RC33 is the International Sociological Association's Research Committee on Logic and Methodology in Sociology. Its conference is an international forum for current and fundamental issues in social science methodology and since 1984 has attracted scholars from all over the world and from a diverse range of academic fields and disciplines.

The focus of the conference is on innovations and current best practice in all aspects of social science research methodology. It provides an opportunity to reflect on contemporary methods, as applied in a range of settings and disciplinary contexts, to hear about emerging methods, tools, techniques and technologies, and to discover what resources are available to social science researchers and users of research.

The RC33 Eighth International Conference on Social Science Methodology will be at the University of Sydney, 9-13 July, 2012. One session will be on social simulation and modelling for public policy.

The purpose of the session is to bring together those with an interest in the application of social simulation techniques to modelling for policy purposes. We would be looking for colleagues advancing new or existing techniques and applications to any area of public policy. The session would be open to methodological, conceptual and theoretical submissions as well as case studies. The session is aimed at social scientists with an interest in computer modelling, but also those in statistics and computer science who have entered the area of e-social science research.

You are kindly invited to submit a paper by going direct to the abstract submission point at the conference site. The call for abstracts of papers is open until 1 December, 2011.