The grand challenges of our time are primarily of a societal nature. Physics methods and approaches play an increasingly central role in improving our understanding of these challenges and in helping to find innovative solutions. Scientific Reports, a journal from the Nature Research family, is proud to welcome original primary research articles for our upcoming “Social physics” Collection.

This Collection is dedicated to interdisciplinary research with physics at the helm, which aims to pave the way towards better organizations and policies, and ultimately towards a more sustainable future. Submissions are welcome in areas such as collective social phenomena, network communities, digital epidemiology, smart cities, cooperation, information cascades, language dynamics, opinion formation, tipping points, econophysics, and criminology – all through the unique lens of physics.

Submissions for this Collection are welcome on a rolling basis. More information about this Collection and how to submit a manuscript can be found here.

The Collection is Guest Edited by Professor Matjaž Perc, University of Maribor, Slovenia. He is the 2015 recipient of the Young Scientist Award for Socio- and Econophysics for important contributions to the physics of social systems, including the promotion of human cooperation, the provisioning of public goods, and the maintenance of biodiversity. He is a member of Academia Europaea and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, and he is currently among top 1% most cited cross-field researchers according to Web of Science. He has been Editorial Board Member at Scientific Reports since 2011.