Co-organized by GRICAD, Pacte, AAU, and PUD-GA as part of the GATES project, this study day highlighted the importance and organizational structure of the social and human sciences at the university, which includes 24 laboratories, 2 research clusters, and approximately 1,500 researchers and doctoral students. In her opening remarks, Julie Sorba, Vice President for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences at UGA, also highlighted the originality and value of the GATES project and its focus on the engineering of the humanities and social sciences. Through a series of about ten presentations, the teams shared their experiences regarding the creation and processing of contemporary data.

From a Modeled Territory to an Understanding of the Landscape

The discussions first highlighted the regional roots of the research. Geographers and sociologists compared theoretical models of the “15-minute city” with residents’ actual daily routines, while a research-creation project offered a unique auditory immersion experience to give a voice to the Isère River as it flows through the city.

Navigating Through Sensitive Data

The handling of highly sensitive data was also a central topic of discussion. In particular, the teams discussed the creation of a knowledge graph to quantify the lethality of European borders, as well as procedures for secure access to RSA statistical data to analyze the impact of social policies.

Local and Sovereign Artificial Intelligence

In light of the rise of artificial intelligence, the event highlighted the development of sovereign and local solutions. Using GRICAD’s computing infrastructure, researchers demonstrated that it is now possible to search vast corpora of theses or analyze interview transcripts without relying on tech giants.

The Humanities in the Digital Age

Finally, the conference concluded with a focus on digital humanities and quantitative methods. From rigorous meta-analysis protocols in psychology to the automatic transcription of manuscripts containing 30,000 lines of verse, researchers demonstrated how digital technology can enhance the value of cultural heritage sources while ensuring complete scientific transparency. 

Read the blog post from the GATES Engineers' Pool that captures the richness of this day