Project Profile
Dynamics of Complex Systems in Science and Engineering
Northwestern University
Abstract
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports the establishment of a multidisciplinary graduate training program of education and research on the dynamics of complex systems. Nonlinear science has increasing impact on many disciplines in the natural sciences, engineering, and medicine, and requires training that bridges traditional departmental… more »
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports the establishment of a multidisciplinary graduate training program of education and research on the dynamics of complex systems. Nonlinear science has increasing impact on many disciplines in the natural sciences, engineering, and medicine, and requires training that bridges traditional departmental and school boundaries. This graduate training program emphasizes the unity of fundamental concepts underlying a broad range of scientific research areas: nonlinear optics, computational neuroscience, pattern formation, chaos, ergodic theory; and applications to engineering and materials science problems: interface motion, combustion, and mixing. The goal is to prepare the students for today’s rapidly evolving professional environment.
Students will be equipped with the tools and intuition needed to tackle complex nonlinear problems arising in various guises and technical fields. Cross-disciplinary research and communication skills will be developed through an intensive year-long course, in which small graduate-student teams will investigate a topic guided by two faculty members with complementary perspectives. This early research experience will be followed by a thesis on a different topic; in the case of IGERT fellows the thesis project will be co-advised and cross-disciplinary. Internships will provide additional training experience. Cross-departmental research seminars and student-run seminars, regional workshops, yearly retreats, and an active visitor program will foster a highly cooperative, diverse, cross-disciplinary training environment.
IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the multidisciplinary backgrounds and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing new, innovative models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. In the third year of the program, awards are being made to nineteen institutions for programs that collectively span all areas of science and engineering supported by NSF. The intellectual foci of this specific award reside in the Directorates for Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Engineering; Computer and Information Science and Engineering; and Education and Human Resources. « less
