Networks for communication, transportation, finance and energy form the backbone of modern society. Reliable and efficient network infrastructures are of enormous economic and societal value, and their importance will only increase in the coming years. The complexity of networks and of the processes running on them are increasing rapidly as well, which often leads to unpredictable and uncontrollable behavior. The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 (covid-19), with enormous medical, social and economic consequences, has once more underlined the importance of understanding network structures. The same is true for understanding the impact of polarisation on society, which has far reaching consequences for the stability of social, economic and political networks.
Networks have also evolved into rich sources of data. These data are crucial for understanding structural properties and optimizing functional performance of large-scale networks, e.g. in order to enable online adaptation, self-organization and intelligent control. To deal effectively with the uncertainty, variation, unpredictability, size and complexity inherent in complex networks, we must develop radically new ways of thinking. NETWORKS uniquely combines stochastics (to model and understand large-scale networks and to predict network growth and network processes) with algorithmics (to control and optimize networks and network processes in the best possible way). This symbiosis of mathematics and computer science allows NETWORKS to make a decisive contribution to the advancement of network science.
There is urgent need for a generation of researchers that can deal with contemporary and emerging networks that are inherently stochastic in nature, and at the same time can design effective and well-understood decision and optimization algorithms. NETWORKS’ research programme is organized around eight research themes (see
https://www.thenetworkcenter.nl/Research-themes/Overview/(opens in new window) for an overview). The combination of these themes allows for a broad and comprehensive approach to the challenges posed by complex networks. In addition, NETWORKS' researchers are branching out into other areas, including economic networks and systemic risks, health networks and early detection, and social networks and epidemiology.
The main objective of the NETCO – PD programme is to bring together expertise from two different disciplines, namely, mathematics and computer science, by attracting talented young researchers and to train them to perform world-class research in, and at the interface between, these disciplines.
NETWORKS attracts these young researchers from outside the Netherlands. The international network provides them with excellent additional opportunities for transnational mobility.
