When submitting your paper, you will be asked to choose a submission type and relevant special track(s). The four types of submissions available are:
Accepted posters will displayed during the dedicated poster session. Accepted extended abstracts and full papers are to be presented at the conference, with a timeslot of 10 to 20 minutes depending on type of paper and number of accepted submissions. Papers will only be considered for publication in the proceedings if they are submitted as full papers intended for the proceedings.
All work must be original, it should not have appeared in conference proceedings, books or journals, and must not be under review for other conferences, books or journals.
The review process is quicker and less onerous if many reviewers are available. If you are a co-author on several papers or an established researcher, you may be expected to review submissions.
Deadline for submission is 12 April 2026. We expect to notify authors of accepted submissions in May.
To submit a paper, please follow the link to the submission site . Note that you will need to register on the site before you are able to submit. LaTeX and Word templates for abstracts and papers are available from the Springer site.
When you submit your paper, you will be asked to select relevant special tracks. Please indicate the special tracks that you feel your paper is most likely to fit. Note, however, that your paper may be allocated to a different special track if there is a better fit once we can see all the accepted papers.
For papers that do not fit any of the special tracks.
Visionary ideas, long-term challenges, new research opportunities, and controversial debate are at the core of this track. We encourage submissions of innovative, risky, and provocative ideas, which are clearly presented, rigorously developed, and critically reflected upon. Preliminary work or submissions reporting on existing approaches will not be accepted for this track. Accepted papers would reflect on: the use of social simulation and computational social science in solving contemporary challenges; new, forgotten, or underrepresented methodologies and application areas; their potential opportunities and risks; and on the future of the research area and its community within the broader social sciences and computing domains.
This track focuses on discussion regarding challenges in model development, verification, and validation as well as other methodological challenges. Social simulation as a method, the other side of the coin, puts the use of social simulation as an alternative to other methods of enquiry central. In both broad categories, the trans/inter/multidisciplinary collaboration stumbling blocks may benefit from a more general discussion as well, to avoid getting tied up in case-specificities. Finally, transparency and reproducibility demands are of interest.
Organiser: Dino Carpentras
This track, organised by the Strongly Empirical Modelling Special Interest Group (SEM-SIG), explores the relationship between agent-based models and empirical data. This connection is becoming increasingly important as agent-based models are more widely used to simulate the effects of policies and interventions on real populations. The track welcomes contributions that establish, or aim to establish, stronger links between models and empirical data. Relevant methods and approaches include, but are not limited to, empirically grounded simulation, independent validation checks, pattern-based validation, and cross-validation. Contributions that seek to develop standards for these approaches, engage with new types of data, or propose improved methodologies are also encouraged.
Organiser: Peer-Olaf Siebers, on behalf of the LLM4ABM SIG
The integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) with Agent-Based Modelling (ABM) represents a transformative advancement in social simulation. This combination enables high‑fidelity models in which agents retain the transparency of rule‑based systems whilst gaining the context‑aware reasoning capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs).
LLMs can function as cognitive components within agents, supporting new approaches to modelling human‑like reasoning. They also offer opportunities to enhance the entire ABM cycle: from problem formulation and literature synthesis, through conceptualisation by translating narratives into structured models, to implementation via code generation and results communication through stakeholder-tailored reporting.
However, this integration also presents significant challenges. We must ensure that GenAI-augmented models maintain the interpretability and validation standards essential to social science.
This special track invites contributions on GenAI-augmented ABM, including theoretical and methodological advances, applications across the ABM cycle, domain-specific applications, validation techniques, ethics and critical perspectives, and emerging techniques and technologies.
Organisers: Melania Borit, Bruce Edmonds, Martin Neumann on behalf of the ESSA Special Interest Group Qual2Rule
Many academics consider qualitative evidence (e.g. texts gained from transcribing oral data or observations of people) and quantitative evidence to be incommensurable. However, agent-based simulations are a possible vehicle for bridging this gap. Narrative textual evidence often gives clues as to the in-context behaviour of individuals and is thus a natural source for behaviours to inform the specification of corresponding agent behaviour within simulations. The texts will not give a complete picture, but will provide some of “menu” of behaviours people use. During this session we hope to further the understanding of how to improve this. We are particularly interested in accounts of the procedures or structures people used to bridge between qualitative and formal realms based in reported modelling experiences. Thus, those interested to present their work in this session must ensure that their submission explicitly addresses the use of qualitative data in their modelling endeavour.
The session is open to all approaches that seek to move from qualitative evidence towards a simulation in a systematic way. These include, but are not limited to:
Organisers: Jennifer Badham, Filip Agneessens, Federico Bianchi, Andreas Flache, Károly Takács
Bridging micro-level mechanisms and macro-social outcomes is pivotal to both agent-based modelling (ABM) and social network research. A productive integration of the two fields has been established in recent years, including theoretical development around micro-level mechanisms at the network level and macro-social outcomes, empirical testing of hypothetical causal mechanisms, and exploring counterfactual scenarios that are difficult to test empirically.
As a flexible modelling technique, ABM allow researchers to study the co-evolution of social networks and individual behaviour by modelling different tie formation processes and the influence of network structure on behaviour. Moreover, ABM allows modellers to incorporate assumptions about actors’ decision-making processes that are cognitively and behaviourally grounded. Social network effects in an ABM can be calibrated with empirical data, which allows modellers to move beyond the use of abstract networks. In addition, ABMs can be used as a complementary tool to increase the generalisability of statistical analysis of network data.
This session invites contributions in these directions, particularly those that attempt to explain macro-social outcomes or the evolution of relational patterns by individual actions and interactions constrained in social networks.
Organisers: Loïs Vanhée, Melania Borit, Vivek Nallur, Friederike Wall on behalf of ESSA SIG-MOOD -- Models of Human Decision
Models of human decision (MOODs) are a central component of agent-based social simulation (ABSS). The Sense & Sensibility special track provides a space for discussing the development of MOODs methods (e.g., theories, models, implementations, validation) and related aspects (e.g., use-cases, applications, implications), in particular in the light of the challenges of integrating MOODs in ABSS (e.g., psychological realism, scalability, reproducibility, explainability). This track caters for interdisciplinary exchanges, crossing (new) computational decision models, grounded in psychology, cognitive science, and/or social science research, with insights from applicative fields and disciplines studying the impact of such ABSSs.
Contributions are welcomed across various formats, non-exhaustively including: theoretical foundations; modelling, engineering, and empirically testing human-inspired mechanisms; surveys and syntheses identifying strengths, gaps, and improvement paths; critical perspectives on ethics, impact, and assumptions; and vision papers outlining high-impact applications enabled by richer models of human decision.
The technical aspects of social simulation track invites papers on the platforms, frameworks, and programming language used (or could be used) for social simulation, and their characteristics such as scalability, usability (form a researcher, modeler, and end-user perspective), execution speed, etc. This includes the use of high-performance computing, cloud computing, and exascale computing but also the use of generative AI in the development and implementation of social simulation models, interface issues etc.
Organisers: Nick Roxburgh, Alessandro Taberna, Thorid Wagenblast
This track focuses on submissions related to the modelling of transformative change across social, economic, and environmental systems. Understanding transformative change (profound, systemic shifts that radically reshape underlying structures, processes, and relationships within a system) becomes increasingly critical given today's rapidly changing world and the related challenges. Work submitted to this track might include:
We particularly encourage submissions that address methodological challenges in modelling transformative change, integrate empirical data, or develop novel approaches to representing profound systemic shifts. Both theoretical contributions and applied case studies are welcome.
Organisers: Emilie Lindkvist, Maja Schlüter & Nanda Wijermans
Many of the world’s challenges - climate crisis, biodiversity crisis, natural resource crisis - are characterised by a deep intertwinedness of people and the biophysical environment. Models that embrace this worldview and the complexity of the problems thus involve the dynamics of both the social and the biophysical system which are in continuous interaction. This special track targets modellers who engage in studying social-ecological systems using computational models, the methodological challenges they face and the trans-and/or-interdisciplinary insights they produce. Topics may include but are not limited to modelling transformative change towards sustainability, incorporating social or institutional dynamics into social-ecological models, or modelling social-ecological systems from relational perspectives. The session thus allows for these scholars to connect, learn and exchange their experiences and insights.
Organiser: Nanda Wijermans
Food systems are one of the high potential towards a more sustainable future. More and more scholars are interested in dietary change (e.g. how do eat less meat or increase fibre and plants to our diets), and modellers haven’t been sitting still either. We would to organise this session to bundle these various approached of modelling behavioural change/transformation how we eat, exchange methodological experiences (use of data, interaction with stakeholders etc) as well as learn from the different insights we have gained up till now.
Organiser: Aditya S. Khanna
Substance use and longer-term addiction are impacted by a range of systems, including social networks, family systems, institutional contexts, and policy environments. Computational social science methods are critical to integrate behavioural, clinical, policy-based and structural data to examine the complex underlying dynamics of substance use over time. This special track brings together work that leverages network-based simulation approaches to study substance use trajectories, treatment engagement, health outcomes, and policy interventions across diverse settings, including community, family, and carceral contexts. We invite papers that develop, apply, or critically evaluate network-informed simulation models for addiction-related research and planning. Relevant topics include: modelling initiation, escalation, and cessation of substance use; peer and family influence processes; interactions between treatment, behaviour, and policy; long-term health outcomes linked to substance use; and methodological issues such as calibration, uncertainty, and validation. The track aims to incorporate perspectives from researchers studying a variety of substances using network modelling and simulation methods.
Organisers: Christopher Frantz, Amineh Ghorbani
A prominent theme in social simulation is the behavioural and structural representation of institutions, be it in the form of conventions, social norms or formal institutions (e.g., legal rules). In this sixth edition of the NISE track, we invite for contributions that leverage an insight into how social structure emerges from the bottom-up or shapes based by imposing rules. This track draws particular attention to normative processes and institutional features such as decision-making, governance arrangements, as well as explanatory accounts for the influence of the normative/institutional environment on societal outcomes.
This track invites for papers focusing on
Organisers: Stephan Leitner, Linda Ponta, Cristina Ponsiglione, Friederike Wall
The track on Complexity in Organization, Management, and Economics invites contributions that advance our understanding of complex socio-economic and organizational systems through agent-based modelling and simulation. As ABM gains momentum across disciplines -- from management and organizational science to economics, psychology, and engineering -- new opportunities emerge to explore how individual behaviours generate collective outcomes in an uncertain world.
We welcome submissions addressing contemporary challenges such as organizational resilience, discrimination, digital transformation, sustainability, and market dynamics. The track offers a forum to discuss cutting-edge methodological innovations, hybrid modelling approaches, and strategies for empirical validation, and reproducibility.
Whether your work examines micro-level mechanisms within teams and organizations, macro-level patterns in markets or economies, human decision-making, collective intelligence, or the broader role of ABM, this track brings together researchers pushing the boundaries of computational social science. Join us in shaping the next generation of models, insights, and applications for complex socio-economic systems.
Organisers: Timo Szczepanska, Nicolas Payette, Patrycja Antosz
Recent global developments in Digital Twins of the Ocean (DTOs) make the topic timely and relevant, as evidenced by the Connecting the DOTs report (https://op.europa.eu/s/Abvt). This special track focuses on modelling and simulation of the Ocean and related human activities in a push towards managing the complex socio-techno-ecological systems, especially through using openay available data (e.g., EMODnet, Copernicus) and/or infrastructures such as the European Digital Twin Ocean (EDITO). The session is interested in bringing together researchers and practitioners working on representing socio-ecological aspects of human activities, with special attention to providing tools for sustainable management of bodies of water.
The session aims to cast a wide net, with examples of interest including but not limited to:
Organisers: Vittorio Nespeca, Loïs Vanhèe, Francesca Giardini
Using social simulation is increasingly recognised as a crucial approach for increasing resilience by understanding and learning from past crises, providing insights for responding to ongoing crises, and preparing for future ones. However, significant challenges remain. Crisis contexts profoundly reshape how simulations are designed, validated, and used: urgency, shifting stakeholder needs, limited or unreliable data, and intense pressure on modellers challenge conventional scientific practices. Despite growing interest, systematic knowledge on how to effectively develop and deploy social simulations during crises remains limited, and institutional capacity for evidence-based policymaking using social simulation is uneven, particularly during crisis response. Moreover, while crises are often framed as opportunities for building resilience, such outcomes are far from guaranteed. Post-crisis learning is shaped by political dynamics such as blame games, framing contests, and policy over- or under-reaction, often sidelining the role of expertise and modelling. This special track aims to advance social simulation theories, methods, and tools to better understand and support crisis management and resilience building through research drawing from a wide range of fields (e.g., sociology, psychology, crisis management, and public administration). We welcome submissions on different topics related to societal resilience and policy modelling across all phases of crisis/disaster management, including preparedness, response, recovery, and learning.
Organisers: Marlene Rimmert, Hannah Prawitz, Ronja Hotz, Emma Bailey, Luana Schwarz
Agri-food and land-use systems are central to some of the most pressing global challenges of our time. These systems provide essential goods for our everyday lives, yet they also act as key drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss. Advancing sustainability transitions in these systems requires a deeper understanding of the social, cultural, economic, and institutional processes as well as socio-ecological interactions that shape food production and consumption choices.
This special track explores the frontiers of social simulation applied to agri-food and land-use systems. It promotes a whole-system perspective, viewing them as complex adaptive systems characterized by interdependencies across actors, scales, and domains. We particularly welcome contributions that capture social and economic processes, cultural norms, and individual behaviour regarding production, consumption and value chain dynamics, as well as their interactions with institutions and governmental structures. This explicitly includes socio-ecological interactions within agri-food and land-use systems.
Contributions may address processes ranging from individual decision-making to meso- and macro-scale social, economic and institutional dynamics using diverse modelling approaches operating at different scales. By combining methodological advances in modelling with applied case studies, this track aims to improve our understanding of how social, economic and institutional processes can facilitate transformative change toward more sustainable, resilient, and equitable agri-food and land-use systems.
Organisers: Emile Chappin, Mariëlle Rietkerk, Natalie van der Wal, Lynn de Jager, Lukas Schubotz
The energy transition has moved beyond niche innovation and now directly affects households, communities, firms and institutions alike. Energy systems are rapidly evolving into complex socio-technical systems, where technologies, markets, policies and social behaviour are deeply intertwined. Understanding how individual and collective decisions shape system-level outcomes — and how these outcomes feed back into behaviour and governance — is essential for achieving a rapid, resilient and socially just energy transition.
This special track invites contributions that explore the dynamics of energy systems and transitions with agent-based models. We welcome papers addressing topics including (but not limited to):
By bringing together social simulation researchers working on energy-related challenges, this track aims to strengthen the integration of behavioural, technological and institutional perspectives. It aligns closely with the SSC2026 theme by embracing societal complexity and highlighting how micro-level interactions produce macro-level transition outcomes. Ultimately, the track seeks to advance methods and insights that support effective, inclusive and evidence-based energy transition strategies.
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