Web Science is the emergent study of the people and technologies, applications, processes and practices that shape and are shaped by the World Wide Web. Web Science aims to draw together theories, methods and findings from across academic disciplines, and to collaborate with industry, business, government and civil society, to develop our knowledge and understanding of the Web: the largest socio-technical infrastructure in human history.

Web Science requires mining and understanding data from the Web, requiring both technical skills for handling big (Web) data as well as fundamental understanding of the social, psychological or legal aspects underpinning online activities.

The WWSSS’18 will address the inter-disciplinary field of Web Science by focusing on lectures which tackle the aforementioned challenges in topics such as data science and data mining, big data processing, information retrieval, Web governance as well as the sociology and psychology of online interactions.

As well as lectures tackling major trends in Web Science, the Summer School provides hands-on training in data processing, analysis and methods, team work, and opportunities to present current research. Participants work on specific tasks linked to the datasets provided, and will be mentored by local instructors. All teams will present the results of their work on the last day of the school.