Posts on Decision-Making and Systems Architecture Laboratory

Featured in Several News Sources

Fri, 15 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Our research, “Vaccine-Related Advertising in the Facebook Ad Archive” was featured in a November 13 article in The Guardian, “Majority of anti-vaxx ads on Facebook are funded by just two organizations”, as well as in the November 15 Washington Post article “Majority of anti-vaccine ads on Facebook were funded by two groups”, and in the November 14 IFL Science article “Two Groups Finance Over Half Of Facebook’s Anti-Vax Ads”.

Featured in ZDNet and VentureBeat

Fri, 08 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Our work “Identifying Nuances in Fake News vs. Satire: Using Semantic and Linguistic Cues” was featured in the November 5 VentureBeat article “Researchers develop AI that distinguishes between satire and fake news” and in the November 8 ZDNet article “Will AI ever ‘understand’ satire?“

Pedram Hosseini Wins 2019 GW R&D Showcase

Mon, 28 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Congratulations to Pedram Hosseini for winning the 2019 SEAS R&D Showcase Best Poster Award in the Computer Science Department for this work entitled “Predicting Spread of Fake News on Social Media”!

Our Research Featured in GW Today

Thu, 05 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Our research was mentioned in the September 5 GW Today article Government Intervention Needed to Address Vaccination Misinformation.

Our Research Featured in GW Today

Tue, 03 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Our research was mentioned in the September 3 GW Today article Research Finds Extreme Elitism, Social Hierarchy among Gab Users

Getting the Gist Requires Expertise

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Our publication Communicating Meaning in the Intelligence Enterprise was featured on the website of the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences.

We're Looking for some good Postdocs

Mon, 05 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The George Washington University Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics (IDDP) anticipates a search for exceptional candidates for full-time, academic research positions at the rank of post-doctoral fellow. IDDP is a multidisciplinary research initiative intended to strengthen democratic dialog and institutions through research and engagement with policymakers, journalists, and the public. Beginning as early as fall 2019, the positions offer an initial two-year term with the possibility for a third-year renewal. Candidates will work on topics related to detecting, tracking, and correcting disinformation/misinformation.

IDDP offers an exceptional opportunity to work closely with world-class faculty across the university, including political scientists, engineers, computer scientists, and physicists interested in complex systems. Located in Washington, DC, the position also offers opportunities for engagement with scholars and policymakers in the area. In addition to the pursuit of individual interests, post-doctoral fellows will work collaboratively with affiliated faculty groups pursuing more narrowly specified projects. Fellows may pursue projects that utilize IDDP’s access to large-volume multiplatform data and/or projects that take experimental approaches to understanding the social and psychological dynamics of mis/disinformation. Fellows may also assist in IDDP’s collaboration with the Poynter Institute’s PolitiFact initiative.

Our priority is to attract technically capable researchers who are also interested in asking bold, new questions with data. Candidates must offer evidence of exceptional promise through data-driven publications and conference paper presentations.

Minimal Qualifications

· PhD in one of the following or related fields: political science, computer science, natural language processing, complex systems, judgment and decision-making, political psychology, social psychology, social network analysis, computational social science.

· Completion of upper level (undergraduate) and/or graduate level coursework involving computer programming. Fluency in one or more of the following is important: R, Python or similar programs.

· A successful candidate will have familiarity with both social science and computational science, though not necessarily mastery of both.

· Strong communication skills

· An ability to work in a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary environment

We will also consider candidates who have accepted tenure-track positions at another institution but with the ability to defer their start date.

Applications must include:

· A cover letter describing your interest in and qualifications for this position

· Curriculum vitae

· Two published papers, or equivalent writing samples that demonstrate expertise and fit for the position

· A brief research statement that outlines your research achievements and goals.

· The names and contact information of three references willing to write a letter on your behalf

· A link to a professional webpage and Google scholar page (if applicable).

Applications will be accepted until filled. Review of applications will begin immediately. Interested candidates should apply at this link and contact Prof. David A. Broniatowski.

INCOSE Best Papers of 2018

Sun, 21 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The Editorial Board of Systems Engineering has selected our paper, Building the Tower Without Climbing It: Progress in Engineering Systems to be among the best from those published in 2018. It has been included in a virtual issue featuring the best papers from Systems Engineering for 2018.

Hosted SBP-BRIMS 2019

Fri, 12 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Dr. Broniatowski was the local area chair for the 2019 SBP-BRIMS conference, held July 9-12 in the Lehman Auditorium.

Mentioned in Time Magazine

Thu, 13 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Research conducted by Dr. David Broniatowski was mentioned in the June 13 Time article “’They’re Chipping Away.’ Inside the Grassroots Effort to Fight Mandatory Vaccines.’’

Mentioned in CBS News

Fri, 31 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

CBS News mentioned our research: Russian trolls fueled anti-vaccination debate in U.S. by spreading misinformation on Twitter, study finds

Mentioned in Axios

Thu, 30 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Axios mentioned our research: Russian misinformation campaigns target health fears.

Oustanding Junior Researcher 2019

Wed, 08 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Dr. Broniatowski was awarded the Outstanding Junior Researcher Award by the GW School of Engineering and Applied Science. Prof. Broniatowski is a noted expert in the areas of system architecture, data analytics, and decision analysis. He has published more than 30 journal articles, 41 peer reviewed conference publications, and 5 book chapters. His multidisciplinary research has received notable media attention due to its far-reaching implications for public health, psychology, social media, and policy. He is the PI of an NIH R01 research grant to study the challenges that social media data pose for public health officials and researchers, who aim to test new hypotheses and policies. As an early career SEAS faculty member, Prof Broniatowski has achieved amazing success as a multidisciplinary scientist

Invited Panelist at eMerge Americas 2019

Mon, 29 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Several SEAS faculty were invited to represent GW at the 2019 eMerge Americas conference, held April 29-30 in Miami, FL. eMerge Americas is the premier technology event that links Latin America to the rest of the world. Research conducted by Drs. Michael Keidar (MAE), Tian Lan (ECE) and Guru Venkataramani (ECE), James Hahn (CS), Danmeng Shuai (CEE), and Zhenyu Li (BME) was showcased in an interactive booth exhibit at the conference. The GW Today article “GW Researchers to Display Their Technologies at eMerge Americas” outlined the GW research presented at the conference. The event also included panel discussions. Dr. David Broniatowski (EMSE) was an invited member of the April 29 panel “The Promise & Peril of Digital Technology”.

Mentioned in Foreign Policy Magazine

Tue, 09 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Foreign Policy mentioned research led by Dr. David Broniatowski (EMSE) in the April 9 article “How Russia Sows Confusion in the U.S. Vaccine Debate.’’

Invited Panelist at Annual Conference of Vaccinology Research

Fri, 05 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Dr. Broniatowski gave an invited panel presentation titled “Social Media & Vaccines: From Disease to Disinformation” at the Annual Conference on Vaccinology Research in Baltimore, MD.

Zhenglin Wei presents at CSER 2019

Thu, 04 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Zhenglin Wei, a graduate student studying with Dr. David Broniatowski (EMSE), presented their joint paper at the Conference on Systems Engineering Research, held April 4 in Washington, DC. The paper is titled “Characterizing Systems Architectures Using Network Data.”

SEANET Doctoral Consortium 2019

Tue, 02 Apr 2019 23:10:27 -0400

Dr. Broniatowski spoke to PhD students from systems engineering programs around the country at the SEANET Doctoral Consortium associated with the Conference on Systems Engineering Research. His talk was titled “So You Want to Be a Scholar” and covered aspects of his PhD journey.

Mentioned in Sacramento Bee 2019

Tue, 26 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Our research on the impact that social media bots and Russian trolls have had on vaccine discussions on Twitter was mentioned in the March 26 The Sacramento Bee article “Placer County family fights measles infection while Calaveras County says it ‘dodged a bullet.’”

New DC2 Initiative

Mon, 25 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Dr. Broniatowski was mentioned in the March 25 GW Today article “Using Data to Tackle Real-Time Challenges for DC.”

Quoted in Newsweek

Wed, 27 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Dr. Broniatowski was quoted in the February 27 Newsweek article “Why do some people believe vaccines are dangerous?’’

Guest on NPR

Tue, 26 Feb 2019 11:58:05 -0400

Dr. Broniatowski was a guest on NPR’s Jefferson Public Radio (JPR). He was interviewed on JPR’s “The Jefferson Exchange” program about his research on Russian efforts to roil the vaccine debate in the U.S. {Direct audio link}

Continued Media Coverage

Sat, 16 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Our research on the impact that social media bots and Russian trolls have had on vaccine discussions on Twitter has continued to receive media coverage. Selected coverage includes the February 16 CNN article “Science being ‘debunked:’ Why are some countries making a vaccine U-turn?” and segments on KATU-ABC2 (Portland, OR) and WVAH-Fox 11 (Charleston, WV).

Quoted in Radio Free Europe 2019

Wed, 13 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Dr. David Broniatowski was quoted in the February 13 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty article “Are Russian Trolls Saving Measles From Extinction?”

Psychology Today

Fri, 08 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The lab’s research was cited in the February 8 Psychology Today article “Antivaxxers and the Plague of Science Denial.”

Ann E. Nolte Writing Award

Sat, 02 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Dr. David Broniatowski and co-authors have been selected to receive the 2019 Foundation for the Advancement of Health Education (FAHE) Ann E. Nolte Writing Award for their paper “Weaponized health communication: Twitter bots and Russian trolls amplify the vaccine debate.”