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About NICO

The Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems was founded in 2004 with the goals of uncovering fundamental principles governing complex systems in science, technology, and human behavior and applying these principles to solve societally relevant problems through the analysis, design, and control of complex systems. Today, NICO serves as a hub and facilitator for pathbreaking research in complexity and data science transcending the boundaries of established disciplines.

NICO is a collaboration between the McCormick School of Engineering and the Kellogg School of Management.


Research

Breaking down knowledge silos through cross-disciplinary collaborations

Announcements

The lastest news and events from the NICO.

Quarterly Newsflash

Quarterly Newsflash

NICO’s Quarterly Newsflash provides insights about the Northwestern ecosystem of data science, network science, and complex systems with the aim of sparking innovation and collaboration in our community.
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Center for Science of Science & Innovation (CSSI)

Center for Science of Science & Innovation (CSSI)

CSSI is the first academic hub of its kind to bring together the world’s foremost experts in science of science and innovation. This center is led by Dashun Wang of the Kellogg School and NICO.
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Systematic Content Analysis of Litigation Events Open Knowledge Network (SCALES - OKN)

Systematic Content Analysis of Litigation Events Open Knowledge Network (SCALES - OKN)

SCALES is working to transform the accessibility and transparency of federal courts. This initiative is led by NICO Professors Adam Pah and Luis Amaral and is supported by an NSF Convergence Accelerator Grant.
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Apply to Open Positions at NICO

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.

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News & Events

News

Daniel Abrams Named NICO Codirector

Northwestern Engineering’s Daniel Abrams has been named co-director of the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO), effective February 1, 2023, succeeding Luís A.N. Amaral.

Aging is driven by unbalanced genes

In a new study, researchers from Northwestern led by Thomas Stoeger and Luís A.N. Amaral, used artificial intelligence to discover that the length of genes can explain most molecular-level changes that occur during aging.

What happens when women and men work together?

A study, led by NICO faculty and researchers, examined 6.6 million papers and finds that mixed-gender teams produce research that is significantly more innovative and impactful on average than that of same-gender teams.

Failures in large networks can be prevented with local focus

A Northwestern research team, led by Adilson Motter, has discovered a ubiquitous property of a complex network and developed a computational method that is the first to exploit that property to control the whole network using only local information.

Events

NICO Reading Group - Weekly Thursday Meeting

March 30
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

NICO Reading Group - Weekly Thursday Meeting

April 6
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

NICO Reading Group - Weekly Thursday Meeting

April 13
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

NICO Reading Group - Weekly Thursday Meeting

April 20
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

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Connect with NICO

NICO Reading Group

The NICO reading group meets regularly over lunch to discuss recent papers, fundamentals, and emerging trends in complexity research.

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