SFI's Laurent Hébert-Dufresne (@lhd.bsky.social) is the 2026 recipient of the Young Scientist Award for Socio- and Econophysics by the German Physical Society (DPG). Honoring “outstanding original contributions that use physical methods to develop a better understanding of socio-economic problems.”
Some computers are easy to spot — smartphones, laptops, the machines we build. But many natural systems — cells, brains, even turbulent fluids — carry out computations too.
A new paper by SFI’s David Wolpert and Jan Korbel explores these computations encoded in natural dynamic systems.
In this SFI Seminar, Seth Frey from the University of California, Davis, shares observational, experimental, and modeling research on how social systems can change in unpredictable ways, especially when power within a system shifts to power over the system.
Watch Frey’s seminar:
New book by SFI Press: The Economy as an Evolving Complex System IV, a two-volume collection of contributions from leading scholars examining the unprecedented complexity of the global economy.
You can download PDF chapters for free, or purchase physical copies here: sfipress.org/books/eecs-iv
How can we best learn about the world? A new paper by SFI's Marina Dubova (@mdubova.bsky.social) and coauthors applies the scientific method to itself, finding that some common strategies that scientists consider gold standards for designing experiments could perform worse than random choice.
SFI’s Santiago Elena has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.
He joins 62 fellows in the 2026 class. His work explores how RNA viruses adapt to hosts and manipulate cellular resources. Since joining SFI in 2008, he has organized several working groups on virus evolution.
A new study by SFI and MIT researchers shows that as systems grow, from cells to governments, the pace of adding new functions steadily slows. Though they vary in how much they invest in novelty, once new functions exist, subsequent growth follows a universal pattern known as sublinear growth.
Screenshot of the January 2026 issue of the Santa Fe Institute's e-Parallax newsletter.
The latest issue of SFI's monthly e-newsletter is now available. Catch up on recent research, events, and news from the Santa Fe Institute.
Read it here:
mailchi.mp/santafe/sfi-...
Subscribe to receive future issues:
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At SFI, Kemp hopes to leverage the richness of urban-growth data by capturing patterns of behaviors among different groups at various scales, from the individual to the population level.
@jordantkemp.bsky.social
Welcome SFI Program Postdoctoral Fellow Jordan Kemp!
A country’s GDP or a city’s population size represents organizational and individual decisions over time — statistics useful for policymaking, but which hide the complexity stemming from regional variations in choice.
Final week to apply for SFI’s 2026 immersive, summer programs in complexity science:
Apply by Feb 4, 2026
CSSS and GWCSS : www.santafe.edu/engage/learn...
Journalism Fellowship: santafe.edu/journalism-f...
In a new paper, SFI researchers examine the Boltzmann brain, a thought experiment that raises fundamental questions about memory, entropy, and time. The work clarifies how arguments for or against these ideas depend on assumptions about the past that are not fixed by physical laws alone.
SFI President David Krakauer joins Jim Rutt, SFI Trustee Emeritus and Distinguished Fellow, on The Jim Rutt show for a wide-ranging conversation on intelligence, evolution, scientific risk-taking, how we come to understand complex phenomena, and much more.
www.jimruttshow.com/david-krakau...
SFI’s GWCSS program is designed for Ph.D. students pursuing thesis research in computational social science. Participants work closely with peers and faculty to advance their own research and take part in collaborative complexity-based problem solving.
Apply by Feb 4, 2026
santafe.edu/gwcss
A new study co-authored by SFI External Professor Laura Fortunato @anthrolog.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy (University of Oxford) challenges a long-standing claim that polygynous marriage, where men have multiple wives, creates a surplus of men with no prospect of ever marrying.
Advance your research and expand your network at SFI's 2026 CSSS program with lectures, application-focused seminars, and team projects. Participants gain experience in transdisciplinary collaboration and explore real-world questions through complexity science.
Apply by Feb 4, 2026
santafe.edu/csss
In a new Undark op-ed, SFI Resident Professors Brandon Ogbunu and Cris Moore argue that refusing to use AI won’t protect society — and that responsible resistance must begin with understanding how AI works.
Are you a journalist looking to deepen your understanding of complex systems?
Join the 2026 CSSS Journalism Fellowship at SFI, offering a space to study complexity alongside researchers and reflect on science communication from within the field.
Apply by Feb. 4, 2026
santafe.edu/journalism-f...
A human brain runs on about 20 watts, roughly the power required to keep a dim bulb lit. Why can’t computers do the same?
At SFI, a working group convened experts in neuromorphic computing and stochastic thermodynamics to explore how physics could enable faster, more energy-efficient computing.
SFI welcomes Miller Scholar Francis Spufford.
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he teaches at Goldsmiths, University of London. His books, including Red Plenty, Golden Hill, and the forthcoming Nonesuch, explore the entanglement of historical, economic, and social forces.
SFI External Professor Wendy Carlin has been appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire — among the highest honors in the British system.
Carlin is recognized for her wide-ranging research in economics and for launching CORE Econ with SFI Professor Sam Bowles in 2013.
Applications open for SFI’s 2026 GWCSS program, a 2-week workshop for Ph.D. students and early-career scholars to explore complex systems and computation, collaborate on challenges, and advance their research with support from SFI faculty.
Apply by Feb 4, 2026
www.santafe.edu/gwcss
Now accepting applications for SFI’s 2026 CSSS program, a 3-week experience for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professionals to explore foundational theory, engage in collaborative projects, and connect with a global research community.
Apply by Feb 4, 2026
www.santafe.edu/csss
Do you want to help develop new theories for systems that adapt, evolve, and interact?
Applications are open for SFI’s 2026 UCR program, a fully funded, 10-week experience for undergraduates, offering mentorship, seminars, and project development.
Apply by Jan 14, 2026
www.santafe.edu/ucr
During the COVID-19 pandemic, UCLA biologists witnessed a rare natural experiment among dark-eyed juncos in Los Angeles. A new PNAS study by SFI External Professor Pamela Yeh and co-author Eleanor Diamant explores how sudden changes in human activity reshaped urban bird life.
Are you a journalist with a deep interest in complexity?
Each year, the Santa Fe Institute invites two experienced journalists to join the Complex Systems Summer School through the CSSS Journalism Fellowship.
Application deadline: Feb. 4, 2026
Learn more: santafe.edu/journalism-f...
For computational devices, talk isn’t cheap.
A new study by SFI Prof. David Wolpert and former Graduate Fellow Abhishek Yadav shows that every bit of information — from neurons firing to CPUs reading memory — has an unavoidable energy cost, and more accurate communication always means more heat.
This book was supported by the Emergent Political Economies Grant from the Omidyar Network to the Santa Fe Institute.
New book: Allocation, Distribution, and Policy
In a new textbook, SFI Professor Sam Bowles and Weikai Chen, a professor of economics at Renmin University of China, present Ph.D.-level problem sets, exam questions, and detailed solutions based on a novel approach to microeconomics.
The simulation hypothesis has long captured our imagination, yet most arguments rely on intuition over clear definitions.
A new paper by SFI Professor David Wolpert introduces the first precise mathematical framework for defining simulation — and shows many common assumptions don’t hold up.
