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Emergence of Structure in Networks of Agents with Homeostatic Properties

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Jun 02

Date and time: 2 June 2022, 15:00 – 16:00 CEST (UTC +2)
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Egert, Bernstein Center Freiburg
Title: Emergence of Structure in Networks of Agents with Homeostatic Properties

Where: Digital Futures hub, Osquars Backe 5, floor 2 at KTH main campus
Directions: https://www.digitalfutures.kth.se/contact/how-to-get-here/

A maximum of 50 participants are onsite at the Digital Futures hub. First-come, first-served basis.

Zoom: https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/69560887455
Meeting ID: 695 6088 7455
Password: 755440

Host/administrator: Arvind Kumar

Picture of Ulrich EgetAbstract: Nodes in probably most real-world networks have an autonomous ability (agency) to control their interaction with other nodes. We developed a model of agentic nodes (agents) that migrate and grow to adjust an internal state property that depends on reciprocal interaction with the embedding network.

Homeostatic regulation of activity-dependent functions for migration velocity and growth rate creates continuously dynamic networks with a range of properties and structures observed in real-world networks. These hierarchical networks show pronounced clustering defining mesoscale structure and stability without topological hubs. This structure is subject to external influences (top-down) acting on node-level properties, illustrating how external factors can modulate self-organization.

Our results suggest a new perspective on the development of spatial structure, connectivity and the impact of external influences in many natural systems.

Bio: Ulrich Egert is a neuroscientist by training and currently a Full Professor for Biomicrotechnology at the Dept. of Microsystems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Freiburg, Germany. He is a director of the Bernstein Center Freiburg, Freiburg’s inter-faculty centre for Computational Neuroscience, and a founding member of the BrainLinks-BrainTools Excellence Clusters on neurotechnology.

Egert is known for his research on the analysis of neuronal and myocardial networks, on the technology required to monitor such networks (microelectrode arrays) as well as on new tools to analyze and interpret the neural activity data. His recent publications have demonstrated the self-organization of neuronal networks structure and dynamics in vitro and in silico, their reorganization in epilepsy and the functional consequences of modular network structures.

Link to the website of Ulrich Egert