QLS

Europe/Rome 2018-03-28 11:00:00 2018-03-28 12:00:00 Overview of human population dynamics in the decades to come The human population is currently the largest ever, and it is still increasing. Even though the fertility rate is decreasing, the growth is maintained by the unbalance in the age distribution with a median around age 30y, and by a steadily decreasing mortality rate in developing countries. Uncertainties in the evolution of the main parameters mean that around the year 2100 the human population is predicted to be in a wide range — from 9.6 to 13 billion people at 95% confidence level. This uncertainty corresponds to different scenarios and perspectives for humanity as a whole. In this talk I will give an overview of the basics of the mathematical models, the current data, and the current predictions. ICTP ICTP pio@ictp.it 28 Mar 2018

Europe/Rome 2018-02-19 07:00:00 2018-03-16 21:00:00 Spring College on the Physics of Complex Systems | (smr 3189) ICTP and SISSA, in collaboration with the partner institutions of the Master in the Physics of Complex Systems (http://www.polito.it/pcs) will organize the Spring College on the Physics of Complex Systems from 19 February to 16 March 2018.   Many complex systems in physics, biology, engineering and economics are characterized by a large number of interacting degrees of freedom giving rise to a non-trivial collective behavior. The theoretical and computational tools for a quantitative analysis of complex systems are often rooted in modern (statistical, quantum) physics. The Spring College on the Physics of Complex Systems aims to give students the opportunity to get in touch with a selection of topics at the forefront of research during an intensive 4-week program. It consists of 5 courses of 9 lectures each, followed by final written tests. Invited Lecturers: Antonio Celani (ICTP, Trieste) Maurizio Fagotti (ENS, Paris) Chris Mathys (SISSA, Trieste) Mario Nicodemi (U. of Naples Federico II) Angelo Rosa (SISSA, Trieste) Gregory Schehr (LPTMS, Orsay Cedex)   Applicants from all countries that are members of the United Nations, UNESCO or IAEA may attend. Participants should have an adequate working knowledge of English. Candidates are required to solicit recommendation letters to be sent by their supervisors in support of their application. As a rule, travel and subsistence expenses of the participants should be borne by their home institutions. However, limited funds are available to partially support some participants, who are nationals of, and working in, a developing country, and who are not more than 45 years old. Such support is limited and candidates should make every effort to secure support for their travel, at least partial. Attendance of lectures and completion of the final written tests are mandatory for those who are granted ICTP funding. There is no registration fee.     ICTP ICTP pio@ictp.it 19 Feb 2018 - 16 Mar 2018

Europe/Rome 2018-05-07 08:00:00 2018-05-11 22:00:00 Conference on Collective Behavior | (smr 3201) In nature, collective behaviour is a widespread phenomenon that spans many systems at different length- and timescales. Cells forming complex tissues, social insects such as ants creating dynamical structures using their own bodies, fish schools and bird flocks with their synchronous and coordinated motion are prototypical examples of the emergent self-organization which arises from local interactions among a large number of individuals. Unravelling the underlying principles and mechanisms through which such a macroscopic complexity is achieved is a fundamental challenge in biological sciences. Collective behaviour has become a unifying concept in a range of disciplines—from the spontaneous ordering of spins in ferromagnetic systems in physics, to the emergence of herding behaviour in economy, to the consensus dynamics in social sciences. Furthermore, enormous potential lies in the field of robotics in which, drawing inspiration from natural swarms, artificial collectives can be created with the abilities of the natural ones. A range of techniques have developed over recent years which allow unprecedented acquisition of quantitative empirical data, together with an enormous influx of theoretical concepts and models of collective behaviour. This upsurge enabled scientists from biology, physics, and robotics to start tackling intensively many of the open issues in this field: How is information transferred through a group? What is the structure of the underlying interaction and communication network? What is the role of the inter-individual differences (physiological, social, etc.) in a group decision-making? What is the relationship between organisms and their habitat? However, except on very rare occasions, different disciplines continue to address these problems along separate lines. Recent rapid progress in the collective behaviour field presents a well-timed opportunity to initiate a fruitful interdisciplinary discussion. The goal of this conference is to bring together experts from different scientific fields—biology, physics and engineering—to help identify new cross-disciplinary challenges, to boost the development of new ideas, and to foster the birth of an interdisciplinary community working in this field.   Invited Speakers include: Lucy Aplin (University of Oxford) Nicolas Bredeche (UPMC) Andrea Cavagna (CNR, Rome) Hugues Chaté (CEA) Gonzalo De Polavieja (Champalimaud Foundation) Audrey Dussutour (Université Toulouse III) Ofer Feinerman (Weizmann Institute of Science) Francesco Ginelli (University of Aberdeen) Deborah M. Gordon (Stanford University) Roderich Gross (University of Sheffield) Takashi Ikegami (University of Tokyo) M. Cristina Marchetti (Syracuse University) Patrizio Mariani (Technical University of Denmark) James Marshall (University of Sheffield) Thierry Mora (ENS) Melanie E. Moses (University of New Mexico) Thomas Schmickl (University of Graz) Ariana Strandburg-Peshkin (Max Planck Institute for     Ornithology) Guy Theraulaz (Université Toulouse III) Shashi Thutupalli (SCSLM, NCBS, ICTS) Colin Torney (University of Glasgow) Tamás Vicsek (Eötvös University Budapest) Aleksandra Walczak (ENS) Justin Werfel (Harvard University)   ICTP ICTP pio@ictp.it 7 May 2018 - 11 May 2018

Europe/Rome 2018-05-14 08:00:00 2018-05-25 22:00:00 Advanced Workshop on Nonequilibrium Systems in Physics, Geosciences, and Life Sciences | (smr 3203) Applications are open! deadline for applications (no financial support and no visa needed): 31 March 2018 (deadline for applications requesting financial support and visa needed expired on 15 February 2018)   Statistical mechanics and thermodynamics provide nowadays a comprehensive picture of the properties of equilibrium and near-equilibrium systems. Yet most phenomena occur out of equilibrium – for example nonequilibrium is essential for sustaining life or fluid motions – and our understanding of nonequilibrium systems is comparatively poorer and limited. At the same time, the revolution in information technologies has provided a wealth of quantitative data on complex systems whose fundamental laws are yet unknown to us. These two related domains are one of the great frontiers of contemporary science, both from the theoretical standpoint and for a multitude of practical applications. This research area has a strong interdisciplinary flavor and has special relevance for physics, geosciences, and life sciences. The understanding of complex, high-dimensional and non-equilibrium systems raises many challenges: · How does a complex system respond to perturbations? · How to construct and evaluate models across a hierarchical ladder of complexity? · How to deal with multiple scales in space and in time? · How to test theories and models against limited and often noisy observational data? · How to merge effectively models and data? · How to describe and predict large fluctuations and extreme events? · How do patterns emerge in the self-organization of complex systems? · How to study fluctuations in reversible and irreversible systems? The workshop aims to approach these problems taking advantage of results, tools, and ideas coming from a diverse range of scientific disciplines, with the goal of advancing our knowledge and foster cross fertilization. Speakers include: M. Baiesi, Italy L. Biferale, Italy G. Biroli, France A. Celani, Italy S. Ciliberto, France S. Cocco, France L. Cugliandolo, France L. De Cruz, Belgium E. Domany, U.S.A. E. Frey, Germany K. Gawedsky, France A. Gritsun, Russian Federation R. Harries, U.K. A. Jelic, Italy F. Kucharski, Italy T. Kuna, U.K. J. Kurchan, France A. Laio, Italy B. Machta, U.S.A. C. Maes, Belgium C. Mejia-Monasterio, Spain I. Nemenmann, U.S.A. A. Politi, U.K. D. Ruelle, France S. Sarkar, U.S.A. D. Schwab, U.S.A. U. Seifert, Germany T. Sharpee, U.S.A. S. Suweis, Italy M. Transtrum, U.S.A. E. Vanden-Eijnde, U.S.A. S. Vannitsem, Belgium A. Vulpiani, Italy J. Yorke, U.S.A. ICTP ICTP pio@ictp.it 14 May 2018 - 25 May 2018

Europe/Rome 2018-05-21 08:00:00 2018-05-25 22:00:00 Conference on the Complex Interactions of Light and Biological Matter: Experiments meet Theory | (smr 3120) DEADLINE for requesting participation: 5 MARCH 2018 ORGANIZERS: G. Kaminski Schierle, Cambridge University, U.K. A. Painelli, University of Parma, Italy LOCAL ORGANIZERS: L. Grisanti, SISSA/ICTP, Trieste Italy A. Hassanali, ICTP, Trieste, Italy A Conference for experimentalists and theoreticians investigating the photophysics and photochemistry behind the interaction of light with the organic material that make up living systems. This Conference will be a venue for scientists from all over the world working in biochemistry, physical chemistry and physics to discuss interactions between light and biological matter or its molecularbuilding blocks. Synergy among experimentalists and theoreticians is crucial to understand the diversity of phenomena and the fundamental processes that govern the complex interaction of light with living matter. The programme will include oral keynote invited presentations on the most recent developments, given both by high-profile senior scientists and junior researchers as well as contributed short talks and poster presentations. CALL FOR CONTRIBUTED ABSTRACTS: In the application form, all applicants are invited to submit an Abstract for a poster presentation. A limited number of contributed Abstracts will be selected by the Organizing Committee for a short oral presentation.   TOPICS: • Theoretical advances inmodelling electronic excited states in biologically-relevant systems, including charge and energy transfer processes; • Photophysics and photochemistry of soft matter through time-dependent spectroscopic techniques; • State-of-the-artdevelopments andapplications of linear and nonlinear optical techniques for the imaging of biological systems in cells and tissues. • Emerging fluorescence and luminescence phenomena in proteins and biological systems.   SPEAKERS INCLUDE: M. Aschi, L'Aquila, Italy M. Barbatti, Marseille, France K. Belfield, New Jersey, U.S.A. S. Boxer, Stanford, U.S.A. J. Dasgupta, Mumbai, India M. Di Donato, Florence, Italy W. Domcke, Garching, Germany N. Doslic, Zagreb, Croatia M. Garavelli, Bologna, Italy E. Gazit, Tel-Aviv, Israel M. Hariharan, Kerala, India R. Improta, CNR/IBB, Naples, Italy A.H. Marcus, Oregon, U.S.A. B. Mennucci, Pisa, Italy H. Okur, EPFL Lausanne, Switzerland N. Rega, Naples, Italy B. Rossi, ELETTRA Trieste, Italy F. Santoro, ICCOM-CNR Pisa, Italy Y, Taghipour Azar, Tehran, Iran I. Tavernelli, IBM Zurich, Switzerland E. Vauthey, Geneva, Switzerland R. Venkatramani, Mumbai, India N. Ventosa, ICMAB Barcelona, Spain ICTP ICTP pio@ictp.it 21 May 2018 - 25 May 2018