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Summer undergraduate fellowship in the science of online corpora, knowledge, and stories
Vermont EPSCoR is offering summer research internship opportunities to join our cutting-edge NSF-funded research on Harnessing the Data Revolution for Vermont: The Science of Online Corpora, Knowledge, and Stories (SOCKS). SOCKS is a five-year, large-scale, interdisciplinary, and groundbreaking data science effort to better understand and harness the power of stories. SOCKS revolves around stories as an essential part of how people comprehend, explain, predict, and seek to navigate the world. SOCKS supports the Digital Humanities by developing a powerful approach to quantifying both individual stories and ecologies of stories through massive data collection, natural language processing, and large language models—computer-based encodings of the meaningful connections between words and phrases.
Meet the 2024 SOCKS Undergraduate Interns!
The Undergraduate Research Internship Program offers students the opportunity to participate in current research conducted through the NSF EPSCoR award Harnessing the Data Revolution for Vermont: The Science of Online Corpora, Knowledge, and Stories SOCKS program. SOCKS Summer Undergraduate Interns (SSUI) are matched with a research team working on the transdisciplinary SOCKS research program. At the end of the internship, research teams meet together at a Symposium to share their discoveries through an oral presentation and a written report of their research. Students do full-time, high-impact, hands-on research for 10 weeks in one of the following areas:
(1) Indigenous voices in global environmental governance (mentored by Fuentes-George);
(2) Data ethics, privacy, and narrative bias (mentored by Harp and Lovato);
(3) Socia narratives (mentored by SOCKS social team)
(4) Analysis of local news stories and programs (mentored by Richard Watts, the Director of the Center for Community News at UVM)
Primary Faculty Mentors:
Richard Watts, Director of the Center for Research on Vermont
Kemi Fuentes-George, Associate Professor of Political Science, Middlebury College
Juniper Lovato, Research Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Vermont, [website]
Randall Harp, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Vermont [website]
Other faculty mentors are available from the SOCKS faculty on the social team. If you are interested in working with anyone in particular, be sure to list that in your statement of research interest.
The range of research areas in which students may participate is quite extensive. SOCKS interns delve into research projects- an opportunity not often available during the academic year. Projects are markedly different from most course-based work in that they are open-ended and part of a much larger research program.
About SOCKS:
SOCKS is a transdisciplinary research project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that aims to advance initiatives grounded in principled methods through the quantitative measurement of sentiment and stories across a diverse portfolio of corpora. We hope to provide new insights into the power and use of stories and narratives across a broad array of social, economic, and health domains through integrated data and teams.
The internships will start on May 26, 2024 and end on August 1, 2024. On-campus housing/food are provided for the 10 week period. At the end of the 10-week internship period, interns are required to attend and present their research at the Vermont EPSCoR Student Research Symposium.
The internship takes place at the University of Vermont campus in Burlington, Vermont USA
Internship Stipend:
Interns earn a stipend of $5,000 for the 10 week period. Travel (up to $1500) to and from VT is provided in addition to stipend.
Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents enrolled in a college or university with a strong interest in a career in a STEM or social science field. Students graduating prior to the start of the internship are not eligible to apply. Individuals with disabilities, veterans, students from underrepresented minority groups, and students from two-year colleges are strongly encouraged to apply.
Application Procedure:
The application requires a letter of recommendation from a faculty member, an unofficial transcript, a current resume or C.V., and a short essay stating your research interests. Applications are due January 15th at 5pm EST. Letters of Recommendation are due on January 17, 2024. Selection and placement of students will take place in January and February. Applicants who were not placed will be notified in February.
Meet the 2024 SOCKS Undergraduate Interns!
The Undergraduate Research Internship Program offers students the opportunity to participate in current research conducted through the NSF EPSCoR award Harnessing the Data Revolution for Vermont: The Science of Online Corpora, Knowledge, and Stories SOCKS program. SOCKS Summer Undergraduate Interns (SSUI) are matched with a research team working on the transdisciplinary SOCKS research program. At the end of the internship, research teams meet together at a Symposium to share their discoveries through an oral presentation and a written report of their research. Students do full-time, high-impact, hands-on research for 10 weeks in one of the following areas:
(1) Indigenous voices in global environmental governance (mentored by Fuentes-George);
(2) Data ethics, privacy, and narrative bias (mentored by Harp and Lovato);
(3) Socia narratives (mentored by SOCKS social team)
(4) Analysis of local news stories and programs (mentored by Richard Watts, the Director of the Center for Community News at UVM)
Primary Faculty Mentors:
Richard Watts, Director of the Center for Research on Vermont
Kemi Fuentes-George, Associate Professor of Political Science, Middlebury College
Juniper Lovato, Research Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Vermont, [website]
Randall Harp, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Vermont [website]
Other faculty mentors are available from the SOCKS faculty on the social team. If you are interested in working with anyone in particular, be sure to list that in your statement of research interest.
The range of research areas in which students may participate is quite extensive. SOCKS interns delve into research projects- an opportunity not often available during the academic year. Projects are markedly different from most course-based work in that they are open-ended and part of a much larger research program.
About SOCKS:
SOCKS is a transdisciplinary research project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that aims to advance initiatives grounded in principled methods through the quantitative measurement of sentiment and stories across a diverse portfolio of corpora. We hope to provide new insights into the power and use of stories and narratives across a broad array of social, economic, and health domains through integrated data and teams.
The internships will start on May 26, 2024 and end on August 1, 2024. On-campus housing/food are provided for the 10 week period. At the end of the 10-week internship period, interns are required to attend and present their research at the Vermont EPSCoR Student Research Symposium.
The internship takes place at the University of Vermont campus in Burlington, Vermont USA
Internship Stipend:
Interns earn a stipend of $5,000 for the 10 week period. Travel (up to $1500) to and from VT is provided in addition to stipend.
Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents enrolled in a college or university with a strong interest in a career in a STEM or social science field. Students graduating prior to the start of the internship are not eligible to apply. Individuals with disabilities, veterans, students from underrepresented minority groups, and students from two-year colleges are strongly encouraged to apply.
Application Procedure:
The application requires a letter of recommendation from a faculty member, an unofficial transcript, a current resume or C.V., and a short essay stating your research interests. Applications are due January 15th at 5pm EST. Letters of Recommendation are due on January 17, 2024. Selection and placement of students will take place in January and February. Applicants who were not placed will be notified in February.
The 2025 application system will open October 28, 2024.