Explore the world of complexity science with NECSI’s Winter Session 2025. This specially designed course offers an in-depth understanding of complex systems, combining theoretical foundations with real-world applications. Whether you aim to deepen your expertise or begin a new intellectual journey, this program provides a comprehensive and academically rigorous exploration of the field.

Course Dates: 10-21 February 2025

Details at: necsi.edu

Do you have a great research idea but need the right people to bring it to life? Help us make Complexity72h an unforgettable experience again by applying to be a tutor in Madrid next June. The call for tutors is now open!

We’re looking for project proposals from experienced researchers to be developed over 72 hours by a team of 6-8 workshop participants.

Deadline for Call for Tutors: January 7th, 2025 

More at: complexity72h.com

When Europeans colonised large parts of the globe, the institutions in those societies changed. This was sometimes dramatic, but did not occur in the same way everywhere. In some places the aim was to exploit the indigenous population and extract resources for the colonisers’ benefit. In others, the colonisers formed inclusive political and economic systems for the long-term benefit of European migrants.

The laureates have shown that one explanation for differences in countries’ prosperity is the societal institutions that were introduced during colonisation. Inclusive institutions were often introduced in countries that were poor when they were colonised, over time resulting in a generally prosperous population. This is an important reason for why former colonies that were once rich are now poor, and vice versa.

Some countries become trapped in a situation with extractive institutions and low economic growth. The introduction of inclusive institutions would create long-term benefits for everyone, but extractive institutions provide short-term gains for the people in power. As long as the political system guarantees they will remain in control, no one will trust their promises of future economic reforms. According to the laureates, this is why no improvement occurs.

However, this inability to make credible promises of positive change can also explain why democratisation sometimes occurs. When there is a threat of revolution, the people in power face a dilemma. They would prefer to remain in power and try to placate the masses by promising economic reforms, but the population are unlikely to believe that they will not return to the old system as soon as the situation settles down. In the end, the only option may be to transfer power and establish democracy.

“Reducing the vast differences in income between countries is one of our time’s greatest challenges. The laureates have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for achieving this,” says Jakob Svensson, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences.

Read the full article at: www.nobelprize.org

When we talk about artificial intelligence, we often mean machine learning using artificial neural networks. This technology was originally inspired by the structure of the brain. In an artificial neural network, the brain’s neurons are represented by nodes that have different values. These nodes influence each other through con­nections that can be likened to synapses and which can be made stronger or weaker. The network is trained, for example by developing stronger connections between nodes with simultaneously high values. This year’s laureates have conducted important work with artificial neural networks from the 1980s onward.

John Hopfield invented a network that uses a method for saving and recreating patterns. We can imagine the nodes as pixels. The Hopfield network utilises physics that describes a material’s characteristics due to its atomic spin – a property that makes each atom a tiny magnet. The network as a whole is described in a manner equivalent to the energy in the spin system found in physics, and is trained by finding values for the connections between the nodes so that the saved images have low energy. When the Hopfield network is fed a distorted or incomplete image, it methodically works through the nodes and updates their values so the network’s energy falls. The network thus works stepwise to find the saved image that is most like the imperfect one it was fed with.

Geoffrey Hinton used the Hopfield network as the foundation for a new network that uses a different method: the Boltzmann machine. This can learn to recognise characteristic elements in a given type of data. Hinton used tools from statistical physics, the science of systems built from many similar components. The machine is trained by feeding it examples that are very likely to arise when the machine is run. The Boltzmann machine can be used to classify images or create new examples of the type of pattern on which it was trained. Hinton has built upon this work, helping initiate the current explosive development of machine learning.

Read the full article at: www.nobelprize.org

The Complex Systems Society (CSS) organizes every year a main conference (CCS) — the most important annual meeting for the complex systems research community.
The Complex Systems Society invites bids to host the 2026 and 2027 editions.
The conference is generally held in September/October of each year.

More at: cssociety.org

We are looking to recruit two postdoctoral scholars for a position in an interdisciplinary NSF-funded research project. The goal is to discover how collectives can be made more creative, intelligent and when they can select the rules governing their interactions. The focus of the position is on designing and running large-scale online behavioral experiments.

We are seeking candidates with strong quantitative and computational training in behavioral, cognitive, or social science. Computer/information scientists with interest in human behavior are also welcome to apply. Scholars will work closely with each other and the project’s lead investigators: computational social scientist Seth Frey @ UC Davis, cognitive scientist Nori Jacoby @ Cornell University, behavioral scientist Ofer Tchernichovski @ Hunter College CUNY, and sociologist Dalton Conley @ Princeton University. The positions will be based in UC Davis and Cornell University

More at: recruit.ucdavis.edu

A two-year postdoctoral position starting in October 2024 is available to work within the MapCDPerNets project (https://www.mapcdpernets.es). The project explores the existence of a sociocultural continuum able to predict the consistency of observed cultural dimensions and patterns of interaction, and develop a set of network measures oriented to capture this “cultural signature”. The project is funded through a generous grant of the Fundamentos Programme of Fundación BBVA and involves researchers from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona and University of Florida.
The postdoctoral research will join the GISC and RySC groups at UC3M. This is a unique opportunity to work at the interface of complex systems with internet measurements and web transparency and privacy. Thus, GISC, led by Anxo Sánchez (project coordinator) focuses on topics such as personal networks: evolution, structure, prediction; social norms and their relationship with behavior, as well as their measurement in experiments; behavioral experiments, and evolutionary game theory, whereas the RySC team participating in the project led by Rubén and Ángel Cuevas has a long background of developing advanced methodologies to collect large scale datasets from major technological players including Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. The postdoctoral researcher will be based at the Leganés campus of UC3M, some 20 km away from Madrid downtown and easily reachable by train.

More at: mapcdpernets.es

At the Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad (C3), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

Deadline: June 28th

More at: www.c3.unam.mx

The Complex Systems Society announces the ninth edition of the CSS Scientific Awards. 

The Emerging Researcher Award recognizes promising researchers in Complex Systems within 3 years of the PhD defense.

The Junior Scientific Award is aimed at recognizing excellent scientific record of young researchers within 10 years of the PhD defense.

The Senior Scientific Award will recognize outstanding contributions of Complex Systems scholars at whatever stage of their careers.

Deadline: April 30th, 2024.

More at: cssociety.org

The Complex Systems Society (CSS) organizes every year a main conference (CCS) - the most important annual meeting for the complex systems research community.

The Complex Systems Society invites bids to host the edition for 2025.

The conference is generally held in September/October of each year.

Interested potential organizers should send a short document (6 pages max.) detailing the proposal to the Society account css@cssociety.org (please add jfmendes@ua.pt and jramasco@ifisc.uib-csic.es in cc).

The last edition was in Salvador, Brasil (CCS2023). The next one will be in Exeter/London, UK (CCS2024).

The CCS series in recent years alternates between Europe, Asia and the Americas. In the edition 2025, preference will be given to bids from outside Europe in this edition even though bids from other locations will be also considered.

The deadline for proposals submission is April 30, 2024. 

More at: cssociety.org

The Human Brain & Behavior Laboratory (HBBL) located in FAU’s Center for Complex Systems in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science (Valery Forbes, Dean) seeks an excellent candidate to join our team to investigate the roots of biological agency (see recent article in PNAS). HBBL explores how sentient agency emerges through self-organizing, coordinative processes that span organisms and environments. The postdoctoral fellow will assist in developing next-generation interactive systems for empirical study, conducting experiments with human infants (involving 3D motion capture, EEG, eye tracking) and analyzing data. The post-holder will have freedom and capacity to develop their own scientific ideas through experimental design and preparing manuscripts and grant applications. This position offers opportunity to participate in HBBL’s active collaborations with world-leading teams in Artificial Intelligence analysis (Intelligent Systems Research Centre, Ulster University, The Institute for the Augmented Human, University of Bath), in mathematical modeling using Active Inference (Welcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Univ. College London) and Coordination Dynamics frameworks (Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Aix Marseille University). Qualified candidates will possess advanced technical skills in relevant areas such as coding (Matlab, Python, etc.), machine learning, signal processing, mathematical modeling, EEG analysis, motion capture, and electrical engineering/robotics, as well as creativity, curiosity, and a collaborative spirit. HBBL is directed by Glenwood and Martha Creech Eminent Scholar in Science J.A. Scott Kelso. Prof. Kelso founded FAU's Center for Complex Systems in 1985 with the goal of bringing scientists from different disciplines together in one place to understand the multiscale structure, function, and dynamics of complex biological systems, including human beings and their activities.
Please forward Letter of Interest to Dr Aliza Sloan (asloan2014@fau.edu) indicating qualifications, CV and names and contact information of 2 Referees as soon as possible. The expected salary will follow the current NIH postdoc salary scale plus benefits. The position will be for 2 years, assuming satisfactory progress in year one, and may be extended further depending on funding. Position start date is May to August 2024.

The newly launched Center for Network Dynamics at Northwestern University is actively seeking postdoctoral researchers interested in complex systems and networks. We welcome applications from individuals with expertise in various aspects of network theory, including temporal, multilayer, and higher-order interactions. Additionally, we are seeking applicants with interest in network modeling of biological, physical, and engineering systems. The projects are theoretical and computational but benefit from empirical data and close collaborations with experimental colleagues. If you are passionate about advancing the understanding of networks and their applications in diverse fields, we encourage you to apply to our dynamic research team. For information on how to apply, please visit cnd.northwestern.edu

Guest Editors: Thiago B. Murari, Marcelo A. Moret, Hernane B. de B. Pereira, Tarcísio M. Rocha Filho, José F. F. Mendes and Tiziana Di Matteo

Submissions are invited for a Topical Issue of EPJ B on Advances in Complex Systems.

In general, a complex system is a system composed of many components that may interact with each other in nonlinear ways. Examples of complex systems include fractals, chaos, nonlinear dynamics, self-organized criticality, and complex networks. This issue aims to promote research in complex systems, both in pure and applied contexts.

The goal of this topical issue is to summarize the most recent research, covering aspects such as:

Foundations of Complex Systems, Basic Sciences, and Quantum Complexity
Complex Networks
Data Science, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence in the context of Complex Systems
Computation and Information Processing in Complex Systems
Economics and Finance
Social Systems
Ecological Systems
Cognition, Psychology, and Neurosciences
Complexity in Biology and Health Sciences
City Science, Mobility, and Transport
Energy, Environment, Sustainability, Climate, and Global Change

Read the full call at: epjb.epj.org

The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) is recruiting highly qualified Post-Docs or Research Scientists to join the Department of Digital and Computational Demography, headed by MPIDR Director Emilio Zagheni. The positions will be filled in the Lab of Migration and Mobility and/or in the Lab of Population Dynamics and Sustainable Well-Being. 

Digital and computational demography is a growing interdisciplinary field that tackles fundamental questions across all domains of demographic research by combining the methods and perspectives of computational sciences, social and behavioral sciences, and statistics. The field has emerged in parallel with rapid technological improvements in computing, the spread of Internet and mobile technologies, and the increased digitalization of people’s lives. Our group brings together methodologists (from areas like statistics, computer science or formal demography) with experts in various areas of the social sciences in order to foster cross-pollination of ideas, to advance methods and theories of population research, and to address pressing scientific and societal questions.

Candidates who can enrich or complement projects in any Research Area of the Lab of Migration and Mobility or of the Lab of Population Dynamics and Sustainable Well-Being will be considered. Across all profiles, ability and willingness to work in interdisciplinary teams in order to conduct cutting-edge research that advances our understanding of population processes is key.

More at: www.demogr.mpg.de

The diversity of life testifies to proteins’ amazing capacity as chemical tools. They control and drive all the chemi­cal reactions that together are the basis of life. Proteins also function as hormones, signal substances, antibodies and the building blocks of different tissues.

“One of the discoveries being recognised this year concerns the construction of spectacular proteins. The other is about fulfilling a 50-year-old dream: predicting protein structures from their amino acid sequences. Both of these discoveries open up vast possibilities,” says Heiner Linke, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

Proteins generally consist of 20 different amino acids, which can be described as life’s building blocks. In 2003, David Baker succeeded in using these blocks to design a new protein that was unlike any other protein. Since then, his research group has produced one imaginative protein creation after another, including proteins that can be used as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors.

The second discovery concerns the prediction of protein structures. In proteins, amino acids are linked together in long strings that fold up to make a three-dimensional structure, which is decisive for the protein’s function. Since the 1970s, researchers had tried to predict protein structures from amino acid sequences, but this was notoriously difficult. However, four years ago, there was a stunning breakthrough.

In 2020, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper presented an AI model called AlphaFold2. With its help, they have been able to predict the structure of virtually all the 200 million proteins that researchers have identified. Since their breakthrough, AlphaFold2 has been used by more than two million people from 190 countries. Among a myriad of scientific applications, researchers can now better understand antibiotic resistance and create images of enzymes that can decompose plastic.

Life could not exist without proteins. That we can now predict protein structures and design our own proteins confers the greatest benefit to humankind.

Read the full article at: www.nobelprize.org

The information stored within our chromosomes can be likened to an instruction manual for all cells in our body. Every cell contains the same chromosomes, so every cell contains exactly the same set of genes and exactly the same set of instructions. Yet, different cell types, such as muscle and nerve cells, have very distinct characteristics. How do these differences arise? The answer lies in gene regulation, which allows each cell to select only the relevant instructions. This ensures that only the correct set of genes is active in each cell type.

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were interested in how different cell types develop. They discovered microRNA, a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation. Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans. It is now known that the human genome codes for over one thousand microRNAs. Their surprising discovery revealed an entirely new dimension to gene regulation. MicroRNAs are proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function.

Read the full article at: www.nobelprize.org

The Young Scientist Award for Socio- and Econophysics of the German Physical Society (DPG) recognizes outstanding original contributions that use physical methods to develop a better understanding of socio-economic problems. The annually awarded prize is endowed with EUR 7,500 and is intended for young scientists (f/m) below the age of 40 at the time of submission deadline (15. October). The division of socio-economic physics (SOE) is a division of the German Physical Society (DPG) devoted to the "Physics of Socio-Economic Systems". Its aims are to foster research on these topics and to coordinate our activities and those of similar societies across Europe, and to interest young physicists in economic, urban, and social problems. The prize is awarded during the meeting of the Section of condensed matter (SKM) of the DPG.

The price is sponsored by Capital Fund Management (CFM).

More at: www.dpg-physik.de

SFI Press launched Foundational Papers in Complexity Science this May. The four-volume collection, edited by SFI President David Krakauer, contains 88 typeset articles, each with introductions and commentaries from leading scientists.

Volumes 1 and 2, featuring papers spanning the years 1922 to 1973, are out now. The third and fourth volumes include work from the final decades of the 20th century and will be published later this summer.

The Santa Fe Institute is sponsoring a book set for each of the upcoming Emerging Award Winners, to be announced during the next Conference on Complex Systems in Exeter, UK in September.

More at: cssociety.org

This June, discover the science that teaches us about collected patterns of behavior, helps us understand the fluctuations of global finance, and can help us meet societal, organization and global challenges. 

This course provides an introduction to essential concepts of complex systems and related mathematical methods and simulation strategies with application to physical, biological and social systems.

Concepts to be covered include: emergence, complexity, networks, self-organization, pattern formation, evolution, adaptation, fractals, chaos, cooperation, competition, attractors, interdependence, scaling, dynamic response, information and function.

Methods to be covered include: statistical methods, cellular automata, agent-based modeling, pattern recognition, system representation and informatics.

More  at: necsi.edu

More at: cssociety.org

Complexity72h is an interdisciplinary workshop designed for young researchers in complex systems, where participants collaborate in a project for 72 hours. Next edition will be held in Madrid from June 24th to 28th. These projects are led by experienced researchers who propose and guide them throughout the week. *The Call for Tutors is currently open until January 8th*.

Individuals interested in tutoring during the workshop should apply by submitting an abstract of the proposed project. While the project doesn't need to be fully developed at this stage, applicants should provide a clear idea of their focus, list the required data, and be prepared to supply it to participants. These projects will be undertaken by a group of approximately 6-8 workshop participants.

Tutors will receive accommodation and meals for the entire five days, and travel expenses may be partially or fully covered based on the budget. All relevant information can be found at https://complexity72h.com/call-for-tutors/.

If you are interested in becoming a tutor and leading a project, please don't hesitate to apply and spread the word among your fellow researchers and mentors!

More at: complexity72h.com