NETWORKS & DYNAMICS GROUP
I'm lucky and honored to work with a talented and motivated group of students and researchers. All of us form the Networks & Dynamics group at IFISC. We are interested in different aspects of complex systems modelling at the interface between Network Theory and Dynamical Systems . Our group has strong collaboration ties with friends and colleagues at IFISC and beyond. Currently, such group is formed by
Dr Lucas Lacasa (PI) | That would be me.
Dr Lluis Arola-Fernandez (Postdoctoral Researcher, DYNDEEP project) | Networks, Statistical Physics and Machine Learning
Ms Mar Cuevas (Phd student, FPI MISLAND project, co-supervised with Dr Victor M Eguiluz) | Ecological Networks
Ms Annalisa Caligiuri (PhD student, FPI MdM funded, co-supervised with Dr Tobias Galla) | Networks, Dynamics and Statistical Physics
Mr Jorge Medina (PhD student, FPI MdM funded, co-supervised with Dr Victor M Eguiluz) | Data Science
Mr Pedro Jiménez (PhD student, FPI MdM funded, co-supervised with Dr Miguel Cornelles Soriano) | Networks, Dynamics and Machine Learning
Mr Javier Marín (MSc student, co-supervised with Dr Lluis Arola-Fernández) | Temporal Networks
Mr Arnau Vivet (MSc student, co-supervised with Dr Lluis Arola-Fernandez) | Deep Learning in decentralized settings
Alumni
Former members of my group (both at IFISC and at my previous institutions QMUL and UPM) include
Main supervision of PhD students: Ryan Flanagan (QMUL), Iacopo Iacovacci (QMUL), Angel Nuñez (UPM)
Second supervision of PhD students (mainly at QMUL): Oliver Williams (first supervisor: Vito Latora), Gabriele Di Bona (first supervisor: Vito Latora), Andrea Santoro (first supervisor: Enzo Nicosia), Daniele Riccio (first supervisor: Martin Benning), Silvia Rognone (first supervisor: Enzo Nicosia)
MSc students: Kaloyan Danovski (IFISC), Daniel Cebrián (IFISC), Alvaro de la Fuente (UPM), David Sepulveda (UPM), Bernat Serra (UPM), Simon Wiggings (QMUL), Damien Cathro (QMUL), Oliver Richardson (QMUL), Ivan sokolenko (QMUL), Leonardo di Gaetano (Univ. di Catania /QMUL Erasmus)
ABOUT ME
I'm a Theoretical Physicist interested in developing methods for the analysis of Complex Systems. My current topics of interest include Networks, Dynamics, and their interfaces. I use tools from Dynamical Systems Theory, Time Series Analysis, Network Theory, Statistical Physics and Machine Learning to analyse the onset of Complexity and Criticality emerging in physical, socio-technical and biological systems, as well as to develop innovative methods for Data Analysis, a topic for which I was awarded an EPSRC Early Career Fellowship and was the recipient of the 2019 International Prize in Formal Sciences, awarded by USERN. I'm currently centred in exploring the conceptual interface between Structure and Dynamics, e.g. developing a dynamical theory of temporal networks, or using tools from networks and statistical physics to understand better deep neural networks and the onset of learning. Besides my theoretical work, applications of current interest include real-world modelling of socio-technical systems, quantitative linguistics and applied AI.
I graduated (BSc+MSc) in Theoretical Physics from Complutense University in 2004 got my PhD in Physics of Complex Systems from Technical University of Madrid in 2009. I am currently a CSIC Tenured Senior Research Scientist at IFISC, a joint research Physics Institute of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB). Between 2013-2021, I was Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and then Reader in Applied Mathematics at the School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London. Even before that, I was Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics at the School of Aeronautics, Technical University of Madrid (UPM, 2010-2013). I have also been an Associate Research Fellow at Kings College London and held visiting/guest positions at other institutions including CBPF (Brazil, 2009), Oxford (Physics department, 2012) or UCLA (Mathematics department, 2017).
I have published about 80 peer-reviewed publications, including papers in multidisciplinary venues such as PNAS or Nature Communications, Physical journals such as Physical Review X or Physical Review Letters, Mathematical journals such as Nonlinearity, or Computer Science journals such as IEEE TPAMI. My work has received over 6000 citations (h-index = 35) and has been highlighted in over 200 feature articles in the media.
I have taught throughout higher education (Bsc, MSc, and PhD-level courses) since 2010. I have taught Physics and Computer Science modules at Technical University of Madrid (Spain), Maths courses at Queen Mary University of London (UK), and Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge (UK). Now I teach Data Analysis and Machine Learning at IFISC's MSc in Physics of Complex Systems.
At IFISC, I lead the Networks & Dynamics group.
