Seminar on Using online data to solve CS+X in societal problems across disciplines by Onur Varol

Dear PURE Students,

17th August, Tuesday, we have a seminar on Using online data to solve CS+X in societal problems across disciplines by Onur Varol. You can find the details below,

Seminar:  Using online data to solve CS+X in societal problems across disciplines

Speaker:  Onur Varol

Date & Time: 17 August, Tuesday, 11:00-12:00

Abstract: We are living in a data-rich world, and our experiences leave digital footprints on various systems. Online conversations, wellness devices, content produced in different forms provides valuable information to study individual behaviors and population dynamics. Using computational techniques and available information, we can study important societal problems, address existing theories and hypotheses using data-driven approaches, and provide policy making recommendations. In this talk, I will present two studies that both observe online social media but address different problems: manipulation of online conversations and characterization of minute-level emotional dynamics. Both of these studies involve studying human behavior using tools of network science and machine learning. I want to share how knowledge in different disciplines is fundamental to design the research questions and interpret the outcomes.  
Bio: Dr. Onur Varol is an Assistant Professor at the Sabanci University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences and Principal Investigator at the VIRAL Lab. His research focuses on developing techniques to analyze online behaviors to improve individual well-being and address societal problems using online data. Prior to joining Sabanci University, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Northeastern University at the Center for Complex Network Research. He completed his PhD in Informatics at Indiana University, Bloomington (USA). His thesis focuses on the analysis of manipulation and threats on social media and he was awarded the 2018 University Distinguished Ph.D. Dissertation Award. He has developed a system called Botometer to detect social bots on Twitter and his team ranked top 3 worldwide at the 2015 DARPA Bot Detection Challenge. Efforts on studying social bots yield publications on prestigious venues such as International Conference of Web and Social Media (ICWSM), Nature Communications, World Wide Web (WWW) conference, and Communications of the ACM.

***Participation Link will be shared with you via email.

Have a nice day!

PURE Team