Description

The Technology Science Team, led by Harvard Professor Latanya Sweeney, is hosting a summer research fellowship to work on projects that explore and expose the unforeseen consequences of technology. Fellows will work with Technology Science researchers tackle problems in the public interest such as privacy, political advertising, elections, re-identification, and discrimination.

Former Technology Science fellows and students have successfully identified vulnerabilities in voter registration websites, helped change Facebook’s data collection policies, pushed health insurance companies to examine their reporting requirements, and exposed the “Tiger Mom Tax” from Princeton Review’s SAT tutoring service. Check out the Journal of Technology Science for more information.

 

Projects

As a Summer Research Fellow, you will have the opportunity to work on the following projects:

• Write apps and scripts that redirect data from existing wearables to private data repositories. This is part of a platform called myDataCan that allows individuals to access, control, and use their own personal data through a secure and doubly encrypted data service

• Build a tool to uncover any efforts of misinformation campaigns through internet ads. Develop software to track the political and non-political ads individuals receive

• Identify data subjects in health data believed to be anonymous using publicly available data and data science methods

• Increase Journal of Technology Science outreach and build functionalities into the journal's website, such as a mobile-friendly design, search functionality, and DOI/Cross-Ref citations

 

Qualifications

Basic qualifications:

• Strong academic background in undergraduate or graduate studies

• Basic social science knowledge (e.g. economics, political science, sociology), public policy, statistics, or computer science

• Ability to work independently and in team settings

• Strong communication and writing skills in producing research reports

Other qualifications for specific project needs:

• Previous research experience in data collection and analysis techniques from coursework or employment. Students without prior research experience may also apply

• Programming knowledge in data analysis, visualization, web scraping, and web design (any language)

We highly encourage students from underrepresented groups and minorities to apply. Unfortunately, we currently cannot accept international applicants who need visa sponsorship, but please contact Jinyan Zang (jzang@fas.harvard.edu) if you have any questions.