Complex networks articles from across Nature Portfolio

This study proposes an algorithm for generating randomized networks that preserve the weighted degree sequence. The procedure outperforms standard rewiring algorithms and extends to multiple network types, including directed and signed networks.

Rethinking and restructuring cross-disciplinary research requires innovative models and the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems (IFISC) stands as a powerful example. Since its creation, IFISC has grown fourfold, now hosting 90 researchers from 15 different countries. Its unique structure fosters collaborations and a shared sense of belonging, built on a common foundation in complex systems. By bridging diverse disciplines and providing cutting-edge training, IFISC is shaping the next generation of researchers while offering a blueprint for how to reorganize research resources to foster cross-disciplinary research at institution levels and beyond.

Uncertainty is a ubiquitous, yet often misunderstood condition studied by academia. In the humanities, subjects wield it as a tool, using it as a source of inspiration and entertainment. In the social sciences, subjects consider it a weapon that, when controllable, is leveraged for competitive advantage and, when not, is defended against to minimize harm. We describe the dangers of its misunderstanding—specifically, those arising from mistaking untreatable uncertainties as treatable ones and vice versa. We draw from the analysis of these uses and misuses of uncertainty to make a call to action to improve how we study and address this unique condition that makes strategic decisions so much harder to optimize.

More than 1,600 multi-stakeholder dialogues were convened in preparation for the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021. These dialogues have helped facilitate inclusive explorations of the complex challenges of transforming food systems and accelerate progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

This comment aims to contribute to agenda-setting for the study of interpersonal violence over the years to come. Interpersonal violence is a high-profile topic not only in the domain of criminology, but also in public health, medicine, and epidemiology, and across the social sciences (sociology; psychology; economics; and political science). However, interdisciplinary integration between the different perspectives is lacking. This comment takes up the question of how scholars and practitioners in the field of violence can work towards greater integration with other perspectives. It outlines five key priorities for the field going forward, which are intended to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of interpersonal violence. Importantly, the view outlined here arose from a collaboration of researchers from a wide range of academic fields, and as such represents interdisciplinary consensus on the steps required to ensure that the study of interpersonal violence remains an effective and productive research field.

Authors of COVID-19 papers produced during the pandemic were overwhelmingly not subject matter experts. Such a massive inflow of scholars from different expertise areas is both an asset and a potential problem. Domain-informed scientific collaboration is the key to preparing for future crises.