RPI Gets $16.75 Million to Be Spent on “Social and Cognitive Networks”
RPI officials announced today that they will be launching a new interdisciplinary research center to study network science, after receiving $16.75 million from the Army Research Laboratory (and another $18.75 million expected at a later date). This sounds really cool, but we had no idea what network science is… and the article didn’t help a whole lot. In fact, the article said that the field isn’t well defined, and “the centers will be in the leading position to define this new discipline in all its complexity,” according to Szymanski, the professor who will be leading this new initiative.
We looked it up, and this definition is from the National Research Council (via the USMA):
“the study of network representations of physical, biological, and social phenomena leading to predictive models…Initiation of a field of network science would…provide a body of rigorous results [to] improve predictability of engineering design…and also speed up basic research…â€Â
So, our best interpretation of that is: research about how this abstract notion of a “network” could be improved to make research more efficient. Now, if you’re like us, you’re probably wondering why the military was interested in this. According to Wikipedia, these are the goals of studying network science:
• Mathematical models of network behavior to predict performance with network size, complexity, and environment • Optimized human performance required for network-enabled warfare • Networking within ecosystems and at the molecular level in cells.
In other words, since humans have to use various networks to wage war, we should try to understand how they work in different environments so that we can optimize warfare. We’re still not too sure how molecular networks come into play, but if one of you can help us, that would be great!
The RPI Center will be focusing on five specific areas:
- human interactions and the underlying technological infrastructure they utilize
- organizational networks and how knowledge, particularly in the Army, is spread from peer to peer
- the study of adversary networks, such as terrorist organizations
- trust in social networks
- the impact of human error on social networks
All in all, we think this sounds pretty cool, and just wanted to share it with you. After all, it is your money that’s being spent on this research!
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