From data to signed networks. We miss large-scale longitudinal data about signed relations. In human social systems, these data are commonly collected using surveys, an expensive and hardly scalable procedure. Nowadays, new methods are developed to infer signed relations from data that are easier to collect and process, such as communication and online interaction data. Inference of signed networks lets the researchers to propose, test and verify models of signed relations.

1. Prof. Frank Schweitzer (Chair of Systems Design, ETH Zürich)
   Inferring signed relations from unsigned interaction data

2. Dr. Corrado Monti (CENTAI)
   Learning opinion dynamics from social traces

3. Prof. Gholamreza Jafari (Department of Physics & Institute for Cognitive Science and Brian, Shahid Beheshti University)
   Statistical physics of Heider and coevolutionary balance

Evolution and models of signed relations. Dynamics following concepts of structural balance and other social theories plays a vital role in evolutionary processes because many very different final states can be reached. For instance, in terms of structural balance, the big question is whether complete balance (either the state with full consensus or two coexisting enemy groups) is attainable or if such a state is out of reach.

1. Prof. Maxi San Miguel, IFISC (UIB-CSIC)
   Topological transitions in the coupled dynamics of signed relations and node states

2. Shazia Ayn Babul (Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford)
   Generalizing SpringRank to signed graphs

According to structural balance theory, positive and negative relations evolve in such a way that local conflicts are minimized. However, the resolution of one local conflict may lead to the formation of another one. This leads to the following questions. Is structural balance good or bad for a system? Does it hamper the functionality or performance of a system? Or does it improve it? Current research obtained opposite findings and the link between structural balance and performance is still open.

1. Dr. Eckehard Olbrich (Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig)
   Inter-issue consistency networks and the reconfiguration of the German political space: Understanding the rise of populism

2. Dr. Paolo Bartesaghi (Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods, University of Milano - Bicocca)
   Local balance index reveals major historical events in global international relations