Many systems that govern our everyday lives—from communication networks to the human brain—can be seen as networks of interconnected units. Traditionally, networks are equated with graphs where edges give pairwise relations between two units. However, in network dynamical systems, nonlinear higher-order interactions between more than two units often play a critical role in shaping the collective dynamical behaviour of all units: For example, the spread of a disease depends not only on our behaviour as pairs of individuals but also how we behave in groups of more than two. Thus, elucidating the role of these higher-order interactions is critical to understand and control the dynamics of complex systems that determine our lives and livelihoods, whether it is the spreading of a disease or the proper functioning of the human brain as a network of billions of neurons.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network "BeyondTheEdge: Higher-Order Networks and Dynamics" started on January 1, 2024 and is coordinated byChristian Bick at the Department of Mathematics of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The network brings together key researchers from 18 partners from 10 countries across Europe and beyond.

Interdisciplinary research and capacity building

This international network is interdisciplinary (from mathematics to neuroscience) and includes partners from academia, private research institutes, and industry to train a cohort of 10 PhD students. Innovative research and training activities will ensure that all PhD students can apply their skills beyond the academic context and put them in perspective of the wider world. Recruitment of the PhD students across the network started early 2024.