Human-Centred Security Meets Social Sciences: Mapping the Frictions
Workshop at SOUPS 2026, Sunday August 23 from 1 pm to 6 pm
Call for Submissions
Have you ever worked in a team consisting of human-centred security researchers and social scientists? Or maybe you talked to the “other” side at a conference, and wondered why it is so difficult to understand each other?
Although human-centred security frequently “borrows” research methods from social sciences, such as interviews, surveys or ethnographic observations, there is a tension between social sciences and human-centred security. This tension is based on different ways of thinking, also called epistemological differences in the language of social sciences. In this workshop, we want to dive deeper into frictions, contradictions and misunderstandings between these disciplines, map them out in collaborative work.
We solicit extended abstracts (max. 2 pages long) that describe points of friction between social sciences and human-centred security. These can be, but are not limited to:
- Experiences in working together (successful, half-successful and failed)
- Reflections on methods used in one’s own research
- What one would like to learn from the “other” side
- What one would like the “other” side to understand or to use
The submissions should not be anonymised.
In the workshop, we will work together in groups to map out these points of friction. The goal is not to make them disappear, but to make them explicit, tangible and negotiable and turn them into benefits for both sides.
Organizers
- Zinaida Benenson, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
- Dennis Eckhardt, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
- Alexandros Gazos, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
- Daniel Guagnin, nexus Institute for Cooperation Management and Interdisciplinary Research
- Laura Kocksch, Aalborg University Copenhagen
- Katharina Krombholz, CISPA Helmholtz Centre for Information Security
- Rafael Mrowczynski, CISPA Helmholtz Centre for Information Security
- Basil Wiesse, KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
For questions you can reach out to Dennis Eckhardt.
Timeline:
- Submission deadline: Thursday, May 28, 2026
- Author notifications: Thursday June 11, 2026
- Final extended abstracts due: Thursday, June 25, 2026
- Workshop: Sunday, August 23, 2026, from 1 pm to 6 pm