WelcomeWelcome to the University of Southampton's Institute for Complex Systems Simulation. The centre for doctoral training (CDT) at the Institute of Complex Systems Simulation (ICSS) has a mission to recruit and develop top class complexity experts across all fields of science and engineering and to graduate them as research leaders to pioneer the next generation in complexity science. Launched in 2009 the £12m Institute has taken on over 70 top class undergraduates to complete research PhDs across a broad range of disciplines relating to complexity science. ICSS has developed a world-class simulation and modelling group to conduct research activities and run a flagship doctoral training programme in Complex Systems simulation. Now in its fifth year, the first cohort are graduating as specialists in their fields, able to analyse, innovate and exploit complexity models and methodologies beyond the current state of the art. See what our current and graduating students are up to. Led by Dr Seth Bullock, the ICSS is considered one of the top three centres of excellence in the UK for complexity science. Recruitment to the CDT has now closed, but interested candidates are advised to consider the new affiliated CDT 'Next Generation Computational Modelling' group which specialises in complexity modelling. What is Complexity Science?Famously, the physicist Stephen Hawking has predicted that the 21st Century will be "the century of complexity". What did he mean? Research at the ICSS falls within what has come to be called Complexity Science, an attempt to better understand systems in which aggregate, system-level behaviour arises from the interactions between component parts in a way that is not straightforward. Whereas the temperature of an ideal gas is just a simple average over the kinetic energy of its component molecules, the "temperature" of a football crowd or the temperature of the earth do not behave in the same way. Adding some more energy to some of the gas molecules will increase the macroscopic temperature proportionally. By contrast, adding a little more "heat" to a few members of a football crowd can result in a disproportionate, or non-linear, change in behaviour, sometimes bringing about macroscopic surges, songs, and even Mexican waves. This kind of interesting relationship between the individual components of a system and the system's global behaviour is characteristic of many important and intriguing domains: ecosystems, brains, cities, markets, the internet. The growing significance of understanding and managing such systems means that Complexity Science is increasingly being recognised as a critical area of enquiry by industry, government and science itself. For more information, click here. ContactIf you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Institute Manager, Nicki Lewin (+44 23 8059 4510, icss@soton.ac.uk). The Institute of Complex Systems Simulation (ICSS) hosts the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Complexity Science at the University of Southampton (CDTs were formerly knows as Doctoral Training Centres, DTC) 
|
|