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Python in Geosciences (Don Setiawan presents in eScience Institute Seminar Series, 3/6/18)

Don Setiawan from UW APL will speak on “Python and R via JupyterHub and server RStudio”.

Background

In recent years, the Python programming language has emerged as a popular choice for geoscientists. Python is an easy to learn, easy to read, fast to write, open source, multi-platform platform language. Accompanying the Python language is a large community of free, open source projects that have facilitated rapid scientific development and data analysis. This informal seminar series focuses on new and existing Python tools and applications within the geoscience community and aims to connect Python users across the UW campus.

This seminar series was started in Fall 2015 by Joe Hamman (formerly at UW-CEE, now with NCAR) and Emilio Mayorga (UW-APL), and is currently coordinated by Emilio with help from Anthony Arendt (UW-APL & eScience Institute) and Don Setiawan (UW-APL). Thanks go to the eScience Institute for their support in hosting the seminars from the start!

Mailing list

We use the python_for_geoscience[at]uw.edu list to announce seminars. But if you’re subscribed, feel free to send an email on a relevant topic! You may subscribe, unsubscribe or change your settings, at this link.

Peter Mack and Jaime Mayerfeld Endowed Fund for Human Rights

APPLICATION CYCLE
Open: February 20, 2018
Close: March 30, 2018 at 5:00 PM PST

Fund Eligibility

The Peter Mack and Jamie Mayerfeld Fund provides financial resources to benefit graduate students to study and/or conduct research about human rights. In 2018, we anticipate having approximately $5000 to distribute. Available funds may be issued in a single award or split between multiple awardees. The number of awards and amounts will vary depending on the number and quality of applications. The committee may combine this fellowship with the Lisa Sable Brown fellowship to make a more substantial award.

  • Any graduate student who is currently enrolled and will be enrolled in the upcoming academic year is eligible to apply.
  • This award is open to graduate students at all three branches of the University of Washington (Seattle, Bothell, or Tacoma).
  • The award may be used towards tuition, research, travel, books, materials, or equipment.
  • US citizenship or permanent resident status is NOT REQUIRED.

Application Materials

To be considered, apply between February 20, 2018 and March 30, 2018 at 5:00 pm (Pacific Standard Time) via the Jackson School Fellowship and Scholarship Application System.

You will be asked to provide the following information:

  1. Biographic information, status as student, contact information, GPA, etc.
  2. CV/Resume with current contact information.
  3. Proposal that answers the following questions (approx. 1000 words):
    • A description of the research/study and the goals of the travel, if any travel is included.
    • What experiences do you have (if any) in the field of human rights?
    • Outline the purpose of your research/study and its relevance to the study of (or practice of promoting) human rights.
  4. A detailed budget describing how the funds would be used and, if applicable, how this support would supplement other funds, fellowships, and grants.
  5. Unofficial transcripts.
  6. A letter of recommendation from the student’s primary advisor or committee member. (Incoming students may provide letter of recommendation from most recent faculty member who is familiar with the student’s work).
  7. The names and full contact information (campus address, phone, and email) of two University of Washington (or past non-UW) faculty members who are familiar with your work.

If you have any questions about the application process, please do not hesitate to contact us at uwchr@uw.edu.

 

 

Dr. Lisa Sable Brown Endowed Fund for Human Rights

APPLICATION CYCLE
Open: February 20, 2018
Close: March 30, 2018 at 5:00 PM PST

Fund Eligibility

The Dr. Lisa Sable Brown Fund provides financial resources to benefit graduate students to study and/or conduct research about human rights. In 2018, we anticipate having approximately $1800 available to distribute; the entire amount may be issued in a single award or split between multiple awardees. The number of awards and amounts will vary depending on the number and quality of applications. The committee may combine this fellowship with the Mack and Mayerfeld fellowship to make a more substantial award. Priority will be given to graduate student research that identifies acts of oppression of an individual’s human rights and advocates abolishing such practices that may be viewed as a form of “slavery.”

  • Any graduate student who is currently enrolled and will be enrolled in the upcoming academic year is eligible to apply.
  • This award is open to graduate students at all three branches of the University of Washington (Seattle, Bothell, or Tacoma).
  • The award could be used towards tuition, research, travel, books, materials, equipment.
  • US citizenship or permanent resident status is NOT REQUIRED.

Application Materials

To be considered, apply between February 20, 2018 and March 30, 2018 at 5:00 pm (Pacific Standard Time) via the Jackson School Fellowship and Scholarship Application System.

You will be asked to provide the following information:

  1. Biographic information, status as student, contact information, GPA, etc.
  2. CV/Resume with current contact information
  3. Proposal that answers the following questions (approx. 1000 words)
    • A description of the research/study and the goals of the travel, if any travel is included.
    • What experiences do you have (if any) in the field of human rights?
    • Outline the purpose of your research/study and its relevance to the study of (or practice of promoting) human rights.
  4. A detailed budget describing how the funds would be used and, if applicable, how this support would supplement other funds, fellowships, and grants.
  5. Unofficial transcripts.
  6. A letter of recommendation from the student’s primary advisor or committee member. (Incoming students may provide letter of recommendation from most recent faculty member who is familiar with the student’s work)
  7. The names and full contact information (campus address, phone, and email) of two University of Washington (or past non-UW) faculty members who are familiar with your work.

If you have any questions about the application process, please do not hesitate to contact us at uwchr@uw.edu.

Abe Osheroff and Gunnel Clark Endowed Human Rights Fund for Students

APPLICATION CYCLE
Open: February 20, 2018
Close: March 30, 2018 at 5:00 PM PST

Fund Eligibility

The Osheroff and Clark fund provides financial resources for undergraduate and graduate students to support human rights projects that promote social change through direct action. In 2018, we anticipate having approximately $4500 available to distribute; the entire amount may be issued in a single award or split between multiple awardees. The number of awards and amounts will vary depending on the number and quality of applications.

All hands-on human rights projects aiming to achieve real-world impact — in other words, to improve human rights — are eligible, whether the work is to be carried out in the United States or elsewhere in the world. In keeping with Abe’s and Gunnel’s belief that accountability begins at home, priority will be given to projects that speak to the particular roles and responsibilities of United States institutions (including government, private sector entities, and the university itself) in human rights.

  • All undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Washington (Bothell, Seattle, Tacoma) are eligible to apply.
  • US citizenship/permanent resident status is NOT REQUIRED.

Selection Criteria

Preference will be given to projects with the following characteristics:

  • Feasibility: The project has clearly specified objectives, a specific and realistic work plan (including tasks and timelines if appropriate), and the candidate possesses the skills and resources to carry out the work required.
  • Hands-on engagement: The project will have a practical human rights benefit. While it may be appropriate to also receive degree credit for this work, this is not a necessary component. The award places primary emphasis on real-world impact.
  • Partnership: The project will be undertaken in conjunction with an established organization working in the topical or geographic area where the project is to be carried out. This ensures that the student’s work is viewed as productive and positive contribution by groups that are already active in the field, and that the student will benefit from the guidance of experienced leaders.
  • Vision: The project clearly reflects the legacy of Abe Osheroff, in particular his insistence on accountability for the role of our own institutions (including government, private sector entities, and the university itself) in human rights.

Application Materials

To be considered, apply between February 20, 2018 and March 30, 2018 at 5:00 pm (Pacific Standard Time) via the Jackson School Fellowship and Scholarship Application System.

You will be asked to provide the following information:

  • Biographic information, status as student, contact information, GPA, unofficial transcripts, etc.
  • CV/Resume with current contact information (phone, address, and email).
  • Proposal that answers the following questions:
    • Statement of purpose describing the project, your qualifications to execute this proposal, and the project’s timeline. (approx. 500 words)
    • Keeping in mind Abe’s and Gunnel’s commitment to accountability, how will your project bring about greater accountability for US institutions? (approx. 250 words)
    • Are you, or have you been involved with any campus or off-campus organizations working for human rights? Which ones and what is/was the nature of your involvement? (approx. 250 words)
  • A detailed budget describing how the funds would be used and, if applicable, how this support would supplement other funds, fellowships, and grants..
  • A letter of support from the primary organization with which you will be partnering.
  • The names and full contact information (campus address, phone, and email) of two University of Washington faculty members who are familiar with your work.

If you have any questions about the application process, please do not hesitate to contact us at uwchr@uw.edu.

Distributed Multi-Level Matrix Completion for Medical Databases (Julie Josse presents in CSSS Seminar, 2/28/18)

Gathering the information contained in the databases of several hospitals is a step toward personalized medical care as it increases the chances of finding similar patient profiles and therefore provinding them better treatment. However, there are technical (computations and storage issues) and social barriers (privacy concerns) to the aggregation of medical data. Both obstacles can be overcome by turning to distributed computations so that hospitals only share some intermediate results instead of the raw data. As it is often the case, the medical databases are incomplete. One aim of the project is to impute the data of one hospital using the data of the other hospitals. This could also be an incentive to encourage the hospitals to participate in the project. In this talk, we will describe a single imputation method for multi-level (hierarchical) data that can be used to impute both quantitative, categorical and mixed data. This method is based on multi-level simultaneous component analysis (MLSCA) which basically decomposes the variability in both a between and within (hospitals) variability and performs a SVD on each part. The imputation method can be seen as an extension of matrix completion methods. The methods and their distributed versions are implemented in an R package.

Washington State Census Board (1943-1967) and Its Legacy (Affiliate David Swanson presents at PNW Historian’s Guild Conference, 3/3/18)

The PNW Historian’s Guild Conference theme “From Armistice to Amazon: A Century of Transformations,” addresses the profound changes this region has experienced between 1918 and 2018.

Two parallel tracks of presentations on the effects of both World Wars, Native rights issues, labor strife, neighborhood preservation, non-violence, inclusive archives management, and a high-level view of regional development are among the many topics covered. Presentations may be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in regional history; we look forward to seeing you.

The full schedule is now posted online here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/198b6MFlMH3vN3FC7YNYFFlX6qKBdtp8H/view

The conference is free and open to the public, but program attendees are encouraged to consider becoming members of the Pacific Northwest Historians Guild.

For more information please contact us at pacificnwhistoriansguild@gmail.com.

To register: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3235549

SESSION I 10:15-11:45

Session 1B

Inclusive Approaches to Historical Research Washington Mutual Foundation Meeting Room 1, Level 4

Speakers:

A. Anne Jenner: “We Are History Keepers! An Inclusive Approach to Archiving Our Regional History”

B. Nicole Robert: “The Evocative Object: Digital Storytelling”

C. David Swanson: “Washington State Census Board (1943-1967) and Its Legacy”

 

CSDE Lightning Talks & Poster Session

Join us on Friday, March 9 for an opportunity to meet CSDE graduate students, who will share their cutting-edge research and latest demographic insights. Six of the newest members of UW’s population science community–from the departments of Economics, Global Health, Health Services, Sociology, and Statistics–are eager to connect their work across disciplines and to translate their findings for basic and applied research impact. All are welcome to attend the session, which will take place in the Research Commons in Allen Library South. 

  • Lily Alexander, Global Health: Understanding Second-Trimester Abortion in Public Hospitals in Mexico City
  • Roy Burstein, Global health: A new method for indirect estimation of age-specific child mortality trends using summary birth histories
  • Iffat Chowdhury, Economics: News Reports on Sexual Assault and Labor Hours: Evidence from Bangladesh
  • Nikki Eller, Health Services: Trust, Epistemology, and Vaccines
  • Peiran Liu, Statistics: Estimation and Projection of Total Fertility Rates with Imperfect Data

 

Call for Applications: Fourth Annual Workshop in Formal Demography

The Berkeley Population Center at the University of California Berkeley and the Center on the Economics and Demography of Aging Present

Workshop and Conference on Formal Demography: Special Emphasis Topic – Mortality   

June 4‐8 2018
To be held at the UC Berkeley Clark Kerr Conference Center

Speakers 
Joshua Goldstein, Professor, Departments of Demography, UC Berkeley  Magali Barbieri, Scientist, Department of Demography, UC Berkeley and INED And more to be announced

Join us for an educational program designed to train the next generation of population  researchers in the methods in formal demography. This week‐long program, with funding by  NICHD R25HD083136 consists of three days of hands‐on training followed by two days of  research presentations by invited faculty. Trainees may choose to take part in a mentored  research project and present a poster at the 2019 Population Association of America annual  meeting.

The workshop is targeted to advanced graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, assistant  professors and other early career researchers. We are particularly interested in supporting  underrepresented minorities. Those studying aspects of mortality, health disparities,  economics, sociology, and public health will particularly benefit, but those with other interests  should also apply.

Financial Support: Trainees’ expenses for materials, lodging and meals will  be covered. Need‐based support for travel is available. We regret that we cannot cover travel  from outside the United States.

Application materials and more information about the program and formal demography can  be found on the Workshop website: http://www.populationsciences.berkeley.edu/populationcenter/programs/formal‐demographyApply by March 5, 2018.

Ali Mokdad Discusses Rate of Deaths Due to Gun Violence in the U.S.

Affiliate Ali Mokdad, Professor of Global Health at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), was quoted in an NPR story addressing how our nation compares to the rest of the world when it comes to fatalities caused by gun violence. The recent high school shooting in Parkland, Florida highlights the all-too-common issue of gun violence in the U.S., which—with 3.85 deaths per 100,000 people—ranks 31st in the world for deaths caused by gun violence as of 2016. This statistic was produced IHME, which keeps track of death rates and causes of death by country as part of its Improving Methods to Measure Comparable Mortality by Cause project. Said Mokdad of the U.S. ranking for gun violence, “It’s a little surprising that a country like ours should have this level of gun violence. If you compare us to other well-off countries, we really stand out.” The full article is accessible below.

Kam Wing Chan Authors Book Chapter on China’s Economic Geography

Affiliate Kam Wing Chan, Professor of Geography, recently authored a chapter published in The New Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography. Titled “The Emerging Transformation of China’s Economic Geography,” the chapter explores China’s economic and urban geography. The chapter begins with background on the nation’s spatial economy—along with the dual and hukou systems—delves into ‘incomplete urbanization’ and cities with under-agglomerated economies, and closes with policy implications and suggestions for further research. More information about the full book is available below.