Center for modeling adaptive mechanisms in living systems under stress

We propose consolidating a multidisciplinary complexity center that develops unifying computational approaches to studying living systems under stress -- from cells to ecosystems.

The Center´s overarching aim is to decipher universal principles of adaptive mechanisms in living systems under stress, explaining resistance, resilience, stability, multiple states, and tipping points.

We will intertwine two pioneering research approaches, 1) employing an integrated multilateral process involving experiments, network inference models, and process-based dynamical models to 2) explore living systems under stress across biological scales and disciplines.

In the Center, we will bring together system-thinking biologists, mathematicians, and complexity scientists in targeted workshops, collaborating with affiliated empirical research teams on questions including overcoming antibiotic resistance in harmful bacteria, achieving stress resistance in crop plants, and responses of northern ecosystems to global change, and creating a suite of graduate-level courses focused on integrative system thinking and computational tools applicable to living systems across organizational scales.

Exposing core principles of living systems´ adaptive behavior propels the paradigmatic shift from analyzing each system in isolation toward a rigorous systems perspective, with transformative effects on how scientists approach environmental and societal challenges and intriguing research questions.