The Understanding Complex Systems Conference, UCS2006, will be held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign May 16-19, 2006. UCS2006 will turn towards the molecular basis of life and focus on complex chemical systems. Topics covered will be the origin and sustainability of life, dynamics of information and energy flows on evolving networks as well as water, a complex indispensability for life. The goal of UCS2006 is to encourage discussion and collaboration among leading scientists, professionals and graduate students in various academic and industrial fields. The objective is to stimulate cross-disciplinary research activities and knowledge sharing among disciplines. The field of complex chemical systems is related to medical disciplines, biology, physics, computer science, mathematics, microbiology and psychology. By helping bridge the gap among these fields, the symposium takes vital part in advancing knowledge within these inter-related fields. Only a few conferences such as the UCS2006 with its creative conceptional design focus on the multi-disciplinary aspects of problems in a comprehensive context. A group of distinguished invited speakers will introduce key complex systems concepts in the context of their discipline. In parallel with the lecture sessions, there will be hands-on tutorials, which will cover the most recent research findings, as well as nightly poster sessions. This allows for a maximal dissemination and discussion of more technical information. The organizers will also provide information about funding opportunities for complex systems research and promote linkages for interdisciplinary proposals. Through interaction and knowledge sharing, researchers will be able to apply solutions posed in related disciplines to solve their own problems. Graduate students have the opportunity to showcase their studies and to network with respected professionals in the field. Thus all participants are given the opportunity to engage in joint efforts to educate, network, discover and enrich research through diverse learning perspectives. The conference actively seeks participation by under-represented groups. A high fraction of talks will be presented by the many outstanding women scientists and engineers in complexity science. A major use of the grant funds is to encourage participation from historically-minority institutions of higher learning. All facilities for UCS2006 are handicap accessible and equipment will be supplied upon request for any persons with disabilities. ? ? ? ?
