NCRM International Visitor Exchange Scheme (IVES)

Computational Methods for Digital Social Science in Research and Teaching: Developing a Research Agenda Between the UK and Australia (2016 - 2017)

Dr Robert Ackland (Australian National University) visited Dr Jackie Carter (University of Manchester) (Jackie.Carter@manchester.ac.uk). The main objectives of the visit were:

• To explore and develop a research agenda in computational social science of joint benefit to the UK and Australia
• To benefit from expertise developed in computational social science at ANU, especially though tools developed there, via a series of training courses and seminars
• To export the opportunity for reciprocal visits to ANU for scholars from the network developed though this visit (especially Manchester and Oxford through their involvement with political research and the BES)
• To explore opportunities at Master’s level in co-developing teaching resources (especially for ANU and Manchester)

Dr Robert Ackland undertook a series of short visits at selected UK universities, focusing on computational methods for digital social science in research and teaching.
The exchange was “book-ended” by visits to the University of Manchester, with the last activity of the exchange being Ackland's participation in the Methods Summer School at UoM and also a workshop at UoM involving key researchers from the universities that Ackland has visited. Ackland has existing links with Prof Rachel Gibson (incoming CMIST director) and the visit enabled further research links to be consolidated with CMIST and different research groups (especially Democracy and Elections and Data, Skills and Training).