Long and Medium-Term Research: Evolutionary Approaches to the Analysis and Synthesis of Artificial Life and Complex Adaptive Systems This award is under the Long and Medium-Term Research at Foreign Centers of Excellence Program, which enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twelve months of research abroad at research centers of proven excellence. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a twelve-month postdoctoral research visit by Dr. Geoffrey F. Miller to work with Dr. Phil Husbands at the University of Sussex. Evolutionary psychology and artificial life research have developed almost entirely independently, although the failures which they sought to correct, in psychology and in Artificial Life, respectively, stem from the same problem: lack of an evolutionary framework for analyzing and synthesizing complex adaptive systems. Dr. Miller's postdoc term will allow him to facilitate dialogue between these two fields by 1) familiarizing himself with existing evolutionary theory, ethology, psychology, and computer science in Europe, 2) allowing evolutionary psychology principles to be disseminated throughout the research groups in Europe, and 3) allowing the empirical test of the utility and adequacy of these principles in real-world applications (i.e. robotics) and in his continued experimental psychology research. Since both of these fields are at early but promising stages of development, their intellectual cross-fertilization should be fruitful. The award recommendation provides funds to cover international travel and a stipend for twelve months.
