Rate My Professor Nigel Gilbert

Nigel Gilbert is Professor of Sociology and holds the Distinguished Chair in Computational Social Science at the University of Surrey. He serves as Director of the Centre for Research in Social Simulation, Director of the Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity Across the Nexus (CECAN), and Director of the University of Surrey Institute of Advanced Studies. He also edits Social Research Update. Gilbert obtained a first degree in engineering and a doctorate on the sociology of scientific knowledge from the University of Cambridge, supervised by Michael Mulkay. He holds the degrees of PhD and ScD, and is designated FREng, FAcSS, and FRSA. His career at the University of Surrey includes previous roles such as part-time Pro Vice-Chancellor. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation and helped establish Sociological Research Online.

Gilbert's research focuses on processual theories of social phenomena, computational sociology, agent-based modelling, methodology of computer simulation, development and evaluation of public policies, sociology of science and science policy, innovation, sociology of the environment, energy policy, and the use of models in policy processes. He has authored or co-authored key publications including Agent-Based Models (2008, Sage Publications), Simulation for the Social Scientist (second edition, 2005, with Klaus G. Troitzsch, Open University Press), Researching Social Life (fourth edition, 2016, edited with Paul Stoneman, Sage Publications), Opening Pandora's Box (2003, Cambridge University Press), Artificial Societies (1995, with Rosaria Conte, UCL Press), Understanding Social Statistics (2000, with Jane Fielding, Sage Publications), and From Postgraduate to Social Scientist (2006, Sage Study Skills Series). Recent works include Guidance on the use of complex systems models for economic evaluations of public health interventions (2023), Mitigating the impact of air pollution on dementia and brain health (2022), and Agent-Based Modelling for Evaluation (2016). He has made pioneering contributions to computational social science, advancing simulation techniques for studying complex social dynamics and informing policy appraisal.