SIMA-SIM-BAM School of Research Methods Summer Edition 2024 – An Introduction to Python, Network Analysis, and Machine Learning

As happened last summer, the SIMA-SIM-BAM School of Research Methods - Summer Edition 2024 took place this year too, this time from 17 to 20 July, in the delightful setting of the Certosa di Pontignano, immersed in the Sienese countryside, with the presence of a very active and distinctly multicultural class of students. The captivating and up-to-date theme of the Summer School - "An introduction to Python, Network Analysis and Machine Learning" - attracted 21 students, including doctoral students, post-docs, and lecturers from 5 Anglo-Saxon and 11 Italian universities and business schools for a total of 16 different institutions. An international audience with backgrounds and research interests that are as interesting as they are varied!
Despite their scientific and applicative contiguity, the topics covered are mainly heterogeneous in terms of both content and delivery methods. On the first day, under the guidance of Gian Piero Cervellera (University of Siena) and the support of Andrea Mecca (University of Siena), the participants used Python applications integrated with ChatGPT. The second day included a first theoretical part - held by Alessandro Caliandro (University of Pavia) - and a second practical part - held by Ilir Rama (University of Milan) - on the topic of Digital Network Analysis. The third day, led by Michele Tumminello (University of Palermo), was entirely dedicated to Machine Learning with the active practice of essential applications to complex systems. Finally, the activities of this edition of the school concluded on Saturday morning with the intervention of Simone Santoni (Bayes Business School in London), who introduced the students to the theory and practice of computation text analysis. Using their laptops in the classroom, the students had the opportunity to try their hand at numerous applications of Python, ChatGPT, and R. This is a fundamental point that received widespread positive feedback from the participants. One of the participants reported: “As a junior researcher, I most appreciated the presence of more experienced scientists in my field. Thus, this is an important motivation for me to tie well my shoestring.”
What is the current challenge for young researchers? Learning to use software to manage and reprocess big data useful for their research is an activity that is certainly neither easy nor immediate and which nevertheless cannot be implemented if one does not have the "right" toolbox available and the right mindset! We hope that, with the assiduous attendance of this summer edition of the School of Research Methods and the confident and constant commitment made to it, all the participants have had the opportunity to begin to deepen their knowledge of some fundamental tools of our profession in current time and in the world to come!