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Agent-based modelling is becoming an important tool for social scientists,
in economics, business studies, management, geography, political science,
social psychology and sociology. With agent-based modelling (ABM),
individual people, organisations or nations and their interactions are
directly represented in the model, and the emergence of system-wide patterns
are studied. ABM have been used to investigate the spread of attitudes and
innovations, competition and monopoly in business, stock markets, supply
chain management, industrial clusters, leadership, epidemics, reputation,
and many other topics.

Nigel Gilbert, author of Agent-Based Models (Sage, 2007) and co-author of
Simulation for the Social Scientist (UCL Press, 2005) will be giving a
course of lectures and computer-based exercises on ABM in September 2008 in
Dalian, China.

The course is primarily intended for academics interested in using ABM for
their research, for graduate students considering basing their doctoral work
on ABM, and for others who are considering ABM as a modelling tool for
business and policy. By the end of the course, participants should have a
good appreciation of the strengths of ABM and an initial understanding of
how to develop their own models. Exercises will be based on the free NetLogo
package.

The course will be held from Monday 15 September to Friday 19 September 2008
at the campus of Dongbei University of Finance and Economics (DUFE), Dalian,
P.R. China, with the support of the Surrey International Institute. The
course will be taught in English.

The cost of the course is 2000 RMB or $300, with a reduction for students to
400 RMB ($60). This covers tuition, the use of computer facilities at DUFE,
a copy of the text Agent Based Models (Sage) and lunches and refreshments.
In addition, participants will need to arrange accommodation in Dalian - the
course administrator will be able to make recommendations.

To apply, send an email to <[log in to unmask]> including the following:

1. your first and family name, and gender
2. your university, organisation or company, and your postal address
3. your email address and web home page, if any
4. your education (degrees, subjects, current registration)
5. a brief note (one or two sentences) about why this course is of interest
to you
6. whether you are applying for the reduced rate for students
7. whether you need help in arranging accommodation

The application deadline is Friday 15 August 2008.

Additional information, including a day-by-day timetable, suggestions for
hotels, and suggestions for pre-course reading, is available at
http://cress.soc.surrey.ac.uk/dufe-abm/

_______________________________________________________________________
Professor Nigel Gilbert,  Editor, Journal of Artificial Societies and
     Social Simulation, <http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/JASSS/>
        Centre for Research on Social Simulation (CRESS)
   Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
       Tel:+44 1483 689173   [log in to unmask]
             <http://cress.soc.surrey.ac.uk/>