My Research and Teaching Approach

My main research interest are Complex Systems, their taxonomy and how well they map onto each other. While there is a lot of research into Complex Systems in particular, there is no cohesive concept of how to describe them in general and how much two systems are alike or not. In the contemporary context of an acute need for sustainability and swift response to imminent crises such as global warming, pandemics and economic system disruptions, the focus on responsible decision making, ethical risk assessment and mitigation at all organizational levels is an overarching goal.  For decades now we know that understanding complex systems means a better grasping of who we are and our environment not just as individuals but as humanity. Nowadays, in our increasingly interconnected world facing challenges like global warming, pandemics, economic and financial crises, the study of complex systems constitutes the foundation for understanding, modelling and predicting the dynamics of phenomena spanning on multiple scales and exhibiting emergent properties. This subject exploded in the last few years due in part to the availability and capacity to analyze Big Data.

Although we are learning more every day, our understanding of our world is still quite fragmented. Subjects like biology, math, history are taught separately. But the world is not divided like that, it is interconnected. Science is moving in this direction already, shifting toward systems thinking, a way of looking at things not as isolated parts, but as a dynamic “whole”. And that’s essential in a complex world where our lives are equally intricate.

Still, most of us cannot grasp what “complex” really means. But what if we could build that intuition? Not just for scientists, but for everyone: for entrepreneurs, farmers, architects, children. The goal is to show how one can compare complex systems and learn from them. I am looking for systems that are similar enough to transfer insights between them. This way we can “borrow” understanding from one system to make sense of another. And where better to look for inspiration than nature, full of complex and constantly evolving systems? From a pedagogical point of view, interdisciplinary teaching and learning is becoming a norm in education, both in high school and at the university level. Using analogies as a pedagogical tool in the classroom is one of the first steps towards the integration between subjects.

Analogies and metaphors are useful for clearer explanations especially when students face an unfamiliar phenomenon or need to analyze mechanisms in the system they have not seen before. In this case, professors can rely on examples from similar systems which are already familiar to the students.

Exploring the extent to which the two compared systems are similar and, therefore, to what extent the conclusions about the known system can be transferred to the unknown system help develop the students’ critical thinking.