The program

CNS-NRTUnderstanding complex networked systems is key to solving some of the most vexing problems confronting humankind, from discovering how dynamic brain connections give rise to thoughts and behaviors, to detecting and preventing the spread of misinformation or unhealthy behaviors across a population. Graduate training, however, typically occurs in one of two dimensions: experimental and observational methods in a specific area such as biology and sociology, or in general methodologies such as machine learning and data science.

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With more and more students seeking to gain sufficient expertise in mathematical and computational methods on top of domain-specific laboratory and social analysis methodologies, a greater demand for more efficient training is emerging. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to Indiana University will address this growing need with an integrated dual PhD program that trains students to be "bidisciplinary" in Complex Networks and Systems (CNS) and another discipline of their choosing from the natural and social sciences. It will seamlessly integrate traditional education with interdisciplinary hands-on research in a culture of academic and human diversity.

A unique interdisciplinary training for 34 PhD students, 40 summer affiliates and more than 300 participants across the participating PhD programs.

The training

The training program capitalizes on the new Indiana University Network Science Institute (IUNI). The Institute's 165+ faculty members will serve in interdisciplinary PhD program committees to be co-chaired by research mentors from both CNS and the target empirical domain.

Project-driven, team-based research at IUNI will seamlessly integrate academic education with interdisciplinary hands-on scientific and industrial research. Trainees will learn to connect the general-purpose, computational expertise of CNS to the deep, domain-specific research methodologies of the natural, behavioral, and social sciences thus bridging the gap between distinct training cultures. They will be a new breed of STEM scientists that escapes the silos of disciplinary training to address the complex problems of the 21st century.

CNS-NRT Global Perspective

NRT projects point the way to how STEM education ought to be, not how it has been.

Jim Lewis, NSF Director for Education & Human Resources