The University of Potsdam - A portrait
Profile
Order in Chaos
Focus Area Complex Systems
Photo: Fotolia/ktsdesign & NASA
The human brain, outer space, and the internet have one thing in common - they are all complex systems whose composite parts are constantly in reaction with and to one another. They are able to organize themselves and can develop a rich structure and dynamic. The Focus Area Complex Systems describes the interior order of such complicated phenomena. It studies the relationship of single components within a system as well as to its environment. Analyses and simulations are supposed to illustrate how their behavior can be predicted or even influenced, for example to determine better the risks of a stroke or of an earthquake.
Complex systems exist everywhere in nature, technology, and society, thus leading to a wide range of research in the focus area: among them are cosmic structures and cognitive processes as well as molecular systems, complex software, and metabolic networks. A thoughtful interplay of mathematics, physics, and computer science makes it possible to uncover their complicated structure and dynamic.
The research of complex systems is primarily methodologically oriented, but its goals are specific applications, for example in the analysis of massive stars in astrophysics or in modeling climate changes in the earth sciences. In biology, a systems analysis is useful for studying photosynthesis in hydrogen-producing green algae, and in the cognitive sciences it can be applied to study eye movement during the reading process.
Many interdisciplinary projects are profiting today from the analytical methods of the Focus Area Complex Systems - not only at the university, but also at Potsdam's many cooperating institutions and at the Berlin universities.
"The study of complex systems is a very current topic in almost
all science disciplines. With its Focus Area Complex Systems,
Potsdam is well-positioned in international scientific competition."
Prof. Dr. Matthias Holschneider,
Spokesperson for the Focus Area Complex Systems
Photo: K. Fritze
