Events
Past Event
Wednesdays@NICO Seminar: How do organisms build themselves?
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Donald P. Jacobs Center
Details
How do organisms build themselves?
Wednesdays@NICO | 12:00-1:00 PM, May 11, 2016 | Room 160, Jacobs Center, 2001 Sheridan Road, Northwestern University
Madhav Mani, Assistant Professor of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics, McCormick School of Engineering
Abstract
Addressing, or even precisely stating, this question is beyond science currently. Thus far the most successful approach to understanding how growth, differentiation, and morphogenesis -- the 3 pillars of development -- are coordinated in a developing organism has been a genetic one. After a historical review of the landmark discoveries of developmental genetics, I will give an overview of research in my own lab that employs tools common to physics. These tools are used to develop phenomenological, but quantitative, descriptions of the dynamics of development -- attempting to capture how development occurs, rather than why. In particular, I will present work on cell mechanics and gene regulation in the context of the developing fly embryo done in collaboration with experimental collaborators (Gregor Lab @ Princeton & Lecuit Lab @ Marseilles).
Bio
This is an exciting time to be studying organismal development. In spite of the progress in molecular biology built up over the last 3 decades, we are still searching for the mechanisms that couple the chemical and physical forms of organism. A misshaped hand, even with the right proportions of different cell types, wouldn't be of much use in gripping a cup of coffee. What are the collective cellular and tissue level mechanisms that generate the complex multicellular patterns of cellular differentiation and morphology in organisms? Recent advance in live fluorescent imaging provide us with a dynamic and spatially resolved view of organismal development, and what is needed now is the development of mathematical tools and models that can help ushering in a new, and physical, understanding of organismal biology. Complementing our interests in developmental biology is our study of gene regulation. In particular, we focus on stochastic and biophysical aspects of gene expression dynamics within the context of developmental systems.
In close collaboration with experimental labs around the world, my group develops quantitative image-analysis tools and mathematical models that guide the construction of inverse modeling schemes to make new and better measurements of live imaging data. When required, forward mathematical models are constructed to make sense of emergent phenomena, and more importantly, to generate predictions and hypotheses that guide future experimentation.
Time
Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Donald P. Jacobs Center Map
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Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
Fall classes begin 8 a.m.
University Academic Calendar
All Day
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Fall classes begin 8 a.m.
Time
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
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University Academic Calendar
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Michael Macy, Cornell University "The Unpredictability of Partisan Alignments"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
Michael W. Macy - Goldwin Smith Professor of Arts and Sciences, and Director, Social Dynamics Laboratory, Cornell University.
Title:
Which Side Are You On: The Unpredictability of Partisan Alignments
Abstract:
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Speaker Bio:
Michael Macy (B.A., Ph.D Harvard; M.A. Stanford) is Goldwin Smith Professor of Arts and Sciences at Cornell and Director of the Social Dynamics Lab, with a dual appointment in the Departments of Sociology and Information Science. With support from the U.S. National Science Foundation, Minerva Initiative, DARPA, and the National Research Foundation of Korea, his research team has used computational models, online laboratory experiments, and digital traces of device-mediated interaction to explore familiar but enigmatic social patterns, such as circadian rhythms, network topology and economic opportunity, lifestyle politics, the willingness to “pay it forward,” the mesh of civilizations, the spread of complex contagions, the polarization of opinion, segregation of neighborhoods, the emergence and collapse of fads, the spread of self-destructive behaviors, and the critical mass in collective action. His research has been published in leading journals, including Science, PNAS, Science Advances, Nature Human Behaviour, American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, and Annual Review of Sociology.
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
Data Science Nights - FALL 2019 KICKOFF Meeting
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
6:30 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
FALL KICKOFF MEETING: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 6:30pm in Chambers Hall, Evanston
DATA SCIENCE NIGHTS are monthly hack nights on popular data science topics, organized by Northwestern University graduate students and scholars. Aspiring, beginning, and advanced data scientists are welcome!
LECTURE: "Open standards for machine learning model deployment" with IBM Developer Advocate Svetlana Levitan.
This year, for the fall kickoff of Data Science Nights we are excited to host a representative of IBM Cognitive Applications for Chicago, Svetlana Levitan. Svetlana is a Developer Advocate of IBM with many years of experience with IBM statistical Software SPSS, and Predictive Model Markup Language (PMML). She is the Chicagoland Technical Experts Community Chairperson, a Meetup organizer for Big Data Developers, Open Source Analytics, and Chicago Cloud Developers, and is also part of the Center for Open-Source Data and AI Technologies (CODAIT). This is an excellent opportunity to connect with IBM representatives!
AGENDA:
6:15pm - Refreshments
6:30pm - Presentation by Svetlana Levitan, IBM Developer Advocate, IBM Cognitive Applications.
7pm - Discussion about topics and working groups for future hacking night sessions
For more info: data-science-nights.org
Supporting Groups:
This event is supported by the Northwestern Institute for Complex Systems and the Northwestern Data Science Initiative, in collaboration with ACiDS.
Time
Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Joshua Becker, Northwestern "Network Structures of Collective Intelligence"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
Joshua Becker - Postdoctoral Fellow, Kellogg School of Management and NICO
Title:
Network Structures of Collective Intelligence: The Contingent Benefits of Group Discussion
Abstract:
Research on the “wisdom of crowds” has found that the average belief in a group can be remarkably accurate even when individual group members are wildly inaccurate. This phenomenon has been observed for domains ranging from financial forecasting to medical diagnoses, and a common theoretical claim is that group beliefs are most accurate when they are collected from individuals who are socially and statistically independent. However, the requirement for independence poses a challenge in many social and organizational settings where interaction and communication are an intrinsic part of decision-making. In contrast, I show that social information processing can produce beliefs that are even more accurate than the collected beliefs of independent individuals—under the right conditions. This talk will present formal models and behavioral laboratory experiments to identify when, and why, group interaction can help (or hurt) numeric belief accuracy. The main focus of this talk compares mediated information exchange (i.e., the “Delphi method”) with unstructured discussion, showing how network theory can resolve longstanding contradictions in previous research. All discussed data is available on GitHub and my website.
Working Paper: https://bit.ly/2lZ6zHF
Speaker Bio:
Joshua Becker is a postdoctoral fellow at Kellogg School of Management and a researcher-in-residence at NICO. Joshua completed his PhD at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, with a focus on the network dynamics of collective intelligence. Their research has been published in venues including Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Harvard Business Review. Prior to grad school Joshua worked professionally in conflict mediation (now serving pro bono) an experience that inspires their research on communication and decision-making.
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: TBA "Title TBA"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
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Wednesday, October 9, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
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Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: TBA "Title TBA"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
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Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
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Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: TBA "Title TBA"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
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Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
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Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: TBA "Title TBA"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
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Wednesday, October 30, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
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Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: TBA "Title TBA"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
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Wednesday, November 6, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
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Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: TBA "Title TBA"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
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Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)