FOCUS PROGRAM
From May 29 to June 23, 2017, the
Fields Institute hosted graph theorists,
probabilists, theoretical computer
scientists, social scientists, and
researchers in network systems and
security for a focus program on Random
Graphs and their Applications to Complex
Networks. This program represents a
major emerging area that requires the
collective efforts of multiple disciplines.
The theory of random graphs was founded by Erdős and
Rényi in 1959 after Erdős discovered that the probabilistic
method is useful in attacking problems of extremal graph
theory. Shortly afterwards, Gilbert introduced the random
model of the Gilbert disc, nowadays known as random
geometric graphs. Both models are simple, but they do not
address all the characteristics of complex networks. For
example, the famous chain experiment by Milgram showed
that there are at most six degrees of separation between
any two people in the world. This phenomenon of small
diameter is nowadays reflected in online social networks
such as Facebook, and none of the classical models reflect
this appropriately. More recently, new random graph models,
such as the Preferential Attachment Model or the Spatial
Preferential Attachment Model, have been designed. These
models have been used to give theoretical insight into the
propagation of epidemics, the activity of neurons in neural
Panel on complex networks in industry and academia
RANDOM
GRAPHS AND
APPLICATIONS
TO COMPLEX
NETWORKS
networks, and the connections in protein-protein interaction
networks, to mention a few.
Thanks to the availability of more and more data in bigger
networks and because of their relevance to a multitude
of applications, these models have been the subject of
sustained research effort over the past five decades.
This particular Focus Program included a Summer School
on Random Graphs and Probabilistic Methods (May 29 to
June 9, 2017) with more than 80 participants and 4 invited
experts in the field; the 14th Workshop on Algorithms and
Models for the Web Graph, WAW2017 (June 15 - 16, 2017);
a panel on complex networks in industry and academia
(June 16, 2017); and a Workshop on Random Geometric
Graphs and Their Applications to Complex Networks (June
19 - 23, 2017).
A highlight of the program was the
panel discussion featuring four
experts (Jeannette Janssen, Jure
Leskovec, Yuval Peres, Andrei
Raigorodskii) who gave a personal
view of career options, challenges,
and opportunities in both academia
and industry for professors and
students. Following the panel
discussion, attendees had an
opportunity to meet and network
with the panelists over a casual
lunch sponsored by an NSERC
Connect grant.
— Pawel Pralat
9