A Message from SFI Vice President for Science

The aspens are starting to pop at higher elevations, providing a nice seasonal view from my office. I’d say that things are quieting down at SFI as the nighttime temperatures go lower and fall begins but I’d be lying. As mentioned in the last Matrix, this final week of September we are hosting our largest postdoc conspiracy/dazzle ever (*bonus points if you know the animal groups those refer to, answers at end), the “Postdocs in Complexity Global Summit” with 56 participants. Building on prior postdoc conferences that brought together SFI, JSMF and other complexity fellows, this expanded iteration mixes in other early career complex systems science researchers from around the globe. It includes participants identified through our Emergent Political Economies program from Global South universities and institutions, as well as practitioners from private and public sectors. The conference is funded by the James S. McDonnell Foundation and the Emergent Political Economies program (an Omidyar Network grant) as well as gifts from The McKinnon Family Foundation and the Darla Moore Foundation.
Over the final three months of 2024, we continue the trend of smaller meetings, with one small workshop, three working groups, and a slew (n=6) of micro working groups (7 or fewer participants). You can find the details in this newsletter and on SFI’s website, but here are the diverse titles/topics in temporal order: The Challenge of “Workspan” with Longer Lifespan; Trajectories of Aging; The Theory of Genetics: Articulating and Formalizing Theories of Biological Information; Trade-Offs in Auxotrophy Dependencies in Complex Microbial Communities; (Re)designing AI for Diverse Disciplines; VirCheat: Modelling the Evolutionary Dynamics of Cheating in Viral Infections; Predicting Virus Evolution and Emergence; Movement & Time in Art; Understanding the Emergence of Tipping Points in Dryland Ecosystems; and The Senescence of Social Systems
If you notice a trend of several meetings related to aging and time, it is because our Adaptation, Aging, and the Arrow of Time in Complex Systems - AAA grant from the James S McDonnell Foundation is winding down, so final activities and spending are happening. As is generally the case, just because a multi-year institutional level grant finishes up doesn’t mean the research on that theme disappears. Instead it is now woven into the fabric of SFI and continues onward in an organic way.
I’m soon running off to France, as during the second two weeks of October I’m co-directing with Chris Kempes and Sonia Kefi the final of three “Complexity-GAINs International Schools” in Sète, France, funded by NSF IRES Grant 2106013. The topic is “Ecological Persistence and Resilience: From Emergence of Life to the Anthroposphere.” 28 Ph.D. students from multiple countries will join the directors, seven additional faculty (mostly SFI external professors, thanks!), two guest speakers, two postdoc teaching fellows, and two members of the Education team for an intensive dive into a broad range of topics and approaches related to ecological complexity.
Finally, on November 8-9, SFI hosts its annual fall ACtioN Symposium on “Complexity in the Wild.” The talks and discussion will focus on the nature of the complex world in relation to the interactions among demographic, thermodynamic, informatic, and geopolitical processes and how complexity science can lead to a better understanding of the logic, dynamics, and outcomes of these interactions.
Have a great fall and I look forward to seeing some of you here at SFI and in southern France!
Cheers, Jennifer
*lemurs, zebras