NICO Quarterly Newsflash - September 2021   RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT     Metropolitan Chicago Data-science Corps to partner with area organizations Five Illinois universities, led by Northwestern University and Suzan van der Lee, have established the Metropolitan Chicago Data-science Corps (MCDC) to help meet the data science needs of the Chicago metropolitan area. The corps will be supported by a new grant from the National Science Foundation of nearly $1.5 million. Read the article > How has COVID-19 shaped scientists and the future of science? Research by Benjamin Jones and Dashun Wang illustrates how pivotal COVID-19 was in the lives of scientists. Among their findings was the fact that 67% of papers published in 2020 on COVID were authored by scientists with no prior research relevant to COVID. Read the article >     FEATURED EVENTS 9/30 - Data Science Nights featuring Caitlin Casar and Alexandra Saldan from 84.51°. "From Astrobiology to Retail Data Science" 10/6 - Wed@NICO featuring Dirk Brockmann. "The Data Donation Project - How wearable sensors can help dealing with the COVID-19 crisis"     RESEARCH LUNCHES Calling all faculty interested in interdisciplinary collaboration! You are invited to join a data science research networking group for the 2021-2022 academic year. The purpose of these groups is to facilitate networking among faculty, stimulate discussion of significant and emerging research areas, and advance interdisciplinary research. Topics include: • Human-Material Interactions • Community-Engaged Data Analytics (joint initiative with the Metropolitan Chicago Data Science Corps)     IN THE NEWS - MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS Research by women shared less than work by male colleagues - Ágnes Horvát, Sept 2021 Scientists identify key conditions to set-up a creative 'hot streak' - Dashun Wang, Sep 2021 The Lives Lost to Undervaccination in Charts - Jaline Gerardin, Sep 2021 3 Ways AI Can Help You Improve Diversity - Brian Uzzi, August 2021 Contractor Receives Honors from ICA, INSA - Noshir Contractor, August 2021 COVID-19 PCR Tests Can Be Freeze Dried - Michael Jewett, June 2021 How NetLogo Introduces The Ideas Of Complexity To Millions- Uri Wilensky, May 2021     OPPORTUNITIES The Kellogg School and NICO are seeking candidates for postdocs and research assistance in computational social science. Successful candidates will work with Hyejin Youn and collaborate with the Santa Fe Institute to develop a unified theory of regulatory functions and networks across biological and social systems. The Northwestern Neighborhood & Network Initiative (N3) led by Professor Andrew Papachristos is looking for a Research Data Analyst Associate, Research Project Coordinator, and a Research Project Manager.     THE NICO NETWORK Rosemary Braun was promoted to Associate Professor in the Northwestern Department of Molecular Biosciences in 2021. Her lab develops and applies powerful mathematical and computational techniques to investigate living systems at multiple scales. Learn more about the Braun Lab Sarah Ben Maamar is now an Assistant Librarian and Bioinformatic and Digital Forensics specialist at Weill Cornell Medicine. From 2019 through the Summer of 2021 Sarah managed NICO's monthly Data Science Nights while working as a Post Doctoral Fellow in the Amaral Lab.     AWARDS AND PRIZES Noshir Contractor - 2022 Simmel Award, Sunbelt Social Networks Conference Marta Sales-Pardo - Fellow, NetSci Dashun Wang - Erdős–Rényi Prize, NetSci     WE WANT YOU NICO’s Quarterly Newsflash provides insights about the Northwestern ecosystem of data science, network science, and complex systems with the aim of sparking innovation and collaboration in our community. Please contact us to share ideas for new content, recommend speakers for Wednedays@NICO or Data Science Nights, or tell us what you love or what we can do better!     Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems 600 Foster Street, Evanston, IL 60208 (847) 491-2527 To manage your subscription to the NICO Listserv, please login to NUIT or reply with "SUBSCRIBE" or "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.