June Workshop: Writing reproducible and executable scientific papers with R and Python

The eScience Institute Special Interest Group on Reproducible Research and Open Source Software and the UW Libraries are pleased to announce a joint workshop on "Writing reproducible and executable scientific papers with R and Python." This workshop is the signature event of the two groups, and its goal is to increase the transparency and reproducibility of research conducted at UW. 

We invite UW researchers at any level (undergraduate, graduate, post-doctorate, staff, faculty, etc), from any part of campus who want to learn more about how to use cutting-edge technologies to make their papers and publications more reproducible. This workshop is aimed at researchers who write empirical journal articles and want to make it easier for others assess the validity of their work, reuse their work in new research, and enhance public trust in research.

The workshop will feature high-level overviews of, and hands-on tutorials with, these four technologies that support reproducible research:

• Binder with Chris Holdgraf: an open community and open-source in-browser cloud service that lets users create shareable, interactive, reproducible environments running a wide variety of interfaces (such as Jupyter or RStudio) based on the contents of the GitHub repository.
• Stencila with Nokome Bentley: a stand-alone platform for creating, collaborating on, and sharing data-driven content by writing documents with code cells that link to live output, and is accessible to non-coders
• Whole Tale with Craig Willis: an in-browser cloud service that provides a Juypter notebook or RStudio server instance based on the contents of a DataONE data repository
• Code Ocean with Seth Green: an in-browser cloud service that provides an environment for running code associated with scholarly publications, and can be embedded in online journal articles. Currently in use by Cambridge University Press and Taylor & Francis

Goals

This workshop has three goals:

• To showcase the state-of-the-art tools for writing computationally reproducible research. That is, how to write papers and reports in ways that include the computer code used to generate the results described in the document.
• To provide hands-on tutorials in how researchers can use their tools in their own work
• To collect feedback from researchers and look for opportunities for interoperability between the existing tools.

Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/writing-reproducible-and-executable-scientific-papers-with-r-python-registration-61060854660

Tentative Schedule – Monday June 10th (OUG 220)

8:30 – 9:00AM – Registration Table Opens

9:15 – 10:00AM – Keynote presentation by Simine Vazire (Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis)

10:00 – 10:15AM – Morning tea (provided)

10:15 – 10:45AM – Lightning talks from UW researchers using executable notebooks

10:45 – 11:45AM – Presentation: High-level overview of Binder

11:45AM – 12:45PM – Presentation: High-level overview of Stencila

12:45 – 1:45PM – Lunch (provided)

1:45 – 2:45PM – Presentation: High-level overview of Whole Tale

2:45 – 3:00PM – Afternnon tea (provided)

3:00 – 4:00PM – Presentation: High level overview of Code Ocean

Tentative Schedule – Tuesday June 11th

9:00AM – 12:00PM (Rooms TBD) – Parallel in-depth tutorials

12:00 – 1:00PM – Lunch (provided)

1:00 – 3:00PM (OUG 220) – Panel discussion on common issues for tooling: interoperability, metadata for containers, archiving and persistent identifiers

March 12 GDPR information session at UW

Next month, the Data Science Studies group from the eScience Institute is teaming up with the Technology and Social Change Group (TASCHA) from the iSchool to host an important informational session about how UW researchers are affected by data privacy regulations. 

"General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the shifting privacy landscape: What do researchers at UW need to know," will feature speakers Ann Nagel of the UW Privacy Office and Emily McReynolds of Microsoft Research. This presentation will discuss GDPR’s impact on research, regulatory developments related to data and privacy, and the University’s response to this shifting landscape.

• What: General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the shifting privacy landscape: What do researchers at UW need to know?  
• When: Tuesday, March 12 12:30-2:00 pm
• Where: WRF Data Science Studio, 6th floor of the Physics/Astronomy Tower
• RSVP: https://goo.gl/forms/JBX1IouP5sDn9DK22

The GDPR went into effect on May 25, 2018. The regulation is designed to give European Union residents more control over their personal data, providing for enhanced procedures of consent and transparency. GDPR applies to “the processing by an individual, a company or an organisation of personal data relating to individuals in the EU.” As such, researchers who use data collected from individuals residing anywhere in the EU are affected by GDPR. 

Moreover, several similar pieces of legislation are currently being considered by the Washington State Legislature, meaning that requirements like those established by the GDPR are likely to become more commonplace and broadly applicable.

In this session, privacy researchers and UW administrators will tell you what you need to know as a researcher at the University of Washington.  

Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

Text mining student position opening at UW Libraries/eScience Institute

The UW Libraries and eScience Institute are searching for a graduate student to provide text mining assistance for UW students, staff and faculty. This hourly job (8-10h/week) will work in both locations; job duties include providing text mining assistance to UW researchers at various levels, creating guides and tutorials for various techniques and UW resources, and helping assess this new type of service for the Libraries. Additional information is available in the full job posting here.

Discussion on data sharing agreements (11/27/18)

eScience Institute senior research scientist Anthony Arendt will be leading a data sharing agreements discussion tomorrow, November 27, from 4:30-5:20 in the Physics/Astronomy Auditorium, PAA118. Designed as an interactive, community discussion, topics will include how we establish and maintain norms of academic behavior around data sharing and attribution. Join and contribute to the discussion!

Data Science for Social Good Student Fellow applications are now open!

Are you interested in using data-driven discovery for societal benefit? 

The University of Washington eScience Institute, in collaboration with the Cascadia Urban Analytics Cooperative, is excited to announce the summer 2018 Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program. The program brings together Student Fellows with data and domain researchers to work on focused, collaborative projects for societal benefit.

Sixteen DSSG Student Fellows will be selected to work with academic researchers, data scientists, and public stakeholder groups such as government officials, academic researchers, non-profit organizations, and the general public, on data-intensive research projects.

Who: Graduate students and advanced (junior/senior) undergraduate students are invited to apply. Spring 2018 graduates are eligible for this program. Students who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible to apply as long as their visa status allows them to work in the U.S. We cannot sponsor student visas for this program.

What: Each student will be part of a team working full-time on a research project that has concrete relevance and impact. Students are expected to work closely and collaboratively with team members onsite for the duration of the 10-week program. Projects will have an applied social good dimension and involve analysis and visualization of data from areas such as public health, sustainable urban planning, environmental protection, disaster response, crime prevention, education, transportation, governance, commerce, and social justice. Click for summaries of projects from the Summer 2015 and Summer 2016  and Summer 2017 DSSG programs.

Where: Most work will be conducted on the UW campus in the WRF Data Science Studio, but some field excursions in the City of Seattle or King County may also be involved.

When: This is a 10-week long, full-time program beginning June 11th and ending August 17th 2018.

Compensation: Students will be given a stipend of $6,500 for the 10 weeks.

Desired qualifications:

·  Demonstrated experience in issues related to social good

·  Research experience with quantitative or qualitative tools

·  Strong academic record

·  Previous programming experience

How to Apply: CLICK HERE FOR THE APPLICATION FORM. Please note: a copy of your CV and unofficial transcripts are required to complete the form.

Questions may be directed to exec-director@escience.washington.edu.

Application Deadline: February 12th at midnight Pacific Time