A group of astronomers recently set up a working group called Socio-Dynamics of Astronomy which is basically the quantitative study of contemporary sociological aspects of the well-structured and compact astronomy community.

These include (but not exclusively) characteristics of organizations, geographical distribution of facilities, recruitment and promotional policies, publishing and communicating procedures, strategies and evaluation policies (individuals, institutions, projects, ...), interactions with other communities (such as physics, space, ...) and the society at large, and so on.

Profile of activities: compilation of recent studies/publications in the field; exchange of expertise and coordination of efforts; electronic newsletter and web site; organization of a colloquium and/or special sessions at meetings; publication of an edited book (expected end 2000); and so on.

The group is interested in setting up collaborations with sociologists involved in quantified investigations of scientific communities and organizations.

Interested parties should contact
Andre HECK, heck@astro.u-strasbg.fr
Observatoire Astronomique
11, rue de l'Universite
F-67000 Strasbourg
France
http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/~heck