Delays are ubiquitous in engineering and natural sciences, e.g., communication delays in control devices and complex networks or maturation and gestation delays in population dynamics. The inclusion of past history in the time evolution adds nontrivial complexities with respect to ordinary systems, balancing the advantage of dealing with more realistic models. Equations involving delays generate dynamical systems of infinite dimension, asking for advanced tools and methods in the background mathematical analysis, the numerical treatment, the development, design and optimization of control strategies. Eventually, the comprehension of fundamental issues like stability of equilibria and other invariants is crucial, especially for varying or uncertain parameters.
The school brings together strong and up-to-date contributions in the field of time delay systems, concerning analytical, numerical and application aspects, under the paradigm of control theory. It aims at discussing the most recent advances in these different contexts, focusing also on their interdisciplinary connections. Analysis, methods, control strategies and applications will be illustrated, starting from rapid introductions of the basics, reaching a state-of-the-art level by evolving the classic approaches into modern perspectives.

Many real systems can be modeled as networks, where the elements of the system are nodes and interactions between elements are edges. An even larger set of systems can be modeled using dynamical processes on networks, which are in turn affected by the dynamics. Networks thus represent the backbone of many complex systems, and their theoretical and computational analysis makes it possible to gain insights into numerous applications. Networks permeate almost every conceivable discipline —including sociology, transportation, economics and finance, biology, and myriad others — and the study of “network science” has thus become a crucial component of modern scientific education.

The school “Complex Networks: Theory, Methods, and Applications” offers a succinct education in network science. It is open to all aspiring scholars in any area of science or engineering who wish to study networks of any kind (whether theoretical or applied), and it is especially addressed to doctoral students and young postdoctoral scholars. The aim of the school is to deepen into both theoretical developments and applications in targeted fields.

The International Workshop on Network Models in Statistics, Economics and Social Sciences, jointly organized by the Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods (Università di Milano - Bicocca) and the Department of Mathematics for Economic, Financial and Actuarial Sciences (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), will be held in Milan, on the 14 and 15 of November, 2019.

The aim of the workshop is to gather ongoing research on network models, algorithms and applications in the fields of Statistics, Economics, Finance, Political and Social Sciences.