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October 2025 Issue 5 Volume 2 |
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Welcoming a New Semester
DISSC and the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions (YCGS) co-hosted a highly successful open house on September 18, which drew an impressive turnout from across the Yale community. The event provided an invaluable opportunity to strengthen our partnership with YCGS while connecting directly with faculty, staff, and graduate students.
The enthusiasm we heard from attendees about collaborating with both of our centers was truly encouraging and signals tremendous potential for expanding DISSC’s reach and impact. Connections forged during this event lay the groundwork for meaningful collaborations that will undoubtedly enhance both centers' ability to serve Yale's vibrant social science community. We're excited to build on these new relationships and look forward to working with you on your projects as we continue to grow and evolve together.
Below you will find updates on new staff, upcoming events, and computing and software updates as we begin a new year of academic endeavors here at Yale. |
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News & Updates
New Staff
Welcome to Nicholas (Nick) Warren, who started with DISSC this month as the lead of our Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Program. In this role, he will offer programmatic support and technical expertise to faculty and students using AI and ML in their social science research. Nick will also help Yale advance its data platforms and research infrastructure.
Prior to joining DISSC, he served as Head of Data Science Platform Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin’s Behavioral Science & Policy Institute.
New Website
DISSC has updated our website, marking a significant milestone in how we connect with, and serve, Yale’s social science community. This transition represents more than just a platform change—it offers an enhanced way to view how researchers can access and benefit from our services. We've organized the site to align with how research actually works, so you can quickly find what you need whether you're just starting a project, collecting data, analyzing results, or getting ready to publish.
As part of the upgrade, we also redesigned our Research Support Services page to follow the research pipeline from start to finish, which means no more guessing about when to reach out for help. In addition, our Programs page now offers more details and opportunities to help build connections across the Yale social science research community. Whether you're a faculty member or student, we're here to support you at every step.
Computing Updates
Over the summer, ITS announced two new secure research computing platforms which are now available for large-scale data analysis.
Hopper, a new YCRC cluster with an initial 60 compute nodes and more than 200 GPUs. Hopper enables advanced simulations, large-scale data analysis, and secure use of large language models for cutting-edge research.
SpinupPlus, an extension of Yale’s Spinup service on AWS. SpinUpPlus allows researchers to quickly launch secure, virtual servers and infrastructure for data analysis, web applications, and other research computing needs while ensuring institutional compliance and scalability.
In addition, Yale has invested in new GPU resources under the AI at Yale initiative:
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80 H200 NVIDIA GPUs on Bouchet (for research without sensitive data).
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32 H200 NVIDIA GPUs on Hopper (for research requiring NIST 800-171, HIPAA, or other sensitive data).
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12 H100 NVIDIA GPUs on Milgram (for research with unregulated sensitive data).
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Open and Reproducible Research (ORR) Fall Series
Are you asked to provide a replication package to a journal? Or otherwise interested in sharing your data and code in a repository? Or are you interested in extending and replicating a published study with new data or methods? This session will provide tips on how to make your research reusable and reproducible – for others and for your future self.
Basics of Research Data Management
11/18/2025, 9-10 AM
Hybrid - ISPS Classroom, 24 Hillhouse or Zoom
RSVP here.
Do you create or reuse data in your research? If in the future someone on your team or at another university (or you!) want to explore the data you used, can you find what you need? Learn simple steps you can take today to properly store your data, make it easier to keep track of any changes to the data, and prepare files for sharing or publishing.
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Social Science Staff Support
AI Brown Bag Monthly Meetings
DISSC continues its monthly virtual lunchtime series which provides research-facing support staff an opportunity to share code, exchange experiences, and learn from colleagues about AI, all in a relaxed environment. Come learn and explore emerging AI technologies at our next event:
"Semantic Sidekick: Searching the Yale Library Catalog with GenAI & MCP" with Michael Appleby and Chelsea Fitzgerald from the Yale Library.
Friday, November 14, 2025, 12-1 PM on Zoom
Survey Vendor Quarterly Meetings
DISSC continues to host a working group for any business office staff setting up survey vendors. Our next meeting will be in January.
Reach out to molly.aunger@yale.edu to join either one of these virtual meetings. |
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Partner Events
DISSC partners with a number of departments and centers to promote continued learning and collaboration across research in the social sciences. You can check out a number of upcoming events on our website.
Yale Library StatLab TrainingsWorking with Hierarchical and Web-based Data
October 29, 3:00 - 4 PM
In person - Rosenkrantz Hall, 115 Prospect - Room 01
RSVP one week in advance here.
This intermediate-level workshop equips researchers with essential skills for collecting, managing, and analyzing web-based data through APIs and hierarchical data structures. Participants will learn to construct and execute API requests to retrieve data from web services, authenticate with OAuth protocols, and convert semi-structured formats like JSON and XML into rectangular datasets suitable for analysis in R.
Working with Big Data in R
November 12, 2025, 3:00- 4:00 PM
In person - Rosenkrantz Hall, 115 Prospect - Room 01
RSVP one week in advance here.
This intermediate-level workshop provides social science researchers with essential skills for analyzing datasets that exceed typical computer memory limitations. Participants will learn to distinguish between datasets and databases, implement efficient data storage solutions using Apache Arrow and Parquet files, and build robust Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) pipelines for large-scale data processing. The workshop covers partitioning strategies for optimal performance, writing custom functions using both dplyr API for Acero and SQL syntax, and creating local analytical databases with DuckDB. Through hands-on exercises using real voter file data, researchers will develop practical skills in out-of-core processing, database management, and scalable data analysis workflows.
YCRC Trainings
Stata Day with Prof Chuck Huber at the Yale Center for Research Computing
October 23, 2025, 9:30 - 4 PM
In person - 160 St Ronan Street
RSVP here.
Join us for Stata Day at the Yale Center for Research Computing with Dr. Chuck Huber, Director of Statistical Outreach at StataCorp and Adjunct Associate Professor of Biostatistics. This full-day event offers something for everyone—from complete beginners to advanced users and concludes with open office hours where you can get personalized help with your research questions. Whether you're new to Stata or looking to expand your skills, this is an excellent opportunity to learn from one of the field's leading experts.
Introduction to Deep Learning and Gen AI with MATLAB
November 6, 2025, 10am-12pm
In person - 160 St Ronan Street
RSVP here.
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming industries and everyday applications. For students and educators, understanding AI has become essential for solving complex real-world problems. MATLAB and Simulink provide a flexible, powerful platform for developing and automating data analysis, deep learning, AI, and simulation workflows across diverse domains.
Research In Motion
Research in Motion is a new workshop series supported by the Center for Algorithms, Data, and Market Design (CADMY) and co-sponsored by Yale FDS, DISSC, and Tsai CITY. During each workshop, we will feature a prominent researcher working at the intersection of computer science, data science, and economics. Often, these speakers will come from industry or research institutes and will discuss significant scientific problems they are addressing.
The seminar is open to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in relevant fields who are interested in open science challenges and their solutions.
Tom Cunningham (OpenAI)
October 23, 2025, 4:15 - 5 PM
In person - Yale Economics, 87 Trumbull, Room B120
More information here.
Nitzan Mekel-Bobrov (eBay)
October 30, 2025, 4:15 - 5PM
In person - Thu Oct 30, 2025 4:15 p.m.—5:15 p.m.
More information here.
Yonatan Gur (Netflix)
November 6, 2025, 4:15 - 5:15 PM
In Person - Yale Economics, 87 Trumbull, Room B120
More information here.
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