Background

 

Networks are ubiquitous in all aspects of human existence. They manifest themselves in everyday life, they underpin the most advanced information and communication technologies, and they provide a powerful framework to address a wide spectrum of complex problems in the natural sciences, in engineering, and in economics and the social sciences. Networks, network-related science, and network-based technologies are thus of central importance to maintaining and improving human wellbeing, as well as to improving economic, technological, and scientific competitiveness.

Statistical physics offers a powerful set of concepts and methods to analyze problems of exactly the type posed by today’s key challenges in network science. While the European statistical physics community has an established tradition of coordinated cross-border research collaborations in this area, there has been so far no significant European coordination effort on the initial training side. NETADIS is set to fill that gap. Its aim is to train a cadre of future research leaders in advanced methods of analysis, inference, control and optimization of network structure and dynamics, thus maximizing the impact of statistical physics approaches across a broad range of application areas.