21st Century Science Initiative

Studying Complex Systems

The Complex Systems program supports scholarship and research directed toward the development of theoretical and mathematical tools that can be applied to the study of complex, adaptive, nonlinear systems. It is anticipated that research funded in this program will address issues in fields such as biology, biodiversity, climate, demography, epidemiology, technological change, economic development, governance, or computation. While the program's emphasis is on the development and application of theoretical models used in these research fields and not on particular fields per se, JSMF is particularly interested in projects attempting to apply complex systems approaches to meaningful problems. Proposals attempting to apply complex system tools and models to problems where such approaches are not yet considered usual or mainstream (for example, differentiating normal physiology from disease) are encouraged.

View the Complex Systems Advisory Board