The Complexity Science Hub Vienna (CSH) is a Vienna-based research organisation with the aim to bundle, coordinate and advance the research of

complex system A complex system is a system composed of many components which may interact with each other. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as power grid, transportation or communication ...

system analysis System analysis in the field of electrical engineering characterizes electrical systems and their properties. System analysis can be used to represent almost anything from population growth to audio speakers; electrical engineers often use it be ...

and

big data Though used sometimes loosely partly because of a lack of formal definition, the interpretation that seems to best describe Big data is the one associated with large body of information that we could not comprehend when used only in smaller am ...

science in Austria.

Organization

The CSH was founded in 2015 as a joint initiative to foster

science for the benefit of society and to increase the international visibility of Austrian complexity research. The official start was in 2016. Since May 2016 the CSH has been located in Palais Strozzi in Vienna. The first four member institutions were the

TU Wien TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...

, the Graz University of Technology, the

Medical University of Vienna The Medical University of Vienna (German: ''Medizinische Universität Wien'') is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It is the direct successor to the faculty of medicine at the University of Vienna, founded in 1365 by Rudolf IV, Duk ...

and the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. In 2016, the Vienna University of Economics and Business, and the International Institute for Applied System Analysis (IIASA) became members of the CSH. Further members are the Danube University Krems and Austrian Economic Chambers (since 2018), the

Institute of Molecular Biotechnology The Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) is an independent biomedical research organisation founded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. The institute employs around 250 p ...

IMBA and the

University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna The University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (German: ''Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien'' - in short: VUW) was founded in 1767 as the world's third school for veterinary medicine (after Lyon and Alfort) by Milan Milan ( , , Lombard ...

(since 2019), and the

Central European University Central European University (CEU) is a private research university accredited in Austria, Hungary, and the United States, with campuses in Vienna and Budapest. The university is known for its highly intensive programs in the social sciences and ...

(since 2020). The CSH is embedded in an international network of complexity research centers and universities, including the

Santa Fe Institute The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, inclu ...

in New Mexico,

Nanyang Technological University The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a national research university in Singapore. It is the second oldest autonomous university in the country and is considered as one of the most prestigious universities in the world by various in ...

in Singapore,

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

, and the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Amsterdam. Since April 2017, there has been a partnership with the

in Budapest. Complexity scientist

Stefan Thurner Stefan Thurner (born 1969) is an Austrian physicist and complexity researcher. He has been professor for Science of Complex Systems at the Medical University of Vienna since 2009, external professor at the Santa Fe Institute since 2007, and guest ...

has been the first president and scientific director of the CSH since its foundation. The international science advisory board is chaired by the Austrian sociologist

Helga Nowotny Helga Nowotny (born 1937) is Professor emeritus of Social Studies of Science, ETH Zurich. She has held numerous leadership roles on Academic boards and public policy councils, and she has authored many publications in the social studies of science ...

Research

The main topics of research at the CSH include: * theoretical foundations of

complexity Complexity characterises the behaviour of a system or model whose components interact in multiple ways and follow local rules, leading to nonlinearity, randomness, collective dynamics, hierarchy, and emergence. The term is generally used to c ...

science (f.i. properties of complex systems,

entropy Entropy is a scientific concept, as well as a measurable physical property, that is most commonly associated with a state of disorder, randomness, or uncertainty. The term and the concept are used in diverse fields, from classical thermodyna ...

of complex systems, statistical mechanics, the origin of

Power law In statistics, a power law is a functional relationship between two quantities, where a relative change in one quantity results in a proportional relative change in the other quantity, independent of the initial size of those quantities: one qua ...

s, the mathematics of collapse, evolution and co-evolution,

path dependence Path dependence is a concept in economics and the social sciences, referring to processes where past events or decisions constrain later events or decisions. It can be used to refer to outcomes at a single point in time or to long-run equilibria ...

Agent-based model An agent-based model (ABM) is a computational model for simulating the actions and interactions of autonomous agents (both individual or collective entities such as organizations or groups) in order to understand the behavior of a system and what ...

s) * health and medicine (efficiency and resilience of health care systems, based on health care data;

personalized medicine Personalized medicine, also referred to as precision medicine, is a medical model that separates people into different groups—with medical decisions, practices, interventions and/or products being tailored to the individual patient based on the ...

; disease prediction and prevention) *

Systemic risk In finance, systemic risk is the risk of collapse of an entire financial system or entire market, as opposed to the risk associated with any one individual entity, group or component of a system, that can be contained therein without harming th ...

(Why do complex systems such as banking networks collapse? What is the likelihood of collapse? Can collapse be predicted? How to build a complex system to be stable? ) * Cities ("Science of Cities") (How can data be used for the benefit of cities, the population, the administration ("

Smart city A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data. Information gained from that data is used to manage assets, resources and services efficiently; in retur ...

")? How do cities become more sustainable? How to increase citizen participation? Is there a direct link between city size and city life?) * the "

Internet of things The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other com ...

" (Does a more efficient production automatically lead to more vulnerability? How secure is a fully digitized production when it comes to attacks? How can sensor data be used to answer systemic questions?) *

computational social science Computational social science is the academic sub-discipline concerned with computational approaches to the social sciences. This means that computers are used to model, simulate, and analyze social phenomena. Fields include computational economics ...

(Opinion formation in social networks and heterogeneous societies. How do conflicts arise? How can conflicts be solved? What is the difference between networks of men and women?) * big data analytics (Do we lose our privacy? Is

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

a threat to democracy? How can

fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in realit ...

be identified? What does social media say about gender? Agent-based and big data models of society )

References

External links

* {{authority control 2015 establishments in Austria Research institutes in Austria Systems science institutes Research institutes established in 2015