The Mitchell Centre for Social Network Analysis at the University of Manchester is excited to introduce a new semester-long online course called the Mitchell Autumn School on Social Network Analysis, taught by the centre’s 8 academic members. Unlike short workshops, this semester-long format provides the depth and pace of a traditional academic seminar. This extended timeline allows participants to thoroughly digest complex concepts, complete weekly practical exercises, and gradually build confidence in SNA methods. Participants will be given a certificate of completion at the end of the course.
Course Content
This is a core introductory course in network analysis for social scientists. The course covers the main network-analytic concepts, theories, and methods, alongside hands-on techniques for data collection, visualisation, and processing using the UCINET software. No prior experience is required.
Course Structure
The course will last for 10 weeks, starting in the first week of October. The optional 11th week will consist of consultations on participants’ network-related projects with the Mitchell Centre’s academic experts. Participants may receive feedback on research design, data collection, or data analysis for their own network-related projects.
The weekly seminars will follow a flipped classroom format. Each week, participants will receive pre-recorded lectures, readings, and practical exercises to complete in their own time. They will then meet online with the instructors for a one-hour seminar to discuss the material, ask questions, and take part in interactive activities. We will aim to schedule the seminar at a time that accommodates participants across multiple time zones.
Instructors
The course will be taught by experts from the Mitchell Centre (Filip Agneessens, Nikita Basov, Elisa Bellotti, Nick Crossley, Tomáš Diviák, Martin Everett, Michael Genkin, and Philip Leifeld). The course will draw on two textbooks authored by members of the teaching team:
• Analysing Social Networks by Stephen Borgatti, Martin Everett, Jeffrey Johnson, and Filip Agneessens
• Social Network Analysis for Ego-Nets by Nick Crossley, Elisa Bellotti, Gemma Edwards, Martin Everett, Johan Koskinen, and Mark Tranmer
Fees
• General Rate: £470 (until 15 September); £570 thereafter.
• Student and Reduced Rate (see below): £350 (until 15 September); £450 thereafter.
To make the course accessible to a wide audience, we have adopted a dual fee structure based on the World Bank's classification of economies (A, B, and C), which is also used by the International Sociological Association (ISA).
All attendees from A economies who are employed in academic or commercial organisations are expected to pay the general rate. Students (including PGRs/PhD students), those who are unemployed or employed in charities or third sector organisations, and all those attending from B/C economies, are eligible for the reduced rate.
For more information about this classification, see here isa-sociology.org, and contact us if you have any questions.
Registration
Places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Please register your interest using the Mitchell Centre 2026 Autumn School Registration Form https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=B8tSwU5hu0qBivA1z6kad69sWyoT-01CqdNIjimpqPBUQzFZQjM1UVNUV1BKUUdVRjc4Qlg5MzZPVy4u__;!!PDiH4ENfjr2_Jw!Gk2lL5awz8d4mUPzyO4YKYb89YD7TvRs5tI7HL9Kfh-YJqgHCnyD35S-D3cvEfnvpUlaDFjXsiu5mLPPfTE4T-cNaeE$
We will contact applicants in August with payment instructions.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
