Title: Models and large-scale analysis of dynamics in complex networks: from biological to social systems

Date: 12/04/2018

Time: 15h00

Location: Room 0.19, Pavilhão de Informática II, Alameda

Advisors: Professor Alexandre Paulo Lourenço Francisco / Professor Francisco João Duarte Cordeiro Correia dos Santos 

Abstract:  The rise of the Internet and of large social networks, as well as large volumes of data being collected everyday from many other different complex systems, made it possible and necessary to process and analyze network data on an unprecedented scale. Moreover, while conceptually simple, networks often underlie complex dynamics. The evolution of species are shaped by complex interaction patterns, and human choices, epidemic states, and strategic behaviors are influenced by individuals' social ties. The study of real complex networks and their dynamics has attracted an enormous amount of interest in the last years, giving new insights on the relation between the structure and function of complex systems. With the explosive growth of real networks and structured data sets, a new class of graphs came to light with some prevailing features shared by many different networks exposing the limits of traditional techniques and intriguing the research community. This proposal aims to take a step forward in network science providing new metrics, models and computational tools towards a better understanding of networked evolution and self-organization. We resort to stochastic modeling and simulation to describe the evolution of traits -- that can represent pathogens, choices or social profiles -- and their evolution over host-contact networks and social networks.