News

October 2022: Adilson E. Motter receives the Senior Scientific Award from the Complex Systems Society.

September 2022: Adilson E. Motter and Renaud Lambiotte chair the 2022 SIAM Workshop on Network Science.

September 2022: Ana Elisa D. Barioni and Thomas Mckenzie-Smith are awarded Data Science Fellowships from Northwestern University’s Data Science Initiative.

July 2022: Adilson E. Motter starts his term as President of the Network Science Society.

March 2022: Yuanzhao Zhang is awarded the 2021 Dissertation Award in Statistical and Nonlinear Physics.

September 2021: Jorin Graham is awarded an NIH Physical Genomics Predoctoral Training Program Fellowship.

July 2021: Yuanzhao Zhang has just been selected as one of the three winners of the 2021 SIAM Student Paper Prize for the paper "Symmetry-Independent Stability Analysis of Synchronization Patterns" published in the December 2020 issue of SIAM Review.

June 2021:Yanxuan (Charlotte) Shao receives the 2020-21 outstanding teaching assistant award.

March 2021: Chloe T. Calderon is awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

November 2020: Our work on extreme gene-environment antagonism is featured in the cover image of the Biophysical Journal.

September 2020: Adilson E. Motter is elected Fellow of the Network Science Society "for seminal contributions to the study of nonlinear dynamics on networks, including synchronization, cascading failures, synthetic rescues, control, symmetry phenomena, and applications to biological networks, metamaterials, microfluidics, and power grids."

June 2020: Fiona Brady receives the departmental award for Outstanding Senior Thesis in Physics and Astronomy and is elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.

May 2020: Yuanzhao Zhang is highlighted in the Northwestern TGS Spotlight.

April 2020: Yuanzhao Zhang named 2020 Schmidt Science Fellow.

April 2020: Yuanzhao Zhang receives the 2020 SIAM Student Chapter Certificate of Recognition.

March 2020: Our work on converse symmetry breaking is featured in the cover image of Nature Physics.

January 2020: Zachary G. Nicolaou wins first place in the 2019 Northwestern Scientific Images Contest.

June 2019: Fiona Brady receives the Outstanding Undergraduate in Graduate Coursework Award in Physics and Astronomy.

May 2019: Alex Mercanti receives the 2019 SIAM Student Chapter Certificate of Recognition.

December 2018: Yuanzhao Zhang is first place in the 2018 Northwestern Scientific Images Contest.

September 2018: Takashi Nishikawa is elected APS Fellow.

June 2018: Adilson E. Motter joins the Executive Committee of the Network Science Society as Vice President and Secretary.

April 2018: Talks of 2017 Network Frontier Workshop are made available on YouTube.

December 2017: Group organizes the 4th edition of the Network Frontier Workshop.

May 2017: Vicky Yang receives Red Sock Award (SIAG/Dynamical Systems) for joint work at DS17.

August 2016: Adilson E. Motter receives Scialog Award jointly with Kimberly Reynolds.

April 2016: Daniel Case is awarded a Presidential Fellowship, which will support his graduate research on microfluidic networks.

March 2016: Yang (Angela) Yang receives the Topical Group on Statistical and Nonlinear Physics (GSNP) Student Speaker Award at the APS March Meeting 2016 for her talk entitled Hamiltonian-Based Model to Describe the Nonlinear Physics of Cascading Failures in Power-Grid Networks.

March 2016: Our group leads a Northwestern team receiving a $3.2 million ARPA-E Grant.

January 2016: Adilson E. Motter is selected Outstanding Referee of the APS.

December 2015: Group organizes the 3rd edition of the Network Frontier Workshop.

November 2015: Adilson E. Motter is elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

October 2015: Takashi Nishikawa and Corey Brady present "Networks All Around!" at the Jr. Science Café series of the Museum of Science and Industry of Chicago. Other collaborators involved in designing and presenting the activity were Luciana Z. Tytenicz (Research Associate) and Adilson E. Motter (Professor), Department of Physics & Astronomy; Kai Orton (Research Assistant Professor), Gabriella Anton (PhD student), and Sebastian Rodriguez (Undergraduate student), School of Education & Social Policy.

June 2015: Xiaowen Chen receives the Prize for Distinguished Honors Thesis for her senior thesis entitled "Fractal Geometry of Undriven Dissipative Systems".

March 2015: Adilson E. Motter is awarded a 2015 Simons Fellowship in Theoretical Physics.

The Best Writing on Mathematics cover

January 2015: Motter and Campbell's article Chaos at Fifty is selected as a chapter of The Best Writing on Mathematics 2014.

June 2014: Erik Johnson receives a Northwestern University Undergraduate Research Grant.

June 2014: Xiaowen Chen receives the Katherine L. Krieghbaum Scholarship Award as well as a WCAS Summer Grant. Chen has in addition been elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society, received the prize Outstanding Achievement in Mathematics by a Junior from the Mathematics department, and was selected Best Junior in Physics and Astronomy.

May 2014: Sean P. Cornelius is awarded the 2014 SIAM Student Paper Prize for the paper Realistic Control of Network Dynamics.

May 2014: Thomas P. Wytock receives the 2014 SIAM Student Chapter Certificate of Recognition.

May 2014: Adilson E. Motter is featured among the 30 promising scientists under the age of 40 born in Latin America identified by the Chilean magazine Qué Pasa and the international organization LatinAmericanScience.org.

December 2013: Group organizes the 2nd edition of the Network Frontier Workshop.

Que Pasa cover

November 2013: Motter and Campbell's article Chaos at Fifty is translated into French by Pour la Science.

September 2013: Adilson E. Motter is elected APS Fellow.

August 2013: Joo Sang Lee receives Baxter Young Investigator Award.

July 2013: Adilson E. Motter and Sean P. Cornelius publish the article "Profiting from Nonlinearity and Interconnectivity to Control Networks" on 2Physics.

June 2013: Adilson E. Motter is awarded the Erdös-Rényi Prize in Network Science from the Network Science Society.

May 2013: The Motter Group and Northwestern's OSEP organize the LINKS (LearnIng NetworK Science) activity for the 4th Kits n' Cats Day.

March 2013: Sascha Herrmann is awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

December 2012: Motter and Albert's paper was the most viewed subscription-only Physics Today item in 2012.

December 2012: Daniel Wells receives Chicago Biomedical Consortium (CBC) Scholar Award.

July 2012: Adilson E. Motter and Zachary G. Nicolaou publish the article "First Material with Longitudinal Negative Compressibility" on 2Physics.

June 2012: Joo Sang Lee is awarded a Physical Science-Oncology Center Young Investigators Trans-Network Program research grant.

June 2012: Sascha Herrmann receives the departmental award for Outstanding Senior Thesis in Physics and Astronomy.

April 2012: Joo Sang Lee receives SIAM Student Chapter Certificate of Recognition.

December 2011: Group organizes the Network Frontier Workshop.

Fall 2011: Adilson E. Motter is named Harold H. and Virginia Anderson Professor.

Spring 2011: Sascha Herrmann is elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, is selected Outstanding Junior in Physics and Astronomy and receives Mathematics Outstanding Junior Prize.

April 2011: Alumni Jinich, Lieber, Lizarraga, and Nicolaou opt for Harvard, U of Chicago, Cornell, and Caltech for graduate school, respectively.

April 2011: Thomas Wytock and Danny Wells are awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships.

March 2011: Adilson E. Motter receives NSF CAREER Award.

March 2011: Sagar Sahasrabudhe completes his Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy on widely publicized research.

March 2011: Sascha Herrmann is awarded Goldwater Fellowship and Summer Research Fellowship from Physical Science-Oncology Center.

January 2011: Alumnus Eduardo Altmann takes position as group leader at Max Planck Institute PKS - Dresden.

Summer 2010: Ian Lizarraga and other NU majors speak about their Summer Research Experiences.

August 2010: Thomas Wytock is appointed to the NIH-sponsored Molecular Biophysics Training Program.

August 2010: Joo Sang Lee receives fellowship from the Biotechnology Cluster Program.

July 2010: Adilson E. Motter receives the inaugural Northwestern-Argonne Early Career Investigator Award for Energy Research.

May 2010: Zachary Nicolaou graduates with Honors and receives the departmental award for Outstanding Senior Thesis in Physics and Astronomy.

May 2010: Ian Lizarraga receives Travel Grant to attend UT/ORNL Summer School.

April 2010: Zachary Nicolaou receives NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

April 2010: Ian Lizarraga receives Undergraduate Research Grant.

March 2010: Evanston Township High School student Sarah Peters ranks top two in Junior Science and Humanities Symposium for work done in the Motter group.

February 2010: Sagar Sahasrabudhe receives Travel Grant for APS March Meeting.

January 2010: Northwestern University hosts Heilborn Symposium on Complexity.

January 2010: Motter, Kath and Ott organize Dynamics Days Conference at Northwestern.

Summer 2009: Zachary Nicolaou receives Undergraduate Research Grant and new Academic Year MRSEC fellowship.

September 2009: Sagar Sahasrabudhe is selected as Complexity Conference Oral Presentation Winner.

May 2009: Zachary Nicolaou receives Krieghbaum Scholarship, is selected Outstanding Junior in Physics and Astronomy, and receives Mathematics Outstanding Junior Prize.

April 2009: Adilson E. Motter receives Weinberg Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research.

April 2009: Zachary Nicolaou is awarded Goldwater Fellowship, receives Undergraduate Research Grant, and is elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.

February 2009: Adilson E. Motter is awarded Sloan Research Fellowship.

January 2009: Adilson E. Motter joins Northwestern Institute for Sustainable Practices.

October 2008: Zachary Nicolaou is admitted into the MRSEC Undergraduate Research Program.

September 2008: Sean Cornelius is awarded a TGS Biophysics Fellowship.

June 2008: Seth Myers and Nicole Carlson conclude their Senior Theses and graduate with Honors.

June 2008: Eduardo Altmann receives Otto Hahn medal.

May 2008: Nicole Carlson and Justin Lieber are elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.

February 2008: Adilson E. Motter joins NICO's Executive Committee.

August 2007: Joo Sang Lee receives MRSEC Fellowship.

April 2007: Justin Lieber and Seth Myers receive Undergraduate Research Grants.

March 2007: Eduardo Altmann graduates in Germany with summa cum laude. See joint publications.

November 2006: Adilson E. Motter joins NU MRSEC and Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems as a faculty member.

July 2006: Adilson E. Motter is named Searle Junior Fellow.

June 2006: Adrian Jinich is elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, graduates with Honors, and receives the departmental award for Outstanding Senior Thesis in Physics and Astronomy.

 

Selected Press

Failures in large networks can be prevented with local focus
Northwestern Now (August 8, 2022)
http://...

T&D HIL for Demand Response
FLEXLAB (November, 2021)
http://...

New tool untangles complex dynamics on hypergraphs
Santa Fe Institute (October 26, 2021)
http://...

Diversity can prevent failures in large power grids
Northwestern Now (April 1, 2021)
http://...

Extreme Antagonism Arising from Gene-Environment Interactions
BPS Blog (November 17, 2020)
http://...

This Is The Reason American Politics Are So Polarized
Forbes (October 27, 2020)
http://...

The Dominance of Chaos
Mashable (September 2, 2020)
http://...

Why are US Parties so Polarized?
Northwestern Engineering News (August 25, 2020)
http://...

Why are US Parties so Polarized?
SIAM News (August 25, 2020)
http://...

New model shows how voting behavior can drive political parties apart
Santa Fe Institute News (August 10, 2020)
http://...

Scientists Discover Exotic New Patterns of Synchronization
Quanta Science Podcast (February, 2020)
http://...

Physics shows that imperfections make perfect
Northwestern Now (January 20, 2020)
http://...

Pre-programmed microfluidic systems offer new control capabilities
Northwestern Now (October 23, 2019)
http://...

‘The Big Bang Theory’ finale: Sheldon and Amy’s fictional physics parallels real science
The Conversation (May 16, 2019)
http://...

Grid unlock: simple fixes, better modelling are keys to reliable energy supply
Cosmos Magazine (April 17, 2019)
http://...

Nature Pujiang Innovation Forum article

Scientists Discover Exotic New Patterns of Synchronization
Quanta Magazine (April 4, 2019)
http://...

Two Phases, Two Faces
Physics Buzz (February 7, 2019)
http://...

The Complex Dance of Two-Faced Oscillators
APS Physics Synopsis (January 30, 2019)
http://...

Nature Physics Pujiang Innovation Forum article

All Systems Go in Shanghai for Connecting Innovators
Nature (December 20, 2018)
http://...

The subtle success of a complex mindset
Nature Physics (December 4, 2018)
http://...

Sensitive Dependence on Network Structure: Analog of Chaos and Opportunity for Control
SIAM News (April 2, 2018)
http://...

Mapping the Vulnerability and Strength of the Power Grid
ISEN (November, 2017)
http://...

Scientists pinpoint 'weak spots' that cause mass blackouts
E&E News (November 17, 2017)
http://...

Power grid simulation highlights weak points in North American electrical system
Tech Xplore (November 17, 2017)
http://...

Weak links in US power grid vulnerable in event of catastrophe
New Scientist (November 16, 2017)
http://...

What Causes Cascading Power Grid Failures
IEEE Spectrum (November 16, 2017)
http://...

Looking for a Grid's Weak Spots? Scientists May Have the Answer
Bloomberg Technology (November 16, 2017)
http://...

To Converge You Must Diverge
Helix Magazine (October 7, 2017)
http://...

Power Puzzles: solutions for grid resilience
Empower Magazine (May 2017)
http://...

Visualizing the Grid: new way to imagine grid stability
Empower Magazine (May 2017)
http://...

The Behavior of Blackouts (Podcast in Portuguese)
Revista Pesquisa FAPESP (April 19, 2017)
http://...

Grid Outages from Failures of Power Line Clusters
APS Physics Focus (January 27, 2017)
http://...

Advantage of Diversity: Consensus Because of (not Despite) Differences
SIAM News (January 17, 2017)
http://...

Diversity Breeds Conformity
APS Physics Synopsis (September 7, 2016)
http://...

Leveraging Noise to Control Complex Networks
SIAM News (January 19, 2016)
http://...

Controlling Noisy Dynamics in Biological Networks to Fight Cancer
Serious Science (November 10, 2015)
http://...

Channel Molecular Noise to Keep Cells Healthy
GEN News Highlights (September 18, 2015)
http://...

Network Control: Letting Noise Lead the Way
Science Daily (September 17, 2015)
http://...

The Answer Is the Network. What Is the Question?
Northwestern University Office of Research Annual Report 2014 (February 19, 2015)
http://... New Scientist cover

Long Way Round: When not to Tackle Problems Head-on
New Scientist (January 18, 2014) - cover story
http://... Preview - http://... Full Article

Physicists Find Doubly Transient Chaos can Emerge due to Dissipation
Phys.org (November 22, 2013)
http://...

Chaos Reigns in Unexpected Places
Physics World (November 20, 2013)
http://...

Transiently Chaotic
APS Physics Synopsis (November 7, 2013)
http://...

Upgrading the US Grid - Building a Smart Self-Healing Grid
Power Technology (September 23, 2013)
http://...

Profiting from Nonlinearity and Interconnectivity to Control Networks
2Physics (July 21, 2013)
http://...

Tiny Trouble Spots can Fix Complex Networks
Futurity (July 9, 2013)
http://...

How Network Monitoring Could be Like Fishing
Slashdot (June 28, 2013)
http://...

Keeping Networks Under Control
NU Press Release (June 27, 2013)
http://...

Stabilizing the Electric Grid by Keeping Generators in Sync
Ars Technica (March 13, 2013)
http://...

Improved Synchronicity: Preventive Care for the Power Grid
R&D (March 4, 2013)
http://...

Better Power Grid Synchronization May Enable Smart Grids to Self-recover from Failures
Phys.org (February 22, 2013)
http://...

Niche as a Determinant of Word Fate in Online Groups
Replicated Typo (October 3, 2012)
http://...

Paradoxical Materials Can Expand When Compressed
Scientific American (August 5, 2012)
http://...

How to Make a Metamaterial that Expands Under Pressure and Contracts In Tension
MIT Technology Review (July 12, 2012)
http://...

First Material with Longitudinal Negative Compressibility
2Physics (July 1, 2012)
http://...

Shrink from Tension
Nature Physics (June 29, 2012)
http://...

How to Make a Material that Shrinks When Stretched
Physics World (May 24, 2012)
http://...

Mystifying Materials
NU Press Release (May 23, 2012)
http://...

'Impossible' Material Would Stretch When Compressed
New Scientist (May 22, 2012)
http://...

It's the Network!
NU Press Release (April 18, 2012)
http://...

The Life of the Words (in Portuguese)
Revista Pesquisa FAPESP (July, 2011)
http://...

Five Receive Prestigious Honor for Young Faculty
NU Press Release (May 12, 2011)
http://...

Weinberg Students Named Goldwater Scholars
NU Press Release (May 5, 2011)
http://...

How Network Theory Can Prevent Extinctions
MIT Technology Review (March 11, 2011)
http://...

Saving an Ecosystem by Selecting Against It
The Cavalier Daily (February 16, 2011)
http://...

Saving Food Webs by Subtraction
Physics Today (February 7, 2011)
http://... - see also Physics Today's April Issue.

Unnatural Selection
Science News (January 26, 2011)
http://...

Mathematical Model Could Help Predict and Prevent Future Extinctions
National Science Foundation (January 25, 2011)
http://...

Oust Species to Save Ecosystems
Nature News (January 25, 2011)
http://... - see also Nature's February 3 Issue.

Chaos: Absolute or Relative?
NU Press Release (September 7, 2010)
http://...

Redes Complexas, Solucoes Inusitadas (in Portuguese)
Jornal da Unicamp (August 16, 2010)
http://...

Physicist Honored With Early Career Investigator Award
NU Press Release (July 26, 2010)
http://...

A Delicate Balance: New Study Shows How Networks Keep Themselves in Synch
NU Press Release (May 24, 2010)
http://...

Illusion of the Green Revolution and How to Finally Spark a Real One
CenterPiece (Fall 2009)
http://...

Optical Mushroom: A New Trick for Directional Emission
Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science (October 12, 2009)
http://...

What is Your Environmental Vice?
Northwestern Institute for Sustainable Practices (NiSP) (August 2009)
http://...

Two Faculty Members Are Named Sloan Fellows
NU Press Release (March 5, 2009)
http://...

Metabolic Reactions: Less Is More In Single-celled Organisms
ScienceDaily (December 16, 2008)
http://...

Work with Power Grids Leads to Cell Biology Discovery
NU Press Release (March 18, 2008)
http://...

Stuck with the Flow
Nature Physics (January, 2008)
http://...

Hexenschuss in Europas Rückgrat (in German)
Spiegel Online (November 6, 2006)
http://...

Fighting Big Blackouts
The Industrial Physicist (December-January 2004-2005)
http://...

Schutz von Netzen gegen kaskadenartigen Ausfall (in German)
Max Planck Society (September 21, 2004)
http://...

Removing Nodes in a Network Can Protect Against Cascading Failures
Physics Today (September, 2004)
http://...

Selective Shutdown Protects Nets
Technology Research News (August 25, 2004)
http://...

Defending Networks Against Cascading Failure
Physics News Update (July 22, 2004)
http://...

Chaos in General Relativity
Physics Today (February, 2004)
http://...

Chaos Relatively Robust
Nature (December 18, 2003)
http://...

Relativistic Chaos
Physics News Update (December 3, 2003)
http://...

Equality: Better for Network Security
Chemicals Newsletter (Editorial) (February 27, 2003)
http://...

Electronic Pearl Harbor
The Guardian (February 20, 2003)
http://...

Cascading Failures Could Crash the Global Internet
News Factor (February 6, 2003)
http://...

A New Game for Kevin Bacon to Play
New Scientist (July 13, 2002)
http://...

Kleine Wortwelt (in German)
Wissenschaft Online (July 6, 2002)
http://...

Small Word Network
Nature Science Update (July 2, 2002)
http://...