WP # 7: Summer schools, advanced courses, and other knowledge transfer instruments
WP7 Summer schools, advanced courses and other STREPS connection instruments. In spite of the last years’ emphasis on electronic communication, when it comes to creative – one of a sort – activities, direct contact and interactive explanations are unavoidable. This is even more so in situations engendered by complexity where often and fast familiarization with new fields is necessary at all academic levels. Thus, in addition to the more standard Basic courses and Advanced Courses, we have more original instruments tailored for the special knowledge transfer needs of the STREP community. In particular we have the instrument called Advanced Introduction (related to ensuring the coherence of the leadership of the complexity research, in cooperation with WP8 in ONCE) which is very different from a usual summer school: it aims at senior researchers that need to get quickly familiar with the spirit and jargon of a new field without necessarily getting a practitioner level of performance. Another original instrument is the Double Triangle (Perennial Thematic Research School, in cooperation with WP3 in ONCE, and programs directed among others to European Complexity PhD students, in cooperation with WP4 in ONCE). Those, as opposed to the usual summer /winter schools, imply a perennial relation (formalized as a PhD project) between junior participants and their senior advisors. We aim that the ad-hoc frameworks for transferring complexity know-how across STREPs are attended by many tens of participants. We aim at having many STREPS represented and many (cooperative PhD) research projects initiated and escorted by WP7. We aim at having in each of the activities a participation of at least 50% of scientists from the STREPs. We make every effort to create the conditions that some of the series might continue after the end of GIACS.
Leading institution
ISI - FONDAZIONE ISI - TORINO, ITALY
WP leaders
Prof. Sorin Solomon giacs05@gmail.com
Dr. Tiziana Bertoletti giacs@isi.it
Objectives
The objectives of this WP are to :
- Lower the entry cost for scientists from the academia or from the industry to join the STREP research. Facilitate STREP research at interdisciplinary frontiers.
- Further the complexity education of young STREP scientists.
- Provide STREP melting pots.
Description of work
Since complex systems dynamics is seldom taught in university curriculum, a special educational effort will be needed in the next few years. Young researchers, and especially those engaged in STREP activity have to complete their formal education in seasonal schools to be organised by the CA. Seasonal schools (often summer schools) have in the past be proven an extremely efficient way to educate young researchers in new or trans-disciplinary fields (see the role of Les Houches in the 50's in promoting quantum physics at a time it was seldom taught in European universities). The necessity of a series of seasonal schools can be assessed from the fact that half of the candidates for Santa Fe summer schools are Europeans!
The above remarks also apply to the necessity of a transdisciplinary education for many mature researchers involved or planning to get involved in new (for them) fields of research and STREP research. The practice of seasonal schools for that purpose is now well established.
Instruments
We organize several seasonal schools format with these purposes plus some “after-schools” programs. Most of these instruments are carried out in cooperation with ONCE and with the institutions involved in the European Complexity PhD.
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BASIC COURSES
These are courses that introduce elementary complexity issues. Such an introduction could be proposed to mathematicians, physicists or computer scientists, or to biologists and social scientists eager to understand the challenges, the methodology and the limits of the complex systems approaches. The format of such introductory lectures is two to four weeks, with a small number of lecturers, four to six, each one giving a series of lectures. Three to four 90 minutes lectures every day are given, with some time being left for question sessions and individual research presentations. The format that we propose has already been tested in various summer schools such as Les Houches or Santa Fe. A parallel effort to publish a book series is also undertaken. One basic course every year is programmed, but we rather try to cooperate rather than to compete with similar endeavours in Europe (e.g. Marc Mézard session scheduled in Les Houches in summer 2006).
The benefits that we can be expect apart from students formation are:
- establishing a community of young researchers.
- getting to know a collection of potential candidates for research in complex systems in general, and in particular for doctoral and post-doctoral positions in STREPs.
- allowing STREP research results being quickly diffused among young scientists.
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ADVANCED INTRODUCTIONS (AI)
To facilitate research at the common borders, an Advanced Introduction aims at fostering a better understanding of the expectations, constraints, approaches and mode of thinking of a scientific partner across disciplines and across STREP projects. Within a week, an AI brings participant scientists belonging to a modelling community from null/medium level to some understanding of the research frontiers in the target discipline (e.g. in the biological or social sciences). To reach this goal, seasoned lecturers present the key objects and concepts of the target domain, explain the current research questions and methods, and give a feel for what would be considered a (good) result.
Based on past experience (biology taught to 40 mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists), the proposed format is a 5-day session including about 30 hours of teaching spread over 5-8 subdisciplines and as many lecturers. One typical day comprises 6 hours of AI, plus an evening "event", such as an illustrative and stimulating 1-hour conference, or a discussion on how some participants might usefully invest themselves into the target domain.
See the description of the Summer school in September.
See also the description of the application procedure for GIACS summer school proposals in the attachement below.