Centre for Research in Social Simulation - CRESS

The Centre for Research in Social Simulation (CRESS), based in the Department of Sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences at the University of Surrey, is a multidisciplinary centre bringing together the social sciences, software engineering and agent-based computing to promote and support the use of social simulation in research in the human sciences.

What is Social Simulation?

paperpeople There is growing interest in using computer simulation to explore issues in the social sciences. Simulation is a novel research method in most parts of the social sciences, including sociology, political science, economics, anthropology, geography, archaeology and linguistics. It can also be the inspiration for new, process-oriented theories of society.

If you would like more information on CRESS research and activities, or to learn more about collaboration with CRESS, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it us.

For brief guide to social simulation, see Agent-based social simulation: dealing with complexity (PDF), by Nigel Gilbert

PhD opportunities: We welcome applications to work in CRESS towards a PhD on, or using social simulation. More details here.

ESSA Summer School 2011
Following the successful first ESSA Summer School on Agent-Based Modelling, held in Brescia, Italy in September 2010, a second Summer School was held on 18-22 July 2011 at the University of Surrey, Guildford. The Summer school was aimed at those who have a basic understanding of social simulation and are taking their first steps in agent-based modelling. To learn more about the workshop, visit the SIMIAN website.

OR Society Simulation Special Interest Group Meeting
The Centre for Research in Social Simulation (CRESS) at the University of Surrey played host to a day of presentations on agent-based simulation models that have already led to or are close to leading to influencing decision makers in a range of application areas, including healthcare, consultancy and economics. The event l built on the previous meeting of the Simulation SIG that compared DES and SD, as well as a stream at the OR Society's 2010 Simulation Workshop, and a recent special issue of the Journal of Simulation.

Simulating Knowledge Dynamics in Innovation Networks
SKIN is a multi-agent model of innovation networks in knowledge-intensive industries that is grounded in empirical research and theoretical frameworks from innovation economics and economic sociology. SKIN is one of the leading platforms for applying agent-based modelling (ABM) to the innovation networks found in a variety of real world contexts. To learn more about the SKIN, visit the SKIN website.

SIMIAN at NCRM Research Methods Festival 2010
The 4th ESRC Research Methods Festival took place on 5-8 July 2010 at St Catherine's College Oxford. SIMIAN participated the event by organising the Workshop on methodological innovation: The Processes of Methodological Innovation: Successful Development & Diffusion, and sessions on Simulation, Methodological Innovation I & II. To learn more details, visit the SIMIAN website.

Although collective quality assessment processes are a very widespread and important characteristic of human societies, they have rarely been treated as a topic for empirical enquiry. CRESS and the Centre d'Analyse et Mathématique Sociales (EHESS/CNRS, France) hosted an interdisciplinary workshop to discuss research questions about the emergence of collective quality definitions. The workshop programme and some presentations can be found here. Selected papers from the workshop appeared in Mind & Society in 2011.

CRESS successfully organised the sixth annual conference of the European Social Simulation Association (ESSA) in September 2009 at the University of Surrey. Please visit the ESSA 2009 website for details.