Events
Past Event
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Yian Yin, Cornell University "Understanding the punctuated dynamics of scientific and technological frontiers"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
Yian Yin, Assistant Professor of Information Science, Cornell University
Title:
Understanding the punctuated dynamics of scientific and technological frontiers
Abstract:
The basic laws governing scientific and technological frontiers are critically important for economic growth and for our society more generally. Our quantitative understanding of these laws, however, remains limited. In order to shed light on the general empirical patterns in the evolution of these frontiers over time, we collect novel data that track the dynamics of more than 6.1M solutions to 5.8K tasks across diverse areas in science and technology–including data science, artificial intelligence, theoretical computer science , biomedical sciences, and physical wheel building. We find that, in contrast to the predictions of canonical models of chance and learning, the evolution of the knowledge frontier is characterized by a correlated bursty dynamic punctuated by intervals of long stasis. This pattern presents an intriguing co-existence of rapid progression and prolonged stagnation. Building on the rich literature in record statistics, economics of innovation, and cumulative cultural evolution, we develop a one-parameter mathematical framework that highlights a combination of incremental and radical innovations. Despite its simplicity, the model naturally explains all key empirical patterns across a wide range of conditions. This model of incremental and radical innovations also makes new predictions for individual and environmental factors that go beyond the current measurements, each of which is supported by our empirical data. Together, these results offer a new quantitative framework to understand and predict future advances in science and technology. They not only hold important lessons for innovators and innovation policymakers, but also have significant implications for other deep, complex social systems.
Speaker Bio:
Yian Yin is an assistant professor of information science at Cornell University. His research applies and develops novel computational tools to understand how individual, social, and environmental processes independently and jointly promote (or inhibit) scientific progress and innovation achievements. As a computational social scientist, he has also used science and innovation as a powerful lens to examine broader processes and outcomes in a wide range of complex social processes, from artistic and cultural productions to public policy, from media attention to market competition to human conflict. Yian received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Management Science at Northwestern University, with research affiliations at Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems and Kellogg Center for Science of Science and Innovation.
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/91574900792
Passcode: NICO2023
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems and data science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, October 18, 2023 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
CANCELLED - WED@NICO SEMINAR: Eleni Katifori, University of Pennsylvania (Postponed)
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Due to an unexpected conflict this talk is regrettably postponed. Please join us for our next talk on 5/22.
Speaker:
Eleni Katifori, Associate Professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania
Speaker Bio:
Eleni Katifori is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania. Prof Katifori’s research group are interested in understanding the physics behind the morphological and functional attributes of living organisms. They primarily focus on questions inspired by and related to biological transport networks and the elasticity and geometry of thin sheets. Professor Katifori received her Ph.D from Harvard University in 2008 and a B.S. from the University of Athens, Greece in 2002.
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Serguei Saavedra, MIT "How Do Ecological Systems Become (re)Assembled?"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
Serguei Saavedra, Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT
Title:
How Do Ecological Systems Become (re)Assembled?
Abstract:
One of the most iconic thought experiments in biology is what would happen if we could rewind the tape of life on Earth and play it again. Would the tape have a different story in every replay? Or is there a general order of events? The relevance of this thought experiment is not just philosophical or counterfactual, because (re)assembly processes undergone by ecological systems, from microbes to mega-fauna, are continuously replicating the experiment. By integrating theoretical and empirical work, in this talk I will provide a guideline to increase our understanding about the (re)assembly possibilities of ecological systems. Explaining and predicting the (re)assembly of ecological systems underpins our ability to develop successful interventions in bio-restoration, bio-technologies, and bio-medicine.
Speaker Bio:
Serguei Saavedra is an Associate Professor at MIT in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is also an external faculty at Santa Fe Institute. Serguei is a theoretical ecologist focused on understanding the feasibility of observing the emergence, transformations, and regeneration of ecological systems under environmental changes. Before joining MIT in 2016, Serguei studied systems engineering in Mexico; specialized in mathematical modeling at Genoa University; completed his PhD in engineering science at Oxford University; and did his postdoctoral work at the NICO (under the mentorship of Brian Uzzi), Doñana Biological Station, and in the department of environmental systems at ETH.
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/91082510906
Passcode: NICO2024
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, May 22, 2024 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Joseph Paulsen, Syracuse University "TBA"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
Joseph Paulsen, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, Syracuse University
Title:
TBA
Abstract:
TBA
Speaker Bio:
Joseph Paulsen earned a bachelor's degrees in Mathematics and Physics from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, and he completed his PhD in Physics at the University of Chicago with Sidney Nagel. He won a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for his work that studies connections between geometry and mechanics in thin materials. Outside of science, one of his passions is trying to squirrel away as much time as possible to ski with his 7-year-old daughter (his son and his wife are not skiers... yet).
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/94291553667
Passcode: NICO2024
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, May 29, 2024 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)