We hope everyone is having a great week! Check out our featured and upcoming events!
- Featured Events-
Beyond the Ouch: Activating Anti-racists in Data and Digital Spaces April 14 | 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Register
Speaker: Tawana Petty
For years, we have witnessed expansive dialogue in response to the growing wisdom that racial bias is quite often baked into our data, digital and technological systems. What are some ways we can begin to systematize our evolving anti-racism understanding, get activated to shape policy and counter harmful narratives and discourse that often lead to reactionary innovation? This talk seeks to deepen questions and analysis and encourage activation towards collaboration.
April 28th | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Register for Talk
Speaker: Alexander Sahn
"Public meetings allow constituents to comment on matters before local governments, providing signals of public opinion in an otherwise low-information environment. Recent advances in the availability of administrative data have shown inequalities in who participates by race, age, and homeownership status...Does the demographically unrepresentative slice of opinion presented at these meetings lead policy to be out of step with mass opinion?"
To read more about Alexander's research and attend his talk click here!
- Upcoming Working Groups -
Securing Research Data: Working with the ZTrax dataset
April 26 | 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM | Register for the meeting
Carl Boe of the Center for the Economics and Demography of Aging and Patty Frontiera of the D-Lab will speak about working with the ZTrax dataset. The Zillow Transaction and Assessment Dataset (ZTRAX) is the country’s largest real estate database made available free of charge to U.S. academic, nonprofit and government researchers.
Computational Text Analysis:
Mining for Conspiracies: A pipeline for the discovery of conspiracy theories on social media
April 16 | 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM | Register Link
Speaker: Tim Tangherlini
"In this brief presentation, I explain some of the challenges in developing a largely automated machine learning pipeline for working with social media posts. The goal of our work is to discover the underlying generative narrative frameworks for conversations in social media."
We are hiring two paid MAXQDA Instructors to lead our workshops. Applicants should have experience using advanced features of the software and be willing to design new workshop content. This role will work closely with D-Lab's Executive Director. Advanced workshop topics include using MAXQDA to write a literature review or research paper. Please apply here.
D-Lab is hiring a Department Manager
We are hiring a department manager who will be expected to assist the executive director in all aspects of program planning, function as a resource for all D-Lab staff, and more. Applicants should have strong communication and organization skills and a good awareness of data science fields.
For a complete list of application requirements and job expectations, please view here.
For this workshop, we'll provide an introduction to visualization with Python. We'll cover visualization theory and plotting with Matplotlib and Seaborn, working through examples in a Jupyter (formerly IPython) notebook. The following plot types will be covered: line, bar, scatter, boxplot. We'll also learn about styles and customizing plots. Throughout the workshop, we'll discuss the plot types best suited for particular kinds of data. Basic familiarity with the Python programming language is assumed.
R Introduction to Machine Learning tidymodels: Parts 1-2
April 19, 21 | 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM | Register for Zoom Link
We will discuss basic features of supervised machine learning algorithms including k-nearest neighbor, linear regression, decision tree, random forest, boosting, and ensembling using the tidymodels framework.
Python Introduction to Machine Learning: Parts 1-2
April 19, 21 | 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM | Register for Zoom Link
This workshop introduces students to scikit-learn, the popular machine learning library in Python, as well as the auto-ML library built on top of scikit-learn, TPOT. The focus will be on scikit-learn syntax and available tools to apply machine learning algorithms to datasets.
R Introduction to Deep Learning: Parts 1-2
April 22, 23 | 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM | Register for Zoom Link
This workshop introduces the basic concepts of Deep Learning - the training and performance evaluation of large neural networks, especially for image classification, natural language processing, and time-series data. Like many other machine learning algorithms, we will use deep learning algorithms to map input data to their appropriately classified outcome labels. You will use the R interface to Keras to become familiar with basic concepts like input and output layers, batch sizes and output dimensions, dropout rates, weight parametrization and bias, backpropagation, and loss, activation, and optimization functions. You will also gain confidence exploring more complex approaches that utilize pretrained and fine-tuned models.
Python Introduction to Artificial Neural Networks
April 23 | 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM | Register for Zoom Link
This workshop will discuss a brief history of ANNs (Artificial Neural Networks) and an explanation of the intuition behind them. This part aims to give the audience a conceptual understanding with few mathematical barriers, and no programming requirements. It will have a step-by-step construction of a very basic ANN. Although the code will be written in Python, it will be intuitive enough for programmers of other languages to follow along. Using the popular Python library scikit-learn, an ANN will be implemented on a classification problem. High-level libraries reduce the work for a researcher implementing ANN down to tuning a set of parameters, which will be explained in this part.
The D-Lab's R Fundamentals workshop is a four-part introductory series that will teach you R from scratch with clear introductions, concise examples, and support documents. You will learn how to download and install the open-sourced R Studio software, import, export, manipulate, and visualize data, and learn to write shorthand functions of your code. After completion of this workshop you will have a foundational understanding to create, organize, and utilize workflows for your personal research.
Stata Fundamentals: Parts 1-3
May 3, 4, 5 | 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM | Register for Zoom Link
Part 1: Getting a dataset into Stata (no previous knowledge expected), examining a dataset and finding variables of interest, summarizing and tabulating variables, and more!
Part 2: Data Analysis in Stata, correlation, T-tests, OLS and logistic regression (basic syntax, using interaction terms, interpreting output), and more!
Part 3: Stata Programming, local and global variables (macros), looping (foreach, forvalues), reshaping data between wide and long formats, and more!
Geospatial data are an important component of data visualization and analysis in the social sciences, humanities, and elsewhere. The R programming language is a great platform for exploring these data and integrating them into your research. Part one of this multi-part workshop series will introduce basic methods and packages for working with geospatial data in R. Part two will dive deeper into data driven mapping in R, using color palettes and data classification to communicate information with maps. Part three will introduce tools and approaches for working with raster data.
Python Fundamentals: Parts 1-4
May 3, 4, 5, 6 | 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM | Register for Zoom Link
This four-part, interactive workshop series is your complete introduction to programming Python for people with little or no previous programming experience. By the end of the series, you will be able to apply your knowledge of basic principles of programming and data manipulation to a real-world social science application.
Geospatial data are an important component of social science and humanities data visualization and analysis. This workshop will introduce basic methods for working with geospatial data in Python using GeoPandas, a relatively new Python library for working with geospatial data that has matured and stabilized in the last few years. In the workshop we will import geospatial data stored in shapefiles and CSV files into geopandas objects. We will explore methods for subsetting and spatial reshaping these objects. We will use geopandas methods for defining and transforming coordinate reference systems. Participants will also join tabular data to geospatial data and create maps based on the data values.
To see a calendar view of our upcoming April and May 2021 Workshops, click here!
- Consulting Drop-in Hours -
We are continuing to offer drop-in
consulting Monday-Friday from 10am-5pm.
Stop by our virtual front desk
to speak with a consultant.
Are you interested in developing transferable competencies that are attractive to employers and academic programs? In our digital humanities program, the UC Berkeley Cultural Analytics Learning Institute for Digital Humanities (CALI-DH), you will explore questions about art and culture using digital tools. By pairing computational methods and domain specialization you can better understand complex phenomena and cultures and how computational analysis influences what you see. CALI-DH Online will guide you through the entire process of identifying relevant cultural artifacts and archives, curating your own subset of data, conducting advanced research, and communicating your findings.
To learn more about the courses offered this summer please visit here!
- Upcoming Events -
Computational Social Science Forum April 19 | 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM | Register
Speaker: Alissa Skog
The Public Safety Assessment (PSA) is an empirically-based risk assessment tool that is used to inform pretrial release decisions across the country.The California Policy Lab (CPL) is validating the implementation of the PSA in San Francisco to examine the accuracy and reliability of the PSA in predicting failures to appear, new arrests, and new arrests for violent offenses for persons released pretrial in San Francisco as required by California Senate Bill 36. We also measure whether there is any disparate effect or bias based on sex or race/ethnicity. Lastly, we assess how the addition of the DMF impacts the predictive validity of the PSA overall and by different sex or race/ethnicity.
Digital Humanities Fair 2021
April 21 | 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM | Register for the Fair
The Digital Humanities Fair (DH Fair) is an annual event that offers the UC Berkeley community the opportunity to share projects at various stages of development, receive invaluable feedback from peers, and reflect on the field more broadly. This year's event will feature speakers and lightning talks.
Share Your Work! Propose a lightning talk for the DH Fair! We are currently accepting proposals for lightning talks on DH-related projects at any stage of completion. Talks should be 3 minutes in length and limited to 1-2 slides. The final deadline is Friday, April 16th.
Introduction to Containers on Savio: Creating Reproducible, Scalable & Portable Workflows April 21 | 3:40 PM - 5:00 PM | Register
This training will introduce you to the key concepts and tools for using containers, in particular, Docker and Singularity containers. Containers make it easy to install software, move your computation between different computing environments, and make your workflow reproducible. The training will focus on the use of Singularity on Savio, the campus high-performance computing cluster, including how to use Docker images by Singularity in a cluster environment.
- Jobs & External Opportunities -
PIT-UN Postdoc Researcher
Professor Deirdre Mulligan and Associate Professor Jenna Burrell are seeking a Postdoc Researcher to work on a year-long project funded through the Public Interest Technology - University Network’s, (PIT-UN) 2020 Network Challenge Grants. This position is housed within the Algorithmic Fairness and Opacity Working Group and will work directly with Professor Deirdre Mulligan and Associate Professor Jenna Burrell as part of the Algorithmic, Fairness, and Opacity Group (AFOG), and will meet with and benefit from the advising and mentorship of Diana Lizarraga, Director of Cal NERDS and Claudia Natalia von Vacano PhD, Executive Director of the D-Lab.
The application deadline is April 16. Click here for more details and to learn how to apply!
Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society: Course Manager
The Division is responsible for growing Berkeley’s broad-based data science education program, including classes and programs serving thousands of undergraduate students a year. The position has responsibilities that include providing a wide range of process improvement and course management duties and recommendations for Data Science undergraduate courses, including Data 8, 100, and 375. As course manager, the applicant will oversee Academic Student Employee (ASE) hiring for all Data courses, provide administrative oversight of Data Science courses, consult with instructors regarding course policies, structure, and logistics.
The first application review date is April 19. Click here for more details and to learn how to apply!
Media Communications Specialist
The Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS) seeks a motivated, collaborative, and creative communications professional to help tell their story and extend their reach to a diverse set of audiences. Reporting to the Chief Communications Officer, the Communications Specialist will work independently to create and curate content that aligns with the Division’s communication strategies and targets key audiences, including prospective and current undergraduate and graduate students, donors, alumni, faculty, and external partners.
The first review date is April 15. Click here to learn more and here to apply!
GIS Web Programmer
The Informatics and GIS Program in the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources is recruiting a GIS web developer. This is a great opportunity for someone with a background in open source GIS and web development, who enjoys building information tools to support natural resource management and agriculture. This new position will be based at Davis or Berkeley, with the possibility of working remotely.
The application deadline is May 2. For more info and to apply, see the announcement!
College of Letters & Science Graduate Mentor
The College of Letters and Sciences is seeking two graduate students from the areas of Arts & Humanities, Biological Science, Interdisciplinary Studies, Mathematics & Physical Science, Social Sciences, and/or students with liberal arts backgrounds currently studying in professional school programs to mentor L&S undergraduates. Mentors will assist the L&S advising team in the expansion of advising tools and programs aimed at supporting undergraduates’ exploration of a broad-based liberal arts education.
The application deadline is May 4. Click here to learn more and email mdepalma@berkeley.edu to apply!
C-GEM Summer Research Program
The NSF Center for Genetically Encoded Materials (C-GEM) is searching for a developer to build a web-based database to support a diverse set of ribosome engineering efforts. This database will serve as a critical resource for C-GEM and the broader chemical, synthetic, and engineering biology communities. We are looking for a motivated developer who can create the architecture of this database and generate instructions on how to input raw data by May 7th. We envision two UIs: one for data entry and one for searching/data display. We would like to have a beta version of the database available for internal use by May 24th. We will support an additional round of development in July or August (once the database is populated) to make modifications suggested by the C-GEM community prior to public release. We look forward to collaborating with a software expert to make our vision a reality!
Postdoctoral Fellowships at the Proctor Foundation, UCSF
The Francis I. Proctor Foundation at the University of California, San Francisco is seeking postdoctoral fellows to contribute to computational studies of trachoma, enteric pathogens, antimicrobial resistance, and healthcare-associated infections. Ideal applicants will have a Ph.D. and a record of achievement in infectious disease epidemiology, biostatistics, bioinformatics, or quantitative biological fields. Applicants must have strong writing and analytical skills should be adept at programming and data analysis (preferably R) and should have a publication record commensurate with experience.
To apply, please send a CV, a statement of interest, and the names of three references to Catherine.Oldenburg@ucsf.edu
Support D-Lab
Join our community of donors by making a gift to D-Lab. Contributions of any size will support free, inclusive workshops and resources for the UC Berkeley community. Give today!
