"Non-equilibrium statistical physics of populations in biology, economics and the social sciences"

Date: April 8th and April 9th 2014

Venue: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester

The School of Physics and Astronomy (Schuster Building) is number 54 on the campus map.

Organisers: Rosalind Allen (Edinburgh), Richard Blythe (Edinburgh), Tobias Galla (Manchester) and Alan McKane (Manchester).

Overview

The meeting is not a typical scientific meeting. Instead, in the spirit of the NetworkPlus project it is designed to encourage participants to identify future trends and important new directions of research. An outcome of the meeting will be a document which we hope will be used by EPSRC to inform their decisions about future research priorities.

The particular emphasis of the meeting will be on the application of non-equilibrium statistical physics of populations in biology, economics and the social sciences. There will be a half-day devoted to each area as follows:

This meeting is more suited to experienced researchers who are interested in the future direction of EPSRC funding in non-equilibrium systems, and we do not recommend that PhD students attend. In any event, EPSRC advise that PhD students cannot be supported from funds of the Network.

Format of each session

For each session we have invited two speakers, who will each give a short 15-minute overview talk, in which they outline their view on the future challenges and opportunities of the respective field. Following these talks there will be time for participants to give short (5 min) pitches/manifestos, and for general discussion.

Participants will then be asked to propose ideas for future topics, elements of a roadmap or manifesto in a sandpit-style session. Subsequently participants will carry out a clustering exercise, and group the ideas so collected into themes or clusters. Participants will then break into groups, each of which takes ownership of one of the clusters of ideas, and develops these further in group work. Each group prepares a short pitch/presentation, either via powerpoint or flipchart, these are then presented to all participants.

The outcome of the workshop will consist of these presentations, they will be the elements of a roadmap/manifesto, a forward-looking document outlining future research strategies in the area of out-of-equilibrium statistical physics of populations in biology, the social sciences and economics.

Invited Speakers;

Economics

Doyne Farmer

http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/people/407

Robert Axtell

http://ineteconomics.org/people/robert-axtell

Social Science

Andreas Flache

http://www.gmw.rug.nl/~flache/

Hilton Root

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/politicaleconomy/people/visitingfellows/root.aspx

Biology

Martin Howard

https://www.jic.ac.uk/staff/martin-howard/index.htm

Joachim Krug

http://www.thp.uni-koeln.de/krug/

 

Registration

To register for the event please fill in the registration form

Travel Expense claims

There is budget for expenses to be claimed via the Univeristy of Warwick, Physics Department. Please fill in the expense form and attach reciepts and send it to;

Kayleigh Lampard

Dept of Physics

University of Warwick

Gibbet Hill Road

Coventry

CV4 7AL

If you bank account is held outside the uk please fill in the foreign bank account form and attach it to your claim. If you hold an indian bank account please fill in the Indian bank account form.

Please see the maximum allowances for costs to be claimed below;

Travel expenses

Up to a maximum of £75.00 for UK participants

Accommodation charges

Up to a maximum of £85.00 per person per night.

As usual train tickets have to be standard class, and the total expenses for travel, subsistence and accommodation must not exceed £160 per participant. Lunches for registered participants will be provided free of charge.

 

For any queries please contact;

Alan McKane

alan.mckane@manchester.ac.uk