€500 Volterra Replication Prize

Replication is essential to the credibility of social simulation but has traditionally been far more advocated than practiced. Recognising that some of the reasons for this are institutional, ESSA and Volterra Consulting have created the annual “Volterra Consulting Replication Prize” intending both to increase the prevalence of replication in social simulation and the quality of its execution.

In order to be eligible for the prize, worth 500 euros, applicants must attempt to replicate a published social simulation (that is, reproduce the published model using a different technology, for instance a different programming language) and write up the results in a form suitable for journal publication. The prize is primarily intended for applicants who have not yet been awarded a PhD.

In addition to the prize, the best submission will be considered for publication in the JASSS Forum section.

The judges (drawn from ESSA and Volterra Consulting) will consider the following factors in assessing applications:

1. Clarity and completeness of exposition. This will include provision of the replication code and willingness to make it publicly available.
2. Choice of a relevant and socially significant simulation to replicate.
3. Ability to reproduce (or explain inability to reproduce) the key findings of the simulation replicated.
4. The degree of technical difficulty involved in the replication.

The prize will be awarded annually, provided that there are entries of a sufficient standard.

Submissions should be sent to volterraprize@soc.surrey.ac.uk in the form of a zipped archive attachment, including a description of the replication as a PDF and any relevant code, with instructions on how to run it. They must arrive by midnight GMT on June 14 2009. All submissions will be acknowledged.