Title:

A structural approach for understanding complex dynamics

Speaker:

Serguei Saavedra - Mitsui Chair Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Talk Abstract:

It is well known that the dynamics observed in complex systems result from both the direct and indirect effects among their constituent components. Yet, how much of these dynamics can be explained with simple models remains poorly understood. Here we show that it is not necessary to increase the complexity of models to capture these dynamics. Instead, it is necessary to change our algebraic approach for studying them. We propose a structural approach as a candidate for this change and illustrate its application in ecology. We also show how this structural approach can be used to redefine the way we think about the importance of complex interaction networks.

Speaker Bio:

Serguei is an Assistant Professor at MIT at the Department of Environmental Engineering. His work focuses on mathematical, network, and community ecology. He is interested in understanding and quantifying the response of ecological communities to environmental variations. He obtained his PhD in Engineering Science from Oxford University (UK). This was followed by postdoctoral appointments at the Northwestern University Institute on Complex Systems (USA), the Integrative Ecology Group at Doñana Biological Station (Spain), and the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH (Switzerland). He joined MIT in 2016.

Live Stream:

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