New mathematical tools to study opinion dynamics

Using tools from the field of topology, Robert Ghrist and Ph.D. graduate Jakob Hansen developed a framework to track how opinions change over time in a wide range of scenarios, including ones where individuals can use deceptive behaviors and propaganda agents can drive a group’s consensus.

Mathematics

Ubiquity of Data

Penn Media Accountability Project (PennMAP) Research and Outcomes to Expand Thanks to Leadership Gift

The Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania recently announced the expansion of the Penn Media Accountability Project (PennMAP), an interdisciplinary, nonpartisan research project dedicated to enhancing media transparency and accountability, led by Warren Center affiliate Duncan Watts.

Communication
Computer and Information Science
Operations Information and Decisions

Ubiquity of Data

Kevin Werbach wins Aspen Institute award for legal studies course

Kevin Werbach was announced as one of eight recipients of the Aspen Institute's Ideas Worth Teaching Award for his course on "Big Data, Big Responsibilities: The Laws and Ethics of Business Analytics." The award recognizes courses that highlight important emerging ideas about the role of business in creating an inclusive environment.

Legal Studies & Business Ethics

Ubiquity of Data

Dani Bassett Elected an American Physical Society Fellow

Congratulations to Dani Bassett, who has been elected a 2021 Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) “for significant contributions to the network modeling of the human brain, including dynamical changes caused by evolution, learning, aging, and disease.”

Bioengineering
Electrical and Systems Engineering

Evolution, Emergence and the Brain

Economics of Digital Services

The Economics of Digital Services is an initiative of CTIC and The Warren Center that promotes research on digital platforms with a focus on empirical studies. EODS has funded 9 research proposals in such areas as cloud competition, advertising, data neutrality, smart contracts, and the effect of search engines on the media industry.

Economics
Law

Resilience in Networked Systems

The new Computational Social Science Lab aims to thrive on mass collaboration and open science

“Our central mission is to integrate methods and ways of thinking from the computational and social sciences in the service of real-world applications,” said Duncan Watts on his newly established Computational Social Science (CSS) Lab.

Communication
Computer and Information Science
Operations Information and Decisions

Consensus and Contagion in Society

Reimagining scientific discovery through the lens of an artist

The latest exhibition by Rebecca Kamen, Penn artist-in-residence and visiting scholar, at American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center explores curiosity and the creative process across art and science. The exhibit was inspired by the work of Dani Bassett and Perry Zurn.

Bioengineering
Electrical and Systems Engineering

Evolution, Emergence and the Brain

Should U.S. Companies Stop Relying on China?

Although well past the initial shock wave of the pandemic, industries across the spectrum are still grappling with ripple effects that threaten to sink profitability. Gad Allon spoke with Wharton Business Daily about why businesses need to rethink their reliance on China as a supplier.

Operations Information and Decisions

Ubiquity of Data

The Power of Peers: Who Influences Your Health?

“People care about what others think across all different age groups—and that influences how much they value different ideas and behaviors,” says Emily Falk in a recent NIH News in Health newsletter on how social networks affect decision making.

Communication
Marketing
Psychology

Consensus and Contagion in Society

How Computationally Complex Is a Single Neuron?

Computational neuroscientists taught an artificial neural network to imitate a biological neuron. The result offers a new way to think about the complexity of single brain cells. Konrad Kording comments in this Quanta Magazine article.

Bioengineering
Neuroscience

Evolution, Emergence and the Brain