The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) is inviting applications from qualified and highly motivated students for a Summer Research Visit.

The goal of the Population and Social Data Science Summer Incubator Program is to enable discovery by bringing together data scientists and population scientists to work on focused, intensive and collaborative projects of broad societal relevance.

For a period of 3 months (June 1st – August 25th, 2023) participating students will work in small teams, with support from experienced mentors, towards a common research goal. For the summer of 2023, confirmed organizers and mentors include Diego Alburez-Gutierrez, Aliakbar Akbaritabar, Monica Alexander (University of Toronto), Ugofilippo Basellini, and Emilio Zagheni. This summer, the focus of the program will be on forecasting, and on leveraging online crowd-sourced data.

Participating students will be exposed to best practices across the social sciences and data sciences while contributing to a hands-on project experience. All participants will also have access to lectures and participate in other scientific activities taking place at the MPIDR.

Applicants must be enrolled in a doctoral, master’s or undergraduate university program (at the time they visit the MPIDR). Selected candidates must obtain approval to participate in the program by their supervisor / administrator. The Incubator program values research teams that include early-career scientists from a range of disciplines and backgrounds, with complementary skill sets. Priority will be placed on bringing together a diverse pool of students. The total number of attendees will be defined based on resources and quality of applications. The mentors will provide seed projects and data ideas, with flexibility for students to put forward their own ideas as well.

Successful candidates will have demonstrated ability to work on research projects independently and in interdisciplinary teams, and interest in research problems related to both data science and the social sciences, broadly defined.

Applications must be submitted online via demogr.mpg.de/go/incubator and include the following documents:

1. Curriculum Vitae
2. Cover letter (Max 2 page)

• Please state why you are interested in spending the summer at the MPIDR, and in which ways you would benefit from participating in the Incubator program.
• Please articulate your research interests and briefly describe a project you have worked on, the motivation for it and your contribution.
• Please describe your technical skills, as well what you would like to learn over the course of the Summer visit.

3. Names and contact information for 2 academic referees

In order to receive full consideration, applications should be received by January 15th 2023. Notifications will be sent out by March 2023. This will be an in-person summer program, and students will be expected to be in residence at the MPIDR in Rostock for the period of the research visit and to devote most of their working time to the collaborative research project during that period. Selected students enrolled in a PhD program will be offered reimbursement for travel costs to/from Rostock, and a stipend. Selected students who are not enrolled in a PhD program will be offered reimbursement for travel costs to/from Rostock, lodging in Rostock, and a per diem.

For administrative questions please get in touch with Beatrice Michaelis (michaelis@demogr.mpg.de). For scientific questions please contact Diego Alburez-Gutierrez [crowd-sourced data] (alburezgutierrez@demogr.mpg.de) or Aliakbar Akbaritabar [forecasting] (akbaritabar@demogr.mpg.de).

The Max Planck Society values diversity and is keen to employ individuals from minorities.

We are committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in our institutes and therefore encourage applications from such qualified individuals. Furthermore, the Max Planck Society seeks to increase the number of women in those areas where they are underrepresented and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply.