Special Edition: 10 Years of ODISSEI

About the Conference

ODISSEI welcomes proposals for its 2026 Conference for Social Science in the Netherlands,  a special edition marking 10 years of building research infrastructure for the social sciences. Taking place on 24 November 2026 at Jaarbeurs Utrecht, this conference is an opportunity to reflect on a decade of progress, celebrate what has been built together, and look ahead to the next chapter of computational social science.

We particularly encourage submissions from researchers across the Netherlands and beyond, whether or not you have previously worked with ODISSEI. If your work touches on computational social science, open data, or the future of social science infrastructure, we want to hear from you. 

ODISSEI, the national research infrastructure for social science in the Netherlands, connects researchers with the data, expertise, and resources needed to conduct ground-breaking research and embrace the computational turn in social enquiry. This conference brings together a broad community of computational social scientists to discuss data, methods, infrastructure, policy application, ethics, and theoretical work.

Topics

We encourage submissions on the following themes (but are not limited to):

• Reflections on a decade of social science infrastructure in the Netherlands: lessons, gaps, and future directions
• Cross-national and international perspectives on social science infrastructure and open data
• Social science research utilising ODISSEI Infrastructure (such as CBS Microdata, LISS panel, OSSC, or SANE)
• Theoretical discussions and concepts in Computational Social Science
• Computational methods for social science research (such as agent-based modelling, network analysis, textual analysis, benchmarking, machine learning and Large Language Models)
• Causal inference in Computational Social Science
• Ethical and legal issues of algorithms, big data, and computational methods
• The use of computational methods to inform policy
• Bias, inclusivity, and inequalities in Computational Social Science
• Use of High-Performance Computing for social science research
• New technologies in social science research

Early Career Researchers

The 2026 edition has a dedicated early-career stream — and this year, it is being shaped from the ground up by ODISSEI’s Early Career Board (ECB), a group of PhD researchers. 

The early-career stream is designed to reflect what early-career researchers actually need for the infrastructure and its development, whether it is a space to present work in progress or guidance on methods and career paths. 

If you have an idea for a session, workshop, or activity that would make the conference for early-career researchers better, submit it via this link. The Early Career Board will evaluate all the proposals and shape the stream programme. 

Session Formats

Presentations at the conference are 15 minutes. In addition, there will be a poster session and flash talks, short 5-minute presentations delivered during a plenary session. Applicants can indicate their preferred format, though we cannot guarantee all preferences will be accommodated.

This year, we also welcome a number of interactive session formats, including structured discussions, collaborative problem-solving sessions, and workshops. Applicants are invited to propose interactive sessions in addition to individual presentations. Details on how to submit a session proposal can be found via the submission link below.

There will be no pre-circulated papers. Presentations can be of published work, work in preparation for publication, or work in progress. 

Submission

Abstracts of up to 300 words should be submitted no later than 26 June 2026 (18:00 CEST).

Conference date: 24 November 2026

Location: Jaarbeurs Utrecht, the Netherlands

Registration: Free

Abstract deadline: 26 June 2026, 18:00 CEST

Contact: communications@odissei-data.nl

Picture by Dasha Nelina