the 2015 Machine Learning and Data Analytics Symposium (MLDAS 2015) in Doha, Qatar, Noshir Contractor delivered a talk titled “Leveraging Computational Social Science to Address Grand Societal Challenges” on March 10th. The symposium was co-organized by Boeing and the Qatar Computing Research Institute. Learn more about the symposium and […]

2015 Computational Social Science Conference Coming to NU

2015-03-06Posted inBlog, SONIC News
Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management is hosting the Computational Social Science Conference from May 15th to 17th. The purpose of the summit is to advance sociological knowledge through computational methods. The conference will host workshops, a datathon, and prominent speakers such as David Ferrucci (Bridgewater Associates), Katy Börner (Indiana […]

Noshir Contractor Delivers Keynote Address at nPOD

2015-03-05Posted inBlog, SONIC News
At the nPOD Annual Conference on February 22nd in St. Pete Beach, Florida, Noshir Contractor delivered the keynote address on “The Science of Team Science” in the biomedical field. The agenda of the conference elaborated: “To learn about how collaborations work, we have one of the country’s experts on the […]

VAX! Visualizes Epidemics and Immunity

2015-03-05Posted inBlog, Networks in the News
A game called VAX! about human networks and immunology developed by Ellsworth Campbell and Isaac Bromley from Penn State University demonstrates how herd immunization can prevent epidemics. The visualization helps show how contagions can spread quickly across the human network. Concepts such as why immunization for healthy, low-risk individuals is […]

Using Network Theory to Create A Better Marketing Campaign

2015-02-09Posted inBlog
One might think that targeting the network with the most users is the most successful form of advertising, but recent studies show otherwise. While big networks drive more traffic,  targeted marketing in niche networks typically generates a higher return on investment. It goes to show that a better understanding of [...]

What Type of Network Promotes Success?

2015-01-26Posted inBlog
According to a recent article in Forbes, the majority of people “spend most of their time in closed networks”. However, closed networks in the workplace, although seemingly effective for a managerial standpoint, are actually less conducive for long-term career success. Open networks promote innovation and according to this study, “simply being [...]

SONIC Proudly Welcomes New Postdoc, Ivan Hernandez

2015-01-20Posted inBlog, News, SONIC News
Ivan Hernandez is a collaborative post-doctoral researcher at Northwestern University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida, and his PhD in Social Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is currently working on the Gates Project here at SONIC. [...]

Dan Newman to Present in SONIC Speaker Series – Jan. 29th

2015-01-15Posted inBlog, Events, SONIC News, SONIC Speaker Series
SONIC Lab is proud to welcome Dan Newman, who will present a talk on January 29th, 2015 at 2:00 P.M. in SONIC Lab in the Frances Searle Building, room 1.459. All are welcome to attend. To schedule a one-on-one meeting with a Dr. Newman please schedule a time at http://bit.ly/SonicSpeaker. Please contact Nancy McLaughlin with any [...]

The Domino Effect in Online Decision Making

2015-01-12Posted inBlog
In recent years, the spread of information over social networks has become a global phenomenon. Scientists have begun to study how information spreads from person to person, and how individuals’ motivations can cause a cascade effect in behavior. Researchers note that often “cascading behavior in a social network is guided [...]