The Santa Fe Institute, together with five European complexity science institutions, will offer Ph.D. students a two-week, residential advanced training opportunity focused on the disintegration of society. The Complexity–GAINs International Summer School will focus on topics that are critical to our world today, including democracy, justice, inequality, sustainability, and more.
Ph.D. students from any of the natural and social sciences, mathematics, and computation are welcome to apply. Students need not be working in the social sciences to benefit from the program; students wishing to explore new research directions or applications of quantitative skills from other disciplines will find the curriculum valuable. There is no tuition, and the program aims to be no- or low-cost to all applicants who are accepted. Applications are due by January 18, 2022, and the program will be held July 4-15, 2022.
SFI’s Mirta Galesic, Henrik Olsson, and Stefan Thurner (Complexity Science Hub Vienna) are directing the program, which emphasizes transdisciplinary, international collaboration, and will be joined by an expert faculty assembled from across partner institutions in Germany, Austria, Italy, and the Netherlands (GAINs). The instructors bring diverse approaches to understanding social cohesion and innovation, as well as polarization and fragmentation, from historic, present, and future perspectives.
The Complexity–GAINs program offers participants a series of workshops, seminars, discussions, and guided group research projects by which to develop skills and experience in complex systems modeling and the integration of theory and empirical studies. It is funded by the National Science Foundation and contributions from the GAINs institutions. The program takes place in connection with the Complexity Science Hub Vienna, a central node in the EU complex systems network.
“We are excited to be offering this program,” says Galesic. “Understanding social cohesion and its collapse as a complex system will be essential for early-career researchers who want to work towards collaborative solutions to the problems facing our society and our planet.”