Data Science, Culture & Social Change

The Theme Group Data Science, Culture & Social Change is a multidisciplinary international academic research network within the Research Center for the Study of Democratic Cultures and Politics (DemCP) at the University of Groningen, connecting faculty from the University of Groningen and other globally leading academic institutions. Members are working at the intersection of Technology, Humanities, and Social Sciences. This group aims to provide novel solutions to complex problems that demand collaborative academic work, as defined in the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the European Commission Missions. We seek to analyze cultural and political processes through methodological and technological innovation. Both our research findings and our new methodologies are to advance cultural and educational science and policy-making.

The group serves as a platform for active collaboration between scholars working within and across different fields (digital humanities, educational innovation, cultural analytics, computational linguistics, discourse analysis, political science, computer science, etc.). The research group facilitates dialogue and the sharing of best practices across existing projects, and fosters the development of research ideas that combine technological innovation and new methodologies for the study of culture and society.

We set out to

• foster top-class international research in a multidisciplinary setting;
• develop and combine innovative quantitative and qualitative methodologies;
• collaborate and perform international and interdisciplinary Team Science;
• find answers to pressing questions on contemporary cultural and political developments in fields such as social conflicts and crises, processes of cultural standardization and uniformity, populism, language policies, and migration, among others;
• design and implement new technological tools for active learning in higher education;
• attract funding at international competitive research schemes.

We aim to

• establish a firm research network between all partners of the group;
• publish the group findings with leading academic publishing houses and present them at top-class international conferences, symposia and workshops;
• advise relevant actors in the areas of innovation and research and policymakers worldwide about topics and challenges related to our expertise;
• propose innovative solutions to face contemporary challenges and to promote work with communities.

Theme Group Members

University of Groningen:

• Prof. Dr Pablo Valdivia, coordinator
• Gonzalo Albornoz Barra (PhD researcher)
• Dr Hans Beldhuis
• Rosmery-Ann Boegeholz (PhD researcher)
• Teun Joshua Brandt (PhD researcher)
• Claria Ciopata (junior researcher)
• Silvia Donker (PhD researcher)
• Dr Marc Esteve Del Valle
• Dr Alberto Godioli
• Dr Sasha Goldstein
• Dr Judith Jansma
• Prof. Dr Julia Kühn
• Dr Gemma Lopez Canicio
• Prof. Dr Merel Keijzer
• Dr Johan Kolsteeg
• Klara Kosova (PhD Researcher)
• Dr Florian Lippert
• María Isabel Marin Morales (PhD researcher)
• Dr Konstantin Mierau
• Dr Elizabeth Pinilla
• Beer Prakken (PhD researcher)
• Dr Ksenia Robbe
• Dr Jeanette den Toonder
• Dr Vera Veldhuizen

Other universities:

• Prof. Dr. Anthony Elliot (Adelaide University)
• Prof. Dr. Tad Goncalvez (Sophia University)
• Dr Raúl Álvarez Moreno (University of British Columbia)
• Dr Joanne Britland (Farmingham State University)
• Prof. Dr Elias Feijo (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela)
• Dr Manuel de la Fuente (University of Valencia)
• Prof. Dr Alvaro Gimenez Sarmiento (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
• Andrés Grajales (Junior researcher, University of Antioquia)
• Dr Maria Khotimsky (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
• Dr Christian Kirchmeier (Universität Bremen)
• Dr Elizabeth Lagresa González (University of British Columbia)
• Alodia Lopez Sola (Junior researcher, University of Murcia)
• Irina Malyuchenko (Universidad de Santiago de Compostela)
• Prof. Dr Luis Martin Estudillo (University of Iowa)
• Dr Jorge Molina (University of Antioquia)
• Anna Moskal (Monash University)
• Dr Roberto Samartim (Universidade da Coruña)
• Dr Susana Sotelo (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela)
• Dr Juan del Valle Rojas (Catholic University of Temuco)
• Dr Ana Vanesa Valero García (University of Murcia)
• Dr Carmen Villarino (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela)

Peer-reviewed book series

The University of Groningen Press (UGP) peer-reviewed book series 'Data Science, Culture and Social Change' is a joint editorial effort between the research groups Data Science, Culture and Social Change of the University of Groningen and the research incubator group Corpus ex Machina of the Universidad de Antioquia. The relationship between these universities has grown stronger in recent years and this collection aims to continue producing knowledge from a modern, interdisciplinary and multicultural perspective. The 'Data Science, Culture and Social Change' series will provide a collaborative space for an international network working within and across different fields (digital humanities, educational innovation, cultural analytics, computational and corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, political science, computer science, etc.).

Visit the UGP website for more information.