For the first time in history, a major conference on social networks have been held in Sweden. The conference has been organized by colleagues from the Institute for Analytical Sociology (IAS).
Over three intensive days of 167 presentations and two days of workshops, participants shared research results, discussed methodological developments and explored how social networks can help us understand various problems from public health and migration to politics, inequality and scientific collaboration.
The conference brought together 186 participants between 11–15 August.
Social network analysis focuses on relationships and connections – between individuals, groups, organisations and other actors – and on how the structure of these relationships can help explain social processes. The breadth of the field was reflected throughout the conference programme. Organized sessions ranged from families and personal networks to political networks, health, social isolation, migration, intergroup relations and scientific collaboration. Researchers also presented new statistical and computational methods for analysing increasingly complex network data.
A meeting place for an international research community
The main conference opened with a keynote by Andreas Flache from the University of Groningen on the relationship between agent-based modelling and social network research. The conference concluded with a keynote by Elisa Bellotti from the University of Manchester on theorising in social networks.
The conference provided opportunities for researchers at different career stages to meet, discuss their work and exchange ideas. A dedicated roundtable focused on early- and mid-career researchers, while workshops before and after the main conference offered practical training in methods and tools for social network analysis. The wide-ranging programme showed how network perspectives are being used to address many different societal questions – from segregation and social cohesion to health, climate policy and the ways relationships influence people's opportunities and behaviour.
Participants have received brochures about LiU’s research environments and familiarized with network-related research conducted at Linköping University. The conference dinner was opened by the speech of the mayor of Norrköping’s municipality and participants had the opportunity to get acquainted with the city and the university through organized social events. The organization was co-hosted by the Swedish Excellence Center on Computational Social Science (SweCSS), and sponsored by the Norrköping municipality, Upplev Norrköping, and East Sweden Convention Bureau.
