The Center for the Dynamics of Social Complexity (DySoC) is now accepting applications for its Investigative Workshop, “Extending the Theory of Sustainability,” to be held December 5-7, 2018, at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS).

Objectives: Cultural evolutionary modeling and empirical work to understand the processes of social and political change has advanced quickly in recent years and can potentially provide useful tools to understand the human dimensions of sustainability. This workshop will review the state of sustainability theory. Major themes of the workshop include the role of cultural evolution, the role of evolving technology and R&D investments, diffusion of technology, uncertainty in ecosystem management, non-autonomous models of climate change, models of institutional change. The workshop will convene scholars in the fields of economics, socio-political evolution, the natural sciences and mathematics to present the latest developments. Discussions will center on promising areas for new research and on gaps in the modeling enterprise. Full details at http://www.nimbios.org/workshops/WS_sustainability

Location: The Center for the Dynamics of Social Complexity at NIMBioS, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Co-Organizers: Peter J Richerson (Environmental Science & Policy, Univ. of California, Davis); Eli Fenichel, Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale Univ.; Sergey Gavrilets (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics, Univ. of Tennessee)

For more information about the workshop and a link to the online application form, go to http://www.nimbios.org/workshops/WS_sustainability

Participation in NIMBioS workshops is by application only. Individuals with a strong interest in the topic are encouraged to apply, and successful applicants will be notified within two weeks after the application deadline. If needed, financial support for travel, meals, and lodging is available for workshop attendees.

Application deadline: September 5, 2018

The Center for the Dynamics of Social Complexity (DySoC) (http://www.dysoc.org) promotes connections and collaborations between different researchers using theoretical and empirical methods at the interface of mathematical, biological, social, and computational sciences to address the dynamics of social behavior.

The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) (http://www.nimbios.org) brings together researchers from around the world to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries to investigate solutions to basic and applied problems in the life sciences. NIMBioS is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.