About NICO
NICO's mission is to incubate innovative collaborations that leverage complexity, networks, and data science to address societal challenges. The Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) was founded in 2004 with the goals of uncovering fundamental principles that govern complex systems in science, technology, and human behavior.
NICO is a collaboration between the McCormick School of Engineering and the Kellogg School of Management.
Announcements
The lastest news and events from the NICO.
Learn more
NICO Interdisciplinary Research Networking Luncheon Groups
Networking luncheons have been meeting since 2017 to facilitate networking among faculty, stimulate discussion of significant and emerging research areas, and advance interdisciplinary research.
Metropolitan Chicago Data-science Corps (MCDC)
MCDC is an NSF funded initiative that is administered by NICO. It is a collaboration of community organizations and data science students and experts from multiple Chicago-area universities and colleges.
Apply to Open Positions at NICO
NICO is seeking exceptional candidates for Post Doctoral Fellows and research assistance in computational social science, science of science, and complex systems.
News & Events
News
AI Agents are ‘Aeroplanes for the Mind’: Five Ways to Ensure that Scientists are Responsible Pilots
As artificial-intelligence systems take on more of the scientific workflow, the central goal should not be complete automation, but designing platforms that preserve creativity, responsibility and surprise, writes Dashun Wang in Nature.
The Recipe for Innovation? An Alliance Between Art and Science
Breaking down barriers between disciplines such as art and science is a key component to innovation, says Julio M Ottino. Business leaders play a role in this by fostering a culture of curiosity.
Can AI Help Humans with Empathy?
Large language models are surprisingly good at recognizing empathic communication, according to research from Matt Groh and Aakriti Kumar—and can teach people how to better connect with others.
AI Can Spark Creativity — If We Ask it How, Not What, to Think
Studies aiming to maximize human creativity demonstrate that people work best when buoyed up by others who show them new ways to innovate, writes Brian Uzzi in Nature.
Upcoming Events
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Steven Franconeri, Northwestern University "Poi...
March 11
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Connect with NICO
NICO Listserv
Subscribe to the NICO Listserv and receive information about the Wednesdays@NICO Speaker Series, Data Science Nights, and other NICO news and events.
NICO Reading Group
The NICO reading group meets regularly over lunch to discuss recent papers, fundamentals, and emerging trends in complexity research.