Characterizing social networks

(Image: Adobe Stock) MIT researchers developed a new measure to understand whether homophily occurred in group interactions. Their work can help identify when certain characteristics are important for predicting if groups will interact in the future.

Inclusive research for social change

The MIT Student Research Program pairs underrepresented students with opportunities to examine inequity through the IDSS Initiative for Combatting Systemic Racism. At MIT, visiting undergraduate students Megan Li (left) and Mia Hines worked on projects aimed at using big data and computational tools to create impactful changes toward racial equity....

Using social media to raise awareness of women’s resources

(Image: iStock) The Covid-19 pandemic created a global increase in domestic violence against women. Now, an MIT-led experiment designed with that fact in mind shows that some forms of social media can increase awareness among women about where to find resources and support for addressing domestic violence. The randomized experiment,...

Racial equity and data science

SSRC Director Fotini Christia introduces a new MIT-wide effort to address systemic racism with social science and computation, launched by IDSS.

PRESTIGIOUS MURI AWARD

[tm_pb_section admin_label="section"][tm_pb_row admin_label="row"][tm_pb_column type="4_4"][tm_pb_text admin_label="Text" text_orientation="justified" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid"] A team led by IDSS and LIDS professor Ali Jadbabaie, JR East Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Director of the MIT Sociotechnical Systems Research Center (SSRC), has been awarded a multidisciplinary university research initiative...

Systems theory for society’s big problems

Ali Jadbabaie seeks to optimize large-scale systems, from social networks to teams of people or devices. Some of the biggest issues facing humanity — from global climate change, to water and power infrastructure, to monetary systems, social networks, and other complex systems — involve massive amounts of data that are...