TIES THAT MATTER: NETWORKS AND SOCIAL COHESION IN EUROPE
PATCHWORK Final Conference & Data Use Workshop
COALESCE Lab, Autonomous University of Barcelona
February 24-26, 2027
Barcelona, Spain
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CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
What do everyday interpersonal ties reveal about social cohesion in diverse and polarized societies? How do broader acquaintanceship networks cut across or reinforce social boundaries of migration, class, religion, and politics, and how do they relate to trust, tolerance, and social integration?
The PATCHWORK survey investigates these questions using representative survey data from over 6,000 respondents across four European countries (Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden). Combining detailed data on both core networks and broader acquaintanceship networks with rich data on ideational cohesion (e.g., trust, solidarity), and sociodemographic characteristics, PATCHWORK is one of the first projects to estimate society‑wide acquaintanceship networks from large-scale surveys. Its unique design allows researchers to link everyday interpersonal ties to subjective experiences of cohesion and exclusion.
We now invite proposals for original research analyzing the PATCHWORK cross-national dataset. Selected contributions will be presented at the PATCHWORK Final Conference & Data Use Workshop (February 24-26, 2027), where external data users and project members will come together to explore new substantive and methodological directions.
Authors of selected proposals will receive early (pre‑public‑release) access to a curated PATCHWORK data package and funding for travel and accommodation to attend the event for the presenting or first author. We welcome a broad range of research topics, whether closely aligned with PATCHWORK’s core themes or connecting the data to questions in neighboring fields. Proposals may focus on substantive questions, methodological innovation, or novel combinations of network‑analytic, statistical, and simulation‑based approaches. Proposals may also combine PATCHWORK data with external data.
CONFERENCE FORMAT AND EXPECTATIONS
The conference will open with a keynote lecture by Prof. Dr. Mario Luis Small, Quetelet Professor of Social Science at Columbia University. The first two days will be dedicated to research presentations and in-depth discussions, showcasing innovative uses of the PATCHWORK dataset. The third day will focus on data issues and future research directions, providing space for dialogue and collaboration among data users and project members.
Selected contributions are expected to develop into substantive, well‑worked‑out analyses of the PATCHWORK data by the time of the conference. To support high‑quality exchange, presenters are asked to submit a draft paper two weeks before the conference, and each presentation will be assigned a discussant, whose role is to provide constructive feedback and help strengthen the analysis. Sessions will be structured to allow in‑depth discussion.
THE PATCHWORK DATA SET
The research project "A network science approach to social cohesion in European societies" (PATCHWORK, funded by an ERC Advanced Grant, PI Miranda Lubbers, 2021–2027) studies social cohesion from a network perspective in contemporary European societies facing rising inequality, diversity, and polarization. PATCHWORK integrates a theoretical framework for structural cohesion with an empirical strategy that estimates society‑wide acquaintanceship networks from representative face-to-face surveys (CAPI/CAVI) in four European societies: Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden (N = 1,500 per country). Interviews lasted approximately one hour and collected data on:
- ideational cohesion, including generalized social trust, institutional trust, feeling thermometers for religious and political groups, preferences of welfare distribution and migration policy, justifiability of norm violations, societal perceptions of income differences and migration rates, civic engagement, everyday discrimination, loneliness, social provisions scale.
- core and acquaintanceship networks, measured using a core network generator and aggregated relational data (ARD; over 40 prompts of the form "How many persons do you know who ...?") followed by detailed name interpreters (alters' gender, occupation, country of birth, religion, political orientation, relationship role, emotional closeness, geographical proximity, particularized (dis)trust, and alter-alter connections. The ARD data allow aggregate features of acquaintanceship networks to be estimated (size and composition), while the follow-up questions collect relational information on very weak to very strong ties.
- sociodemographic data, including region of residence, gender, age, country of birth, province, education, household income, civil status, occupational status and occupation, political orientation and party preference, religion, social media use, health and life satisfaction.
While the core data were collected in all four countries, some data variables were fielded in subsets. The dataset supports both statistical analysis and simulation‑based reconstructions of societal network structures, including the development of agent‑based models (ABM) to examine how the breadth and composition of everyday ties shape subjective manifestations of cohesion.
Please consult the English-language master questionnaire for specific questions. A broader survey report will be uploaded in May.
What makes the PATCHWORK data unique?
• Representative, one‑hour-long, face‑to‑face surveys (CAPI/CAVI, N = 6,000) in four European countries
• Joint measurement of core personal networks and acquaintanceship networks (estimates of size, composition, and structure, and relational information on max. 20 unique ties per person)
• Rich name‑interpreter data (including trust, closeness, roles, gender, occupation, country of birth, political orientation, religion) and alter-alter data for both core ties and a selection of acquaintances
• Detailed measures of ideational cohesion
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
We invite proposals that clearly articulate a research question and anticipated contribution, position the work within relevant theoretical debates, explain how PATCHWORK data will be used, and outline the analytical or methodological approach. You will also be asked to indicate the names and affiliations of all authors, as well as the contact information of the lead or corresponding author.
Please submit your proposal by June 15th, 2026, via this form.
Questions may be directed to mirandajessica.lubbers@uab.cat, paulkilian.schuler@uab.cat, or gonzalo.franetovic@uab.cat.
EVALUATION
Submissions will be evaluated based on their scientific contribution, fit with PATCHWORK data structure and scope, methodological rigor and clarity, feasibility within the project timeline and data constraints, and commitment to developing a substantive analysis suitable for in-depth discussion at the conference. Methodological innovation, including the adoption of agent-based models in combination with the data, is welcome. We welcome contributions from scholars at all career stages and are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive program.
Selected contributors will be granted early data access under a Data Use Agreement. The data package will include the variables needed to address the proposed research question, with precise content discussed with successful teams.
SUGGESTED TOPICS (ILLUSTRATIVE)
We welcome contributions addressing topics such as:
- Intersectionality in acquaintanceship networks: how do gender, migration background, religion, and socioeconomic position jointly structure exposure to difference?
- Social determinants of people’s core and acquaintanceship network sizes
- Geographical segregation of core and weak ties: what types of intergroup ties are geographically more segregated?
- How do different network sizes and compositions relate to social or institutional trust?
- How does particularized trust in personal networks relate to social trust?
- Under which relational conditions does personally knowing police officers improve trust in the police?
- Out-group social proximity: under what relational conditions does network exposure (e.g., to religious diversity) improve out-group sentiment (e.g., to religious groups)?
- How do broader acquaintanceship networks affect a person´s societal perceptions of income differences or migration rates?
- What ego and alter characteristics are related to closure of ego-alter-alter triangles in personal networks?
- Do people with politically more heterogeneous networks find political violence less or more justifiable?
- Are loneliness or social support associated with the structure and composition of core and acquaintanceship networks?
- How does income and occupation structure social capital across four countries?
- How is the size of acquaintanceship networks related to Facebook network size in Hungary?
- How is civic engagement associated with larger or more diverse acquaintanceship networks, or with more social trust?
- Methodological advances in the Network Scale‑Up Method (NSUM / ARD) using cross‑national data, including work on bias correction.
- Innovative network visualization or simulation of multilayered acquaintanceship networks
- Survey mode effects in research on social networks
- Agent-based models linking micro-level social ties to macro-level cohesion informed by realistic data
- Use of latent space models or new analysis methods for broader acquaintanceship networks
TIMELINE
- Deadline for proposals: June 15th, 2026 (23:59 AoE)
- Decision: June 30th, 2026
- Early data access: July 20th, 2026
- Online data and methods Q&A (optional): Around October 1st, 2026
- Conference abstract (updated for the program): December 15th, 2026
- Draft paper for discussants due: February 7th, 2027
- Conference: February 24-26, 2027
All participants granted early access will be required to sign a data use agreement specifying the conditions of use, confidentiality and non-reidentification requirements, secure storage, non-sharing outside the indicated authors’ team, and acknowledgment of PATCHWORK and ERC funding.
Travel and accommodation will be arranged for invited presenters, with details included in acceptance communications. Visa invitation letters will be provided as needed.
Organisation committee: Miranda Lubbers, Michał Bojanowski, Gonzalo Franetovic, Zhiyi Jin, Yunsub Lee, Paul Schuler, Núria Targarona Rifa (and more broadly, the members of the COALESCE Lab)
Contact: For questions, please contact mirandajessica.lubbers@uab.cat, paulkilian.schuler@uab.cat, or gonzalo.franetovic@uab.cat
The PATCHWORK project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101020038). The sole responsibility for the content of this call lies with the authors. This call does not necessarily represent the opinion of the European Union. The European Research Council is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
