[agents] CfP: Multi-agent Simulations of the Social Processes of Science

[Bruce Edmonds]

    *** Simulating the Social Processes of Science ***
Challenging the field of social simulation to produce good models of
how science operates

** Context **
During the last forty years, a variety of explanatory, exploratory,
and metaphorical models of the science system have been used in a
number of different fields. As a consequence, this topic has appeared
at a variety of different conferences, resulting in a string of rather
isolated papers. We believe the time is right to try and consolidate
and focus these efforts – to attempt serious models that address the
link between the micro-behaviour of scientists with the global
patterns of science.

** Aim **
To stimulate interest in simulating the social processes that occur
within science, particularly to motivate some agent-based modellers
into producing models of the inter-scientist processes that contribute
to the phenomenon we call science.

** Strategy **
1.  Invite a number of position papers, describing the features and
issues they would like to see in a social simulation of science.
2. Publish these as a collection in the Forum Section of JASSS
(Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation – the main
journal for social simulators), with a foreword challenging social
simulators to address these issues.
3. Organise and run a residential workshop in 2012 open to researchers
to present and discuss their simulations, with a few philosophers and
sociologists present.
4. Publish a special issue or book of revised papers on this topic
based on the simulations presented at the workshop.

** What we are asking of you **
To write a position paper for this project.  It should be directed to
the social simulation community, with an aim of: stimulating them to
develop models of science, guiding them to some of the important
properties, issues and evidence that they should address in their
simulations, and possibly indicating which aspects might (or might
not) be amenable to such an approach.  The simulations will probably
include both cognitive and social aspects of science and scientists.
We are open to all viewpoints on the efficacy and nature of science,
but would appreciate a focus on areas where you think simulation can
contribute to our understanding.

So please write a short essay, with a guideline of 3000 words, to be
delivered in a Microsoft Word readable format (.doc .docx .rtf .odt)
and emailed to bruce at edmonds.name by the 1st April 20101.  Please
contact us if you have any questions, or suggestions.

** Co-Chairs/Co-Organisers **
* Petra Ahrweiler, Professor of Technology and Innovation Management
and Director of the Innovation Research Unit at University College
Dublin. http://casl.ucd.ie/people/petra.ahrweiler
* Nigel Gilbert, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for
Research in Social Simulation, University of Surrey, United Kingdom,
and General Editor of JASSS.
http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/staff/ngilbert
* Bruce Edmonds, Director of the Centre for Policy Modelling and
Senior Research Fellow at the Manchester Metropolitan University.
http://bruce.edmonds.name
* Andrea Scharnhorst, Senior Research Fellow at the DANS (Data
Archiving and Networked Services)/ e
humanities groups at the Royal
Netherlands Academy for Arts and Sciences
http://virtualknowledgestudio.nl/andrea-scharnhorst/


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Regards.

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Bruce Edmonds
Centre for Policy Modelling
Manchester Metropolitan University
Aytoun Building, Aytoun Street, Manchester M1 3GH, UK.
Tel. +161 247 6479  Fax. +161 247 6802
http://bruce.edmonds.name