Assyst Css Newsletter 026 Jan 2012

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    Happy New Year from The ASSYST team

    Happy New Year !

    his is the wish of the ASSYST team. And to start

    in a good mood, we present in this newsletter a

    synthesis of the reports from ECCS!11 bursaries

    winners. Most bursary recipients did appreciate theconference, and will probably try to attend ECCS!12 that,

    as you know, will be held in Brussels next September.

    Don!t forget that the deadline for proposing a satellitemeeting for ECCS!12 is already on the 6th of January!

    This issue of the ASSYST/CSS newsletter proposes

    taking a close look to some interesting events that our

    community will organise during this new year: starting by

    the ASSYST Workshop on Mathematics for the

    Dynamics of Multilevel Systems, that will be held at the

    European Centre for Living Technology, Venice, 26th -

    28th February (see the call for participation on page 3);

    the 1st Annual Conference on Complexity and HumanExperience, a conference focusing on humanities and

    social sciences, from the 30th of May to the 1st June at

    The University of North Carolina; the Heron Island

    Complex Systems Summer School, at the University of

    Sydney, from the 16th to the 27th January; and the new

    research project EveryAware - Enhance environmental

    awareness through social information technologies (seedescription and link page 5).

    Finally, we call your attention to two videos recently

    available at the ASSYST Digital Library: Buble Truble,

    a TED presentation by Tobias Preis, and Theendogenous dynamics of markets: price impact and

    feedback loops by Jean-Philippe Bouchaud. Sign of

    the times we are living, complex systems research isbeing called to help facing economic crisis.

    As usual, you will be able to find conference and jobsannouncements, and the essential Reading Snippets.

    Enjoy!

    -- The ASSYST Team

    T

    Number 26, January 2012 | www.assystcomplexity.eu | www.cssociety.org

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    Reports from ECCS11 Bursaries Winnersby Jane Bromley

    ne of the work packages of ASSYST is for the

    provision of conference support and, in particular,

    to attempt to increase variety in the CS community

    by supporting female scientists and minority groups. This

    year we provided 32 bursaries for people to attend

    ECCS!11. The bursaries provided limited contributions

    towards the conference fee and/or travel expenses for

    female scientists, young researchers, and others who

    would otherwise be unable to attend ECCS'11. There

    were also a number of conditions for receiving the

    bursary, one of which was to provide feedback about howthey had benefitted from attending the conference.

    You can read the full reports athttp://www.assystcomplexity.eu/news.jsp?article=82

    The bursaries were given to people from all over the

    world: from Europe, which was well represented, to North

    Africa, the Philippines, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, India and

    South America. This shows how international the

    conference has become in the eight years of its

    existence. Those supported ranged from young people

    just starting in their research career, to others well along

    the way, but from isolated locations, and slightly underhalf were female.

    Most bursary recipients were very positive about

    attending the conference they found it well organized,

    liked the location, and enjoyed meeting people from all

    over the world. They found the whole event inspiring (the

    most useful thing since starting their PhD as one person

    said) and many commented that they had never learnt so

    much in one week. In particular the chances to discuss

    their research with the community, to receive feedback

    and attend tutorials, were all seen as key in their future

    work. Many commented that they would not have been

    able to attend without the help from the bursary and were

    very grateful. Another aspect of the conference that was

    appreciated was its interdisciplinary nature and the

    chance to see the state of the art in the whole field. Many

    were very happy to have had the opportunity to meetrelevant personalities in their field, to attend a lecture by a

    Nobel Prize winner, and in general the opportunity to

    learn from leading scientists in the field. Many mentioned

    the Young Researcher Network supported by FuturICT as

    very beneficial. They made friends and developed future

    cooperation. Some used the time to network and look forpost-doctoral positions.

    The negatives were restricted to things like finding the

    parallel sessions meant they couldn!t attend all they

    wanted or wishing to hear talks about Complex Systemsfrom a philosophical point of view.

    Some had found the review process frustrating and didn !t

    like the use of just short abstracts for selecting

    contributions. Finally someone noted the need for a

    cross-disciplinary education for Complex Systems

    scientists which Etoile is seeking to address.

    web: http://www.assystcomplexity.eu/

    ECCS12 - Call for organizing satellite meetings

    ECCS'12 will be a major international event in the area of complex systems and related topics. It

    will offer unique opportunities to present novel scientific approaches and to review potential

    applications. Two days of the conference, 5 and 6 September, are reserved for satellite meetings.Applications to organize a satellite meeting can now be submitted via email.

    Prospective organizers are invited to submit an informal proposal (less than 1000 words) by email

    to [email protected] with subject line 'Satellite proposal'. In the message header, please specify

    the satellite title, as well as the names and institutions of the members of theorganizing committee.

    The deadline for applications for satellite meetings is January 6 2012. Official notification of

    acceptance will be sent on 4 February 2012 at the latest.

    O

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    Call for Participation

    ASSYST Workshop on Mathematics

    for the Dynamics of Multilevel SystemsEuropean Centre for Living Technology, Venice, 26th - 28th February 2012

    ollowing highly successful meetings on Mathematics in the Science of Complex Systemsat ECLT in Venice and

    Warwick University in February and June 2011, we are holding the meeting Mathematics for the Dynamics of

    Multilevel Systemsin February 2012. This meeting takes place in the context of the recent DYM-CS call from

    FET (http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/fet-proactive/dymcs_en.html). That call closes in January 2012. Our meeting will

    give an opportunity for those who have participated in this call to share their ideas before the evaluations, and it aims to

    create a collaborative context for the projects which are selected for funding. There is no conference fee and

    accommodation, meals and some travel support will be provided. Attendance is strictly limited. Anyone wishing to

    attend this meeting should [email protected] saying briefly their interest in the meaning and why they

    should be allocated a place. Places will be allocated on the basis of engagement with the DYM-CS programme and/or

    individuals having a clear contribution to make to the DYM-CS community. We expect to be oversubscribed andapologise in advance that we cannot accept everyone on this occasion.

    F

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    1st Annual Conference on Complexity and Human Experience

    May 30th - June 1st, 2012The University of North Carolina

    he recent increase in the number of formal

    institutes and conferences dedicated to

    complexity theory and its application is evidencethat complexity science has arrived and is realizing its

    potential to cut across almost every academic

    discipline. Research projects centered on complex

    adaptive systems in the natural (physics, chemistry,

    biology, etc.) and social sciences (economics, political

    science, anthropology, sociology, psychology, etc.),

    along with novel applications in engineering, computer

    science, robotics, and, more recently, the arts and the

    humanities (archaeology, art history, history, literature,

    philosophy, performance art, religion, etc.), have

    already earned some recognition in the field of

    complexity science.

    In light of these developments, the Complex Systems

    Institute and the Center for Advanced Research in the

    Humanities at UNC Charlotte will inaugurate an annual conference series, beginning in 2012, dedicated to complexity

    with particular application to understanding the intricacies of human experience across all domains. The goal of the

    series is to provide a trans-disciplinary venue for scholars from the humanities and the social sciences, as well as

    some aspects of the natural sciences (such as neuroscience, pharmacology, etc.). Since matters of life and death

    pertain to human experience in profound and important ways, the conference hopes to attract representatives from the

    allied health sciences as well.

    Web: http://sites.google.com/site/humancomplexity2012/

    Heron Island Complex Systems Summer School 2012

    January 16 to 27, 2012

    usiness is arguably the human enterprise that

    drives our use (and abuse) of natural resources

    more than any other activity. Business and the

    biosphere are therefore two complex systems intricately

    linked. Achieving global sustainability thus requiresunderstanding the complex structure and dynamics of

    "coupled business and biological systems" and

    particularly developing tools to analyse their

    interconnectivity across multiple scales of space, time and

    organisation... This leads us away from disciplinary

    models of isolated systems to the development of

    integrated regional models right up to modelling the whole

    earth system. Our summer school will explore new

    advances and techniques that can be applied to model

    coupled business and biological systems from local to

    global scales.

    Web: http://sydney.edu.au/business/research/complexity/events/heron_island_summer_school_2012

    T

    B

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    EveryAware - Enhance environmental awareness through social

    information technologies

    Project coordinated by Fondazione Istituto per l'Interscambio Scientifico, Italy

    7th Framework programme STREP2011 - 2014

    here is now overwhelming

    evidence that the currentorganisation of our

    economies and societies is

    seriously damaging biological

    ecosystems and human living

    conditions in the very short term,

    with potentially catastrophic effects

    in the long term. The enforcement

    of novel policies may be triggered

    by a grassroot approach, with a key contribution from information and communication technologies (ICT). Nowadays

    low-cost sensing technologies allow the citizens to directly assess the state of the environment; social networking tools

    allow effective data and opinion collection and real-time information spreading processes. In addition, theoretical and

    modeling tools developed by physicists, computer scientists and sociologists have reached the maturity to analyse,

    interpret and visualize complex data sets. The proposed project intends to integrate all crucial phases (environmental

    monitoring, awareness enhancement, behavioural change) in the management of the environment in a unified

    framework, by creating a new technological platform combining sensing technologies, networking applications and

    data-processing tools; the Internet and the existing mobile communication networks will provide the infrastructure

    hosting such a platform, allowing its replication in different times and places. Case studies concerning different

    numbers of participants will test the scalability of the platform, aiming at involving as many citizens as possible

    leveraging on the low cost and high usability of the sensing devices. The integration of participatory sensing with the

    monitoring of subjective opinions is novel and crucial, as it exposes the mechanisms by which the local perception of

    an environmental issue, corroborated by quantitative data, evolves into socially-shared opinions, eventually driving

    behavioural changes. Enabling this level of transparency critically allows an effective communication of desirable

    environmental strategies to the general public and to institutional agencies.

    Web: http://www.everyaware.eu/

    Conferenceshttp://www.assystcomplexity.eu/conferences.jsp

    HICSSS 2012

    Heron Island Complex Systems SummerSchool 2012

    Heron Island, Australia

    16 Jan 2012 to 27 Jan 2012

    ICAART 20124th International Conference on Agents and

    Artificial Intelligence

    Vilamoura, Algarve, Portugal6 Feb 2012 to 8 Feb 2012

    ComplexNet 2012

    3rd Workshop on Complex Networks

    Melbourne, Florida, USA7 Mar 2012 to 9 Mar 2012

    IWSOS 2012

    Sixth International Workshop on Self-

    Organizing Systems

    Delft, The Netherlands

    15 Mar 2012 to 16 Mar 2012

    INSC 2012

    5th International Nonlinear Science Conference2012

    Barcelona, Spain

    15 Mar 2012 to 17 Mar 2012

    SESOC20124th International Workshop on Security and

    Online Social Networks

    Lugano, Switzerland19 Mar 2012 to 19 Mar 2012

    Evostar 2012

    Evostar 2012

    University of Mlaga11 Apr 2012 to 13 Apr 2012

    CI2012

    Collective Intelligence 2012

    MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

    18 Apr 2012 to 20 Apr 2012

    ISCRAM2012

    The 9th International Conference onInformation Systems for Crisis Response and

    Management

    Vancouver, Canada

    22 Apr 2012 to 25 Apr 2012

    SDM 12

    The Twelfth SIAM International Conference on

    Data MiningAnaheim, California, USA

    26 Apr 2012 to 28 Apr 2012

    ICECCS2012

    17th IEEE International Conference onEngineering of Complex Computer Systems

    Ecole Normale Suprieure, Paris - France

    18 Jul 2012 to 20 Jul 2012

    ECCS12

    European Conference on Complex Systems

    2012

    Universit Libre de Bruxelles

    3 Sep 2012 to 7 Sep 2012

    T

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    ASSYST Video Library

    The dynamics of marketshttp://www.assystcomplexity.eu/video.jsp?collection=The%20dynamics%20of%20markets

    !!Bubble Trouble!

    !When a stock market rises unsustainably, it can create a

    financial bubble that sooner or later will burst. Tobias

    Preis explains whether concepts from physics can be

    used to create a law describing exactly how such crashesoccur.

    Tobias Preis is a scientist and founder of Artemis Capital

    Asset Management. He performed complex systems

    research at Boston University and ETH Zurich. He was

    awarded a Ph.D. in physics and is a member of theGutenberg Academy. His current research focuses on

    quantifying and modeling financial market fluctuations.

    Recently, he headed a research team which provided

    evidence that search engine query data and stock marketfluctuations are correlated.

    Web: tobiaspreis.de

    Twitter: @t_preis

    The endogenous dynamics of markets:price impact and feedback loops

    !The endogenous dynamics of markets: price impact and

    feedback loops was presented by Jean-Philippe

    Bouchaud (Capital Fund Management, ESPCI Paris

    Tech, Ecole Polytechnique) at FET!11 - The European

    Future Technologies Conference and Exhibition - Science

    beyond fiction, a conference held in Budapest, May 4 6,2011. The presentation is available at the FET!11website.

    Abstract: We review the evidence that the erratic

    dynamics of markets is to a large extent of endogenous

    origin, i.e. determined by the trading activity itself and not

    due to the rational processing of exogenous news. In

    order to understand why and how prices move, the joint

    fluctuations of order flow and liquidity and the way these

    impact prices become the keyingredients. Impact is

    necessary for private information to be reflected in prices,

    but by the same token, random fluctuations in order flow

    necessarily contribute to the volatility of markets. Ourthesis is that the latter contribution is in fact dominant,

    resulting in a decoupling between prices and fundamental

    values, at least on short to medium time scales. We

    argue that markets operate in a regime of vanishing

    revealed liquidity, but large latent liquidity, which would

    explain their hyper-sensitivity to fluctuations. More

    precisely, we identify a dangerous feedback loop between

    bid-ask spread and volatility that may lead to

    microliquidity crises and price jumps. We discuss several

    other unstable feedback loops that should be relevant to

    account for market crises: imitation, unwarranted

    quantitative models, pro-cyclical regulation, etc.

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    Jobs

    http://jobs.cssociety.org

    ProfessorAssistant Professor of Computer Science and Complex

    Systems

    University of Alaska Anchorage

    United States - Sun 01 of Jan., 2012

    PostdocPost-doc Bio-economic modelling for scenarios of biodiversity

    and forestry facing climate change

    CNRS

    France - Sun 01 of Jan., 2012

    Postodc/LecturerPostdoc and Doctoral Scholarship at the Leo Apostel Center for

    Interdisciplinary Studies

    Leo Apostel Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies Brussels Free

    UniversityBelgium - Sat 07 of Jan., 2012

    PhDTwo Marie Curie PhD positions in computational systems

    biology

    BioProcess Engineering Group Instituto de Investigaciones

    Marinas (C.S.I.C.) Spanish Council for Scientific Research

    C/Eduardo Cabello 6 36208 Vigo

    Spain - Thu 01 of Mar., 2012

    Teaching/Research AssistantMaitre de Confrences en Physique Statistique des Systmes

    Complexes

    CPT, Universit d'Aix-Marseille

    France - Sun 01 of Apr., 2012

    Postdoc/LecturerTheoretical understanding of multi-scale dynamics of brain

    networksItalian National Institute for Nuclear Research

    Italy - Sat 01 of Dec., 2012

    UCD Research Fellow (2 yrs)

    Prof. Dr. Petra Ahrweiler

    Innovation Research Unit UCD Dublin http://casl.ucd.ie/iru/

    University College Dublin,

    Belfield,Dublin 4, Ireland

    Contributors to this edition:

    Jane Bromley, Jeff Johnson, Jorge Lou, and

    David MS Rodrigues.

    5/.*%!08R29009.;!?89K'>9;'0U!!

    If you are a Complex System researcher/practitioner and want to

    share a success story about your work / research please submitit to [email protected] .

    The story should approximately 500 words (if you want to submit

    an extended story please contact us) and should be sent in TXT,ODT, RTF or DOC file formats.

    Contacts

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    Web: http://assystcomplexity.eu

    RSS: http://assystcomplexity.eu/rss.xmlTwitter: http://twitter.com/assystcomplex

    FriendFeed: http://friendfeed.com/assystcomplexEmail: [email protected]

    Feedback: http://assystcomplexity.ideascale.com/

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    Web: http://cssociety.org

    RSS: http://cssociety.org/tiki-calendars_rss.phpSuggestions: http://cssociety.org/suggestions

    The ASSYST project acknowledges the financial support of the

    Future and Emerging Technologies(FET) programme within

    the ICT theme of the Seventh Framework Programme forResearch of the European Commission.

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    Reading Snippets

    The network takeover

    Reductionism, as a paradigm, is expired, and complexity,

    as a field, is tired. Data-based mathematical models of

    complex systems are offering a fresh perspective, rapidly

    developing into a new discipline: network science.

    In Naturehttp://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/v8/n1/full/nphys2188.html

    Antnio Damsio: The quest tounderstand consciousnessEvery morning we wake up and regain consciousness --

    that is a marvelous fact -- but what exactly is it that we

    regain? Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio uses this simple

    question to give us a glimpse into how our brains create

    our sense of self.

    In Tedhttp://www.ted.com/talks/antonio_damasio_the_quest_to_understand_co

    nsciousness.html

    Detecting Novel Associations in LargeData SetsIdentifying interesting relationships between pairs of

    variables in large data sets is increasingly important. Here,

    we present a measure of dependence for two-variable

    relationships: the maximal information coefficient (MIC).

    MIC captures a wide range of associations both functional

    and not, and for functional relationships provides a score

    that roughly equals the coefficient of determination (R2) of

    the data relative to the regression function. MIC belongs to

    a larger class of maximal information-based

    nonparametric exploration (MINE) statistics for identifying

    and classifying relationships. We apply MIC and MINE todata sets in global health, gene expression, major-league

    baseball, and the human gut microbiota and identify

    known and novel relationships.

    In Science http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6062/1518

    LHC reports discovery of its firstnew particleProf Paul Newman, from the University of Birmingham,

    added: "This is the first time such a new particle has been

    found at the LHC. Its discovery is a testament to the very

    successful running of the collider in 2011 and to thesuperb understanding of our detector which has been

    achieved by the Atlas collaboration already." In BBChttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16301908

    First 'Earth-Size Planets Beyond OurSolar System' DiscoveredScientists have found two Earth-sized planets orbiting a

    star outside the solar system, an encouraging sign forprospects of finding life elsewhere.

    The discovery shows that such planets exist and that they

    can be detected by the Kepler spacecraft, said Francois

    Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for

    Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. They're the smallestplanets found so far that orbit a star resembling our sun.

    Scientists are seeking Earth-sized planets as potential

    homes for extraterrestrial life, said Fressin, who reports

    the new findings in a paper published online Tuesday by

    the journal Nature. One planet's diameter is only 3 percent

    larger than Earth's, while the other's diameter is about

    nine-tenths that of Earth. They appear to be rocky, like our

    planet.

    In NPRhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=144020758

    Flavor network and the principles of foodpairing

    !The cultural diversity of culinary practice, as illustrated by

    the variety of regional cuisines, raises the question of

    whether there are any general patterns that determine theingredient combinations used in food today or principles

    that transcend individual tastes and recipes. We introduce

    a flavor network that captures the flavor compounds

    shared by culinary ingredients. Western cuisines show a

    tendency to use ingredient pairs that share many flavor

    compounds, supporting the so-called food pairing

    hypothesis. By contrast, East Asian cuisines tend to avoid

    compound sharing ingredients. Given the increasing

    availability of information on food preparation, our data-

    driven investigation opens new avenues towards asystematic understanding of culinary practice.

    In Nature:http://www.nature.com/srep/2011/111215/srep00196/full/srep00196.html