Complexity and Connection Science Lab
The Complexity and Connection Science Lab is a transdisciplinary research laboratory bringing together researchers from natural, behavioral and social sciences.
We work on theories and methods to understand the structures and dynamics of complex systems and investigate computational tools that aim to securely and meaningfully augment human intelligence.
In a lot of our work we use mathematical modelling, computational simulation and data analysis to understand our world. But we also reflect critically on quantitative and reductionist approaches to keep a clear eye on the human element in today’s fast-paced and technology-infused world.
We apply the methods we develop to real and virtual systems to either confirm existing knowledge about those or provide completely new understanding of their inner relationships and evolutionary dynamics. Some of our work results in computational models and interactive tools that are aimed at supporting human sense- and decision-making to create a new and meaningful form of machine augmented intelligence.
Social movements that break out on social media, misinformation ecosystems that affect social cohesion, policy interventions to respond to an ongoing public health emergency like COVID-19, a serendipitous scientific discovery that turns into a billion dollar innovation, the personality of a human individual over its lifetime, the overwhelmingly small scales and feedback cycles of the earth and climate system; all these can be looked at as complex systems and are within the realm of what we have studied or are currently studying.
We are running an open lab policy, which means we welcome anyone to join any of our monthly lab meetings. Please get in touch if you want to visit us or if you want to present something to stimulate a discussion with our research team.
To understand the technical direction but also the values that underpin a lot of our work we recommend a look at our recent research outputs and science communication:
- When Coincidence has Meaning: Understanding Emergence Through Networks of Information Token Recurrence
- What does ChatGPT return about human values? Exploring value bias in ChatGPT using a descriptive value theory
- It’s not just Twitter. The whole Internet is broken and we’d better fix it soon
- The Veracity Grand Challenge in Computing – A Perspective from Aotearoa New Zealand
- Why equivalence and invariance are both different and essential for scientific studies of culture: A discussion of mapping processes and theoretical implications
- Tracing the evolution of personality cognition in early human civilisations: A computational analysis of the Gilgamesh epic
- A computational approach to study the gap and barriers between science and policy