Call for papers for Special Section in Network Science on “Networks in space and in time: Methods and applications”

Call for papers for Special Section in Network Science on “Networks in space and in time: Methods and applications”

Social network research is rapidly evolving toward the inclusion of geography and time into the social space, Accounting for their effect on network structure and on network dynamics.

The special section of Network Science will publish a range of high quality research papers about the analysis of spatial-temporal network data and its substantive applications. The main goal is to present the most relevant results and the most recent methodological developments in social network research, when data are collected across space and time.

Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to:

• Dynamic network visualization
• Large networks
• Longitudinal social networks
• Statistical and computational models for spatial-temporal networks
• Networks and geography
• Network data collection
• Social network analysis methods for longitudinal data
• International Networks

The special section will be guest-edited by Luca De Benedictis (University of Macerata, Italy), Maria Prosperina Vitale (University of Salerno, Italy), and Stanley Wasserman (Indiana University, USA).

Submission details

Researchers and practitioners are requested to submit any relevant and innovative papers for publication in this Special Section. Submitted papers can be based on presentations made at ARS 13 – Fourth International Workshop on Social Network Analysis in June 2013, Rome (Italy); however, submissions not based on presentations at this conference will also be considered.

Submitted papers must contain original unpublished work that has not been submitted for publication elsewhere. All manuscripts submitted to the special section will undergo double-blind review which is used for submission to Network Science.

Papers should be submitted following the instructions given at the journal homepage http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/nws.

Important dates
• Submission of full paper for the special section: December 15, 2013 at the latest (earlier submission is encouraged)
• Notification to authors: June 15, 2014 (tentative)
• Final paper for the special section: October 15, 2014 (tentative)

For details, visit the website http://www.ars13.unisa.it

PhD Opportunity at Manchester

University of Manchester

Mitchell Centre for Social Network Analysis, School of Social Sciences, Doctoral award in Social Network Methodology

The award will be based in the world renowned Mitchell Centre, an interdisciplinary group of social network analysts based in the School of Social Sciences. The project is funded by Leverhulme (RPG-2013-140) and the successful student will work alongside a project entitled: “Collecting and analyzing secondary covert social network data”

Standard social network data consist of relations amongst an homogenous group of actors. So that when we represent the data in matrix form the rows and the columns represent the same actors. In contrast, in two mode data we have two types of actors (modes) and there are only connections between different types of actors and no connections within each type. The modes usually represent very different sorts of data. The classic example is when one mode is people and the other mode is events. It should be noted that a lot of historical data and as a consequence covert network data is derived from who attended particular events. Keeping the data in this form allows us to have greater flexibility in any subsequent analysis. However, this means we need to develop innovative and new methods which recognise the restrictions in structure that data in this form implies.

The classic way of analyzing such data is to convert it to two one mode datasets by pre and post matrix multiplication to produce two new matrices. These matrices are proximity matrices and there is a wide variety of standard method available for analyzing such matrices. However, when the data are valued it is not quite so simple to convert them and other projection techniques for example using correlation or the Jaccard coefficient may be preferable.

Also very little consideration has been given to directed two mode data and very little work has been done on the development of new methods which specifically recognize the nature of two mode data. Recently consideration has been given by Everett and Borgatti (2013) to combining both the projections and mapping these results back onto the original data. While some preliminary results look promising there is much work to be done in combining the different projection methods with this approach. In addition there is an opportunity to look in detail at some of the more statistical methods that have recently been developed for two mode data and combining these with some of the multivariate techniques discussed above.

Hence the studentship will focus one or more of the following areas:

Investigate alternative and novel projection methods for valued data. Consider issues with respect to normalization of projected networks. Develop new methods (either mathematical or statistical or both) for the direct analysis of multi mode data in particular valued and directed data. Extend and evaluate the dual approach to multimode networks. Examine the relationship between the various approaches available for multi-mode networks.

Studentship details - The studentship comprise an annual stipend of £13,700, payment of fees up to the level charged for UK/EU students (currently £3,900; overseas students would need to pay the balance in fees themselves) and £750 for research training. The studentship will be for direct entry onto the three year PhD programme. The programme will commence in October 2013. Continuation of the award is subject to satisfactory performance.

Entry Requirements - Applicants must have (or expect to gain) a UK Masters level degree (or overseas equivalent) at Merit level (overall taught course average of 60% and a dissertation mark of 60% or more) in a mathematically or statistically orientated subject.

How to apply - Applicants should email martin.everett@manchester.ac.uk a full cv together with a covering letter. The successful candidate will be required to submit a full University of Manchester on-line application, plus supporting documents (two academic references and degree transcripts) to fulfill the normal admissions process.

Further information - For further information or to discuss your proposal, please email martin.everett@manchester.ac.uk

Deadline - The deadline for applications is 30th August, 2013.

Workshop on Empirical Methods

Swiss Political Science Association, Annual convention 2014, University of Berne

January 30/31, 2014

Submit your abstract!

(Social) Network Analysis has its origins in mathematics and is widely used and further developed in fields as diverse as biology, statistics, sociology and anthropology. More recently, it has been successfully applied in political science – examples include political discourse networks, legislative networks in parliaments, social networks influencing political behaviour, trade networks or policy diffusion among states, or formal models with strategic interactions along network ties. Unlike many other methods, SNA doesn’t treat the dependencies between observations as a mere nuisance to be modeled away, but as the main parameter of interest. Assuming that observations are independent is often highly problematic in social sciences, and SNA thus promises solutions to major challenges for statistical analysis. But it also offers a different lens to look at data, or, in fact, the overall topic of interest.

The advent of “Big Data” has, in the meantime, opened up vast amounts information with an inherent network structure (social media, mapping of web pages, etc), which complement the more traditional approaches of gathering network data through interviews, questionnaires, and document analysis.

The workshop thus welcomes papers that apply such new methods for gathering and analysing political network data (e.g. using exponential random graph or stochastic actor-oriented models), explore the limits of commonly used methods, develop models of strategic interaction within and formation of political networks formally and/or test such models empirically.

Call for Papers: International Conference on Digital Information Processing

The International Conference on Digital Information Processing,
E-Business and Cloud Computing (DIPECC2013)

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

October 23-25, 2013

http://sdiwc.net/conferences/2013/dipecc2013/

All accepted papers will published in SDIWC digital library.
===================

The proposed conference on the above theme will be held at Islamic
Azad University, UAE Branch, Academic City Campus, Dubai, UAE from
October 23-25, 2013 which aims to enable researchers build connections
between different digital applications.

The conference welcome papers on the following (but not limited to)
research topics:
- Biometrics Technologies
- Cloud Engineering
- Cloud Security
- Computer Architecture and Design
- Data Compression
- Data Management in Mobile Networks
- Distributed and Parallel Applications
- E-Commerce Security
- E-Technology
- Forensics, Recognition Technologies and Applications
- Image Processing
- Information and Data Management
- Mobile, Ad Hoc and Sensor Network Management
- Network Security
- Semantic Web and Ontologies
- User Interface and Usability Issues for Mobile Applications
- Web Services Architecture, Modeling and Design
- Wireless Communications
- Cloud Computing
- Cloud Gaming
- Computational Intelligence
- Cryptography and Data Protection
- Data Embedding and Watermarking
- Data Stream Processing in Mobile/Sensor Networks
- E-Business
- E-Learning
- Embedded Systems and Software
- Fuzzy and Neural Network Systems
- Information Content Security
- Mobile Networking, Mobility and Nomadicity
- Multimedia Computing
- Real-Time Systems
- Signal Processing, Pattern Recognition and Applications
- User Interfaces, Visualization and Modeling
- Web Services Security
- Wireless Sensor Networks

Researchers are encouraged to submit their work electronically. All
papers will be fully refereed by a minimum of two specialized
referees. Before final acceptance, all referees comments must be
considered.

Important Dates
===============
Submission Deadline: September 1, 2013
Notification of Acceptance: September 15, 2013
Camera Ready Submission: September 20, 2013
Registration: September 20, 2013
Conference Dates: October 23-25, 2013