The proposal requests partial support for physics graduate students, young and minority Faculty as well as two senior physicists to attend an interdisciplinary workshop and conference on complex systems to be held for four days in May 207 at the University of Illinois. Some of the topics to be covered are the dynamics of solitary waves on fractal networks, pulse propagation on neurons, traffic congestion and epidemics. Social Dynamics systems such as the rise and fall of social organizations will also be covered. Some of the areas to be covered by keynote speakers will be computational biochemistry, molecular origin of life, neural net dynamics, and nonlinear pulses in fractal dynamics. The broader impact is that the conference is one of the primary networking conferences for people working in cross-disciplinary areas. Women and minorities are encouraged to attend by being provided with support. Also more than 50% of the attendees will be graduate students and the students will be exposed to the latest methods in dynamical systems and learn how they can be applied in very diverse situations. The funds will be used for travel and lodging expenses for the scientists, primarily graduate students, un-tenured assistant professors and minority faculty. This award is funded by the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate.
