Plain Talk About Complexity at May 19-20 Conference

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Experts in the science of complexity will discuss important issues facing researchers in the young interdisciplinary field May 19 and 20 at Northwestern University's annual Complexity Conference.

The free conference, held by the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO), will be from 9 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. Monday, May 19, and from 9:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, in the James L. Allen Center, 2169 Campus Drive, on the Evanston campus.

Designed to stimulate discussion and collaboration across traditional boundaries, the event is open to the Northwestern research community as well as to researchers outside the University. Seating is limited, and registration is required.

Speakers from a variety of disciplines, including informatics, sociology, political science, business and physics, will use plain English to deliver an overview of a complexity problem. The broad topics to be covered in the three main sessions are network evolution, outbreaks and webs of collaboration.

Nine Northwestern doctoral students also will present their complex systems-related research at the conference; three will deliver an oral presentation of their work, and six will display posters.

Established in 2004, the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems stimulates path-breaking research of complex systems across traditional boundaries with membership representing the fields of engineering, business, natural sciences, education, medicine, law and the social sciences.

For more information on the Complexity Conference, including a schedule, and to register, go to http://www.northwestern.edu/nico/complexity-conference.