URoL:EN: Towards a unified theory of regulatory functions and networks across biological and social systems

Complex organizational structures range from the very small (such as cells) to the very large (such as a system of government), and maintaining these structures requires a lot of energy and resources. Consider, for example, the part of the US legal system that is devoted to handling lawsuits and resolving conflicts. The structure of the legal system includes the law itself, the attorneys, judges, and all the other people involved in bringing a lawsuit forward and ensuring that it is resolved.

As a result, US companies spend a lot of funds on litigation alone. In US colleges, administrative spending is comparable with instructional spending and has been cited as a key factor in the increasing tuition of US universities. The continuing growth of these kinds of costs is a major challenge, but they aren't understood very well.

When these costs are studied, they are often viewed as hidden or unintended expenses that are unique to the systems in which they are found. The research supported by this grant develops a unified theoretical framework for studying regulatory mechanisms across different kinds of systems, from single cells to entire societies. The research improves society by suggesting ways to make the organization of institutions, such as companies, universities and governments, more efficient.

Regulatory functions and mechanisms are a necessary, essential, and ubiquitous feature across all biological, social, and mechanical systems. Bacteria have regulatory genes, companies have managers, and car engines have engine control units. Indeed, the challenge for all complex adaptive systems that aim to survive in multi-faceted and competitive environments is to optimally manage internal functions and interactions.

The presence of regulatory mechanisms in complex systems is therefore a universal rule of life, and network structures emerge under the rule of life. This grant develops a unified science of regulatory functions and their associated emergent structures to answer questions such as: What causes an increase in regulatory costs? Can we predict the amount of regulatory costs an organism or organization needs, based on its size, function, and complexity?

Is it necessary to grow the administrative or regulatory functions of a system to ensure the continued functioning of the system, or is it an unnecessary burden? This research develops scientific measurements to determine the appropriate or optimal size and network structure of bureaucracy for a system to perform its tasks. The research takes place in two steps: 1) gathering and organizing datasets that span biological and social systems; and 2) using these datasets to develop a theory for regulatory structures across a wide range of systems.

The theory will start from a mathematical framework that describes cost as a function of the size and complexity of a system and integrate this theory with new results and models of the functional diversity of organizations and their structures.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.