
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.


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
The Insightful Leader Live: The Smart AI Adoption Playbook for Organizations
Business leaders struggle with how to drive AI adoption. In this Kellogg Insight webinar, NICO Professors Matthew Groh, Julio M. Ottino, and Brian Uzzi provide strategic solutions to help identify where AI is most needed, and how it can be most impactful.
Do Scientific Prizes Reward Innovation or Reputation?
Science prizes like the Nobel Prize are not just for show; they reward novelty and innovation, according to research by Brian Uzzi and NICO lab members.
Creativity Across Domains
In PNAS Nexus, Julio Ottino describes different types of creativity in the sciences and arts, explores possible limits to AI’s creativity, and differentiates a breakthrough from a “break-with.”
AI identifies key gene sets that cause complex disease
A Northwestern research team, led by Adilson Motter, have developed a new computational tool for identifying the gene combinations underlying complex illnesses like diabetes, cancer and asthma.
Upcoming Events
Data Science Nights - December 2025 - Speaker: Yash Chainani, Che...
December 18
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Winter Recess Starts - University Closed Through January 1st, 202...
December 24
All Day
Winter classes begin
January 5
All Day
WED@NICO Winter Seminar Series returns on January 28th!
January 28
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.






