OTTAWA, March 31, 2017 — New funding announced today by research funding agencies in North America, South America and Europe will transform the use of big data in the social sciences and humanities, says the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
The Federation congratulates the winners of the Trans-Atlantic Platform (T-AP) Digging into Data Challenge, as well as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), which is leading Canada’s participation in T-AP.
Sixteen funders from 11 countries on three continents awarded a total of approximately (US) $9.2 million to 14 international project teams examining big data computational techniques applications specifically in humanities and social sciences research.
“The list of winning projects is diverse and represents many of the areas in which humanities and social science researchers are harnessing the power of big data,” said Christine Tausig Ford, Interim Executive Director of the Federation. “In our highly interconnected world, this kind of international research collaboration is absolutely essential to responding to complex and challenging issues.”
Canada is represented on six of the 14 winning projects, with funding for the Canadian teams coming from SSHRC and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council:
- Analyzing Child Language Experiences Around The World (ACLEW)
- Digging Into The Knowledge Graph
- Machine Translation And Automated Analysis Of Cuneiform Languages (MTAAC)
- Online Prices For Computing Standards Of Living Across Countries (OPSLAC)
- SPeech Across Dialects Of English (SPADE): Large-Scale Digital Analysis Of A Spoken Language Across Space And Time
- THEMIS.COG: Theoretical And Empirical Modeling Of Identity And Sentiments In Collaborative Groups
The T-AP initiative is unprecedented in the scope of its collaboration. “We congratulate SSHRC for its work as the Canadian leader of the Trans-Atlantic Platform, which is an important initiative that strengthens and adds to the dynamism of the humanities and social sciences,” Tausig Ford added. “Canada will benefit tremendously from the outcomes of this fascinating work.”
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About the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
The Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences promotes research and teaching for the advancement of an inclusive, democratic and prosperous society. With a membership now comprising over 160 universities, colleges and scholarly associations, the Federation represents a diverse community of 91,000 researchers and graduate students across Canada. The Federation organizes Canada’s largest academic gathering, the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, bringing together more than 8,000 participants each year. For more information about the Federation, visit www.ideas-idees.ca.
Media inquiries
Nicola Katz
Manager of Communications
Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
C: 613-282-3489
nkatz@ideas-idees.ca
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