The first edition of the doctoral school "Computational Social Science: Advances, Challenges and Opportunities," organized by Prof. Stefano Ceri and Prof. Francesco Pierri from the Data Science research group of the Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano as part of the Lake Como School of Advanced Studies, has concluded.

The school, held in the magnificent Villa del Grumello, saw the participation of 45 students from various disciplines and over 10 countries, including China, Denmark, France, Germany, and Italy, creating a cosmopolitan and stimulating environment. During the course, participants had the opportunity to explore a wide range of topics, from data mining and machine learning techniques to social network analysis and computational modeling of human behavior, with world-renowned scientists such as:

• Fosca Giannotti, Scuola Normale Superiore (Pisa, Italy)
• Dirk Hovy, Bocconi University (Milan, Italy)
• David Lazer, Northeastern University (Boston, USA)
• Filippo Menczer, Indiana University (Bloomington, USA)
• Alexandra Olteanu, Microsoft (Montreal, Canada)
• Dino Pedreschi, University of Pisa (Pisa, Italy)
• Alessandro Vespignani, Northeastern University (Boston, USA)

In addition to lectures and workshops, the school offered numerous opportunities for networking and collaboration among participants, fostering the exchange of ideas and the creation of synergies for future research projects. The students also had the chance to present their work and receive feedback from the experts present, further enriching their educational experience.

This first experience represented a unique opportunity to develop advanced skills in computational social science and to build an international network of young researchers and academics, laying a solid foundation for future editions of the school.