vol273.indd


  IASSIST Quarterly Fall 2003              17

1st International Conference on e-Social 
Science

Manchester
June 22nd 24th 2005

 Initial Announcement and Call for Submissions
< www.ncess.ac.uk >

 The vision of the ‘Grid’ first emerged as a solution to the highly specialised computing 
infrastructure requirements of particle physics. The past five years, however, have seen the 
Grid’s potential recognised by the wider scientific research community and the emergence 
of new forms of research practice now encapsulated in the notion of ‘e-Science’. 

 Now, members of the social science research community in the UK and elsewhere are 
beginning to explore how they can use the Grid and to explore the prospects for ‘e-Social 
Science’. This year, for example, has seen the creation in the UK of the National Centre 
for e-Social Science (NCeSS).

 The opportunities presented by the Grid for social science research are numerous and 
intriguing. The Grid will make it possible for new computational tools to be brought 
to bear on a diverse range of social science research problems; it will make established 
social science datasets more readily accessible and easier to integrate; it will make 
feasible the collection and management new kinds of data on an unprecedented scale. 
Beyond enhancing existing research methods, however, e-Social Science also brings 
with it the prospect of articulating a radically new research agenda and encouraging the 
formation of new forms of research community. 

 Realising the full potential for e-Social Science will be a major challenge and calls for 
a major collaborative effort from social scientists and Grid developers. As a contribution 
to meeting this challenge, NCeSS is very pleased to announce the first international 
conference on e-Social Science. 

 We invite contributions from members of the social science and Grid research communities 
with experience of – or interests in – exploring, developing and applying e-Social Science 
research methods, practices, tools and technologies.