Bristol Centre for Complexity Sciences (BCCS) Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT): Proposal for renewal

复杂性科学的主题领域是当今许多科学、工程、医学和社会挑战的核心。在从单个细胞到大脑再到社会昆虫群体的生物尺度上，人们看到了由简单组件组成的结构，这些结构展示了复杂的紧急特性。生物和工程中复杂系统的适应性和弹性，从免疫系统和食物网到互联网和电网，都对理解和改进提出了挑战。我们正在发展一个理论和计算专业知识的中心，它与一系列应用领域(轮辐)相互连接，每个领域都与一个大学研究主题有关。各个应用领域推动了理论和计算中心的发展，反过来又反馈到其他应用领域，形成良性循环。理论中心由国商银行的核心员工以及计算机科学、数学和统计学的同事组成。这些“分支机构”目前分成三个领域(生物科学、工程和分子科学)，有来自许多部门的大量工作人员提出问题、教授学生和指导研究。我们正在考虑将特定领域纳入社会科学，作为2010/2011年的进一步发言。通过创建一个充满活力的中心，我们已经成为布里斯托尔复杂性科学活动的焦点。如果没有这样一个中心，国商银行发生的许多工作不可能发生在布里斯托尔的单一纪律部门。我们已经看到了创建CDT的影响，预计未来几年还会进一步增长。布里斯托尔大学的复杂性科学系本身并不是一个系，也没有这一领域的本科课程。为了进行复杂性科学的研究生研究，学生必须首先遵循一个系统和连贯的培训计划，该计划涵盖了各种方法。因此，在最初的应用中，集中提供授课课程被认为是必不可少的，我们迄今的经验证实了这一选择的智慧。MREs/PhD模式在研究培训的严谨性和质量、视角的广度以及可转移技能(如团队合作和演示)的发展方面为学生提供了许多优势。拟议研究领域的性质本质上是跨学科的，要求博士生不仅仅做一个研究项目。他们需要获得技能，使他们能够适应各种具有挑战性的研究问题，并在充满活力的氛围中与团队合作。

The thematic area of Complexity Sciences lies at the heart of many of today's scientific, engineering, medical and societal challenges. Across biological scales from a single cell to the brain to social insect colonies, one sees structures composed of simple components exhibiting complex emergent properties. The adaptability and resilience of complex systems in both biology and engineering, from the immune system and food webs to the Internet and power grids, pose challenges of understanding and improvement.We are growing a hub of theoretical and computational expertise that interconnects with a spectrum of application areas (spokes), each of which is linked to a University Research Theme. Individual application areas drive theoretical & computational developments in the hub, which in turn feed back into other application areas in a virtuous circle. The theory hub consists of core BCCS staff as well as colleagues in Computer Science, Mathematics & Statistics. The 'spokes' are currently grouped within three areas (Biological Sciences, Engineering & Molecular Sciences), with a large number of staff from many departments contributing problems, teaching students, and supervising research. We are considering the incorporation of specific areas in Social Sciences as a further spoke during 2010/2011.By creating a vibrant centre, we have become the focus of activity in Complexity Sciences within Bristol. Without such a centre, much of the work that happens in BCCS could not happen in the single discipline Departments in Bristol. We have already seen the impact of creating a CDT and expect this to grow much further during the coming years.Complexity Sciences is not a Department in its own right at the University of Bristol and there is no undergraduate programme in this area. In order to carry out postgraduate research in Complexity Sciences, students must first follow a structured and coherent training programme that covers a large variety of methodologies. Thus centralised provision of a Taught Programme was deemed to be essential in the initial application, and our experience to date confirms the wisdom of this choice.The MRes/PhD model offers many advantages to the student, in terms of the rigour and quality of the research training, the breadth of perspective and the development of transferable skills such as team working and presentation. The nature of the proposed research area is intrinsically interdisciplinary and requires PhD students to do more than just one research project. They need to acquire the skills that will allow them to adapt to a variety of challenging research questions, as well as to work collaboratively in a team, amid a vibrant atmosphere.