[Swarm-Modelling] Workshop on Computational Tools for Social Simulation (at e-Social Science 2007)

[Laszlo Gulyas]

**** Apologies for cross-posting ****

CALL FOR PAPERS

Computational Tools for Social Simulation
Workshop at e-Social Science 2007 (http://ess.si.umich.edu/)
October 7-9, Ann Arbor, Michigan, US
http://ess.si.umich.edu/workshops.htm

The methodology of computational modeling and simulation is gaining
momentum in the social
sciences, including economics, sociology, and political science. Social
simulation is often
viewed as a ‘third symbol system’ that offers an alternative to, or
‘middle ground’ between,
natural language (i.e., verbal) and mathematical modeling. Computational
models retain much of
the flexibility of verbal models; yet, they enforce precision and
consistency. Computational
methods, however, have their own set of challenges, especially when
applied by researchers
whose expertise lies in domains different from software development.

The current trend in applying agent-based computational models to the
social sciences began to
gain momentum in the mid-1990s. As with most emerging methodologies,
agent-based social
simulation at that time lacked unified standards, widely adopted
methodologies, and well-
articulated best practices. Only a single dedicated toolset (i.e., Swarm),
was widely
available and even that was only available in a prototype version.
Simulations were written
using a variety of unrelated programming techniques and languages. Since
implementation and
publishing standards had not yet been articulated, these models were often
‘black boxes’ whose
results were hard to replicate.

The last decade has seen an intensive, yet unfinished development of
computational modeling
methods for social science, both in understanding the range of
applicability of the approach
and in furthering the technical and methodological toolset of social
simulation. In
particular, the number of available toolkits for social simulation has
increased, and the
toolkits themselves have become more full-featured and easier to use. The
aims of the proposed
workshop are to discuss the current state of the art of tools and
techniques for computational
modeling in the social sciences with special focus on the agent-based
methodology, and to
provide an opportunity to shape future developments of those tools and in
the use of
computational modeling within the social sciences.


Intended Audience

This workshop is primarily intended for users and developers of existing
tools for social
simulation with special focus on the agent- based approach. However,
social scientists from
all disciplines who are interested in social simulation are also welcome.


Goals of the Workshop

The aim of the workshop is to provide a venue for describing and comparing
the    available
computational tools for social simulation (focusing on agent-based
modeling),    and to
discuss future user needs exploiting the emerging toolset of e-Science.
Participants are also
encouraged to discuss future trends and explore possibilities for emerging
standards in social
simulation.


Topics

This workshop welcomes submissions concerning all aspects of tools for
agent-based social
simulation, including but not limited to:

- Platforms for social simulation, in particular for agent-based modeling
- Tools for processing and analyzing the results of social simulation
- Simulations mixing human and artificial agents
- Design of social simulation experiments
- Efficient execution of social simulation experiments
- Tools for harnessing computational resources (e.g. grid systems) for
social simulation
- Experiences with existing tools for social simulation
- Web-based simulation and its application to the social sciences
- GIS-based spatial simulation and coupled human-environmental systems
- Tools/platforms for mixing the agents with other approaches (e.g.,
system dynamics)


Proceedings

The Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation (JASSS,
http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/) has indicated interest to host a special
section in one of
their future issues based on a selection of the papers presented at the
Computational Tools
for Social Science workshop. Submission

Electronic submissions of abstracts (300 words), extended abstracts (2500
words) or full
papers are expected at address@hidden For formatting instructions,
please, consult with
http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/admin/submit.html. Full papers should be
submitted in two forms:

(a) the full manuscript, in the format recommended at
http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/admin/submit.html

(b) an anonymous version of the manuscript (i.e. without authors,
affiliations or
acknowledgements) as a PDF file.


Important Dates

August 26       Submission of Abstracts, Extended Abstracts or Full Papers for
possible
                presentation at the workshop.
September 9     Notifications of acceptance for workshop presentation
October 7       Workshop
December 7      Submission of Full Papers for the JASSS Special Section
January 15      Notification of Acceptance for JASSS Special Section


Organizers

Laszlo Gulyás, Ph.D., Director of Research at AITIA International Inc and
adjunct professor at
Lorand Eotvos University, Budapest, Hungary. (Member of the MASS
Development Team).

Michael J. North, MBA, Ph.D., Deputy Director of the Center for Complex
Adaptive Agent Systems
Simulation within the Decision and Information Sciences Division of
Argonne National
Laboratory, Argonne, IL USA, and Coordinator of the Repast Organization
for Architecture and
Design (ROAD).

William Rand, Ph.D., Research Fellow at the Northwestern Institute on
Complex Systems (NICO),
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL USA and Member of the NetLogo
Development Team at the
Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling.

Rick L Riolo, Ph.D., Associate Research Scientist, Director of the
Computer Lab for the Center
for the Study of Complex Systems (CSCS), University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, MI USA.

CFP ToolkitsWS at ESocSci.txt
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