We live in a complex world and are surrounded by complex systems. From a biological cell, made of thousands of different molecules that work together seamlessly, to our global society; a network of almost eight billion individuals that try to work and live together. These complex systems display endless signatures of order, disorder, self-organisation and self-annihilation. Understanding this complexity is one of the biggest challenges of our time.

Most complex systems are not made of identical and indistinguishable components, as for instance gases or magnets are; each gene in a cell, each computer in a network or individual in an organization has its own characteristic behavior and provides unique value and contributions to the systems in which they are constituents. More importantly, in complex systems the interactions form exquisite networks, each component providing feedback pathways resulting in non-linear dynamics among the selected interaction partners. It is not just complicated, it is complex and it is beautiful.

In this talk I will discuss how this complexity emerges at the edge of chaos, we will peek into the collective behaviour of crowds of people, the intricacies of the immune system, the inner workings of organizations and the (un-)importance of the kingpins of criminal networks, all ‘magically’ emerging from the simple rules of Nature.

Keynote topics

1. Can we predict the future? The limits of data and AI
2. From Molecule to Man, what makes us who we are
3. Criminal Networks disruption paradox
4. The Simplicity of Complexity
5. Quantum Biology: to smell, to wander, to wonder
6. On growth and form, from fractals to corals

Biography

Peter Sloot is a professor of Complex Adaptive Systems at the University of Amsterdam, the founding director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Amsterdam, and previous director of the Complexity Institute in Singapore. Trained as a chemist and physicist he obtained his PhD at the Dutch Cancer Institute and worked for over 40 years unravelling complex systems through computational modelling and simulation. Peter is a TEDx presenter, a frequent public speaker and enthusiast science popularizer.