Complex systems as a research area focuses on studying systems composed of many interacting components whose collective behavior exhibits nonlinearity, emergence, adaptation, and self-organization. It integrates methods from statistical physics, dynamical systems, information theory, network science, and computational modeling to characterize structure–dynamics relationships across domains such as biology, ecology, social systems, and technological networks. Research emphasizes multiscale interactions, feedback loops, critical phenomena, robustness, and phase transitions, often using agent-based models, coupled differential equations, or stochastic processes to understand how macroscopic patterns arise from microscopic rules and how these systems respond to perturbations or control interventions.
Cities everywhere are running experiments to respond to climate change and sustainability challenges, such as new mobility trials, energy pilots, green space projects, circular economy approaches, and more. New research from ...
Environment
Feb 12, 2026
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Chromosomes are masters of organization. These long strings of DNA fold down into an ensemble of compact structures that keep needed parts of the genome accessible while tucking away those that aren't used as often. Understanding ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jan 27, 2026
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Light and matter can remain at separate temperatures even while interacting with each other for long periods, according to new research that could help scale up an emerging quantum computing approach in which photons and ...
Condensed Matter
Jan 21, 2026
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When observing small worms under a microscope, one might observe something very surprising: the worms appear to make a sweeping motion to clean their own environment. Physicists at the University of Amsterdam, Georgia Tech ...
General Physics
Jan 5, 2026
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Researchers in the Department of Theoretical Physics at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, have discovered that instead of manipulating every component or modifying interactions in a many-body system, ...
General Physics
Dec 17, 2025
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Financial markets are often seen as chaotic and unpredictable. Every day, traders around the world buy shares and sell assets in a whirlwind of activity. It looks like a system of total randomness—but is it really?
A research team including a scientist from the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at the Institute of Science, Tokyo, Japan, has identified a novel principle in biology that mathematically explains why the growth of organisms ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 11, 2025
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What do brains and the stock market have in common? While this might sound like a set-up for a joke, new research from U-M researchers reveals that the behaviors of brains and economies during crises can be explained using ...
General Physics
Nov 3, 2025
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Networks are systems comprised of two or more connected devices, biological organisms or other components, which typically share information with each other. Understanding how information moves between these connected components, ...
A study by University of Hawaiʻi researchers is advancing how we learn the laws that govern complex systems—from predator-prey relationships to traffic patterns in cities to how populations grow and shift—using artificial ...
General Physics
Aug 25, 2025
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