Welcome

We are pleased to host the eighth Annual Conference on Experimental Sociology (ACES), in Sciences Po Paris on August 26-28, 2026. 

ACES is now an established regular meeting for practitioners of the experimental method in the social sciences. Previous editions were Vienna 2018, Florence 2019, Ascona 2021, Utrecht 2022, Madrid 2023, Turin 2024, and Leipzig 2025.

The conference focuses on the use of experiments in sociology but is open to contributions from neighboring disciplines that employ experiments to investigate phenomena of overlapping interest (e.g. social norms, trust).

As much as the event cultivates inter-disciplinary exchange, it also welcomes work based on different types of experiments, including those conducted in the laboratory, in the field, through surveys, or their many possible combinations.

Although the discussion of completed or planned experiments is the core of the event, the conference encourages as well contributions on the methodology of experimentation.

Whereas ACES has so far taken place in European institutions, its scope is global.

We encourage submissions from junior scholars and researchers based in other regions, including low- and middle-income countries.

 If you would like to submit a proposal or register for the conference, please use the menu at the top of this page.
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Experimentation in the social sciences

The last few decades have witnessed the growth and consolidation of experimentation in many social sciences. Across these disciplines, there have always been individual exponents of the method. For example, the sociological experiments of Sorokin, as well as Gosnell’s experiments on voter turnout, date back as early as the 1920s. However, the institutionalization of the experimental method has followed different trajectories depending on the discipline. In social psychology, the experiment became the central method of inquiry in the post-war period. The 1980s saw the consolidation of experimentation in economics. In political science, an ascending trajectory is observable from the 2000s, which has become equally marked in sociology in the last decade. ACES is an expression and actor of this movement.