Research interests
Some of Felix’s recent research has addressed the dynamic properties of large-scale collaboration and manufacturing networks, common structural features in organisational and ecological networks, the impact of imitation mechanisms on the emergence of cooperation, the robustness of ecological networks, and the spread of innovations in online social networks. These individual projects are linked by broader theoretical concerns, including the need to develop a more dynamic conception of network robustness and resilience, and an interest in identifying generative mechanisms that give rise to generic structures of cooperation. Ongoing research interests include:
* Characterising and modelling the structure, dynamics and function of complex networks
* Modelling robustness and resilience in ecological, financial, organisational, and social systems
* Modelling collective behaviour and innovation diffusion in online and offline social systems
* Mapping and modelling complex, global supply networks
* Modelling group behaviour and the emergence of cooperation
Current research projects
Felix is currently involved as the PI or Co-PI in a number of research projects funded under the 7th Framework by the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) scheme of the European Commission as well as the EPSRC in the UK.
FuturICT, which is led by Steven Bishop of UCL in close cooperation with Dirk Helbing of ETH Zürich, is a Coordination and Support Action funded by the European Commission that is tasked with developing a detailed proposal for a Flagship Initiative with a focus on leveraging information and communication technology to analyse, model and potentially predict the behaviour of economic, social, political, and ecological systems (and their interdependancies) at an unprecedented scale. FOC (Forecasting Financial Crises: Measurements, Models, and Predictions), also funded by the European Commission, seeks to develop novel measures of financial fragility, building on substantial empirical datasets and a distinctive networks perspective. FOC is coordinated by Guido Caldarelli of the Italian National Research Council (CNR, Rome), and involves partner institutions in Italy, the UK, Spain, and Switzerland, as well as the European Central Bank. ICTeCollective (Harnessing ICT-enabled Social Collective Behaviour), coordinated by Kimmo Kaski of Aalto University in Finland, with partner institutions in Hungary, Italy and Poland, is developing a multi-scale picture of how information and communication technologies shape (and are shaped by) social interactions and patterns of influence.
SATURN, a project jointly funded by the EPSRC and the Technology Strategy Board, aims to develop techniques that can enable critical infrastructure networks to become more resilient and adaptive. SATURN is coordinated by Robert Ghanea-Hercock of BT, with Imperial College London and Warwick University as academic partners, and BT and Northrop Grumman as industrial partners. A joint EPSRC funded project with Imperial College on Scaling in Complex Systems, which looks at scaling in biological and social systems, provides an opportunity to collaborate with Geoffrey West (Santa Fe Institute) and Henrik Jensen (Imperial College).
Recent research projects
Between April 2008 and March 2011, Felix was PI on a project funded by the EPSRC under the "Fundamentals of Complexity Science" scheme, which sought to develop computer models for the temporal patterns observed empirically in large-scale social, economic, and communication networks (see here). Until May 2008 Felix acted as the Scientific Coordinator for MMCOMNET (Measuring and Modelling Complex Networks across Domains), a project that involved Oxford and five other partner institutions in Europe, and was funded under the European Commission's 6th Framework Pathfinder Initiative on "Tackling Complexity in Science". Felix also served as one of the Programme Committee Chairs for the European Conference on Complex Systems 2006, and has represented Oxford on two Coordination Actions funded by the European Commission with a focus on complex systems research (ONCE-CE and GIACS).
Research group
Felix’s group at the Saïd Business School presently consists of six post-docs. Eduardo López works on transport in complex networks, applications to epidemiology, and percolation theory. Alexandra Brintrup’s interests include optimisation theory, agent-based modelling, and supply networks. Elizabeth Leicht studies modular and interacting networks, with a particular interest in infrastructure networks. Jianguo Liu works on recommender systems, and models of online social environments and social networks. Austin Gerig's interests include extreme price movements in financial markets, high frequency trading in electronic markets, and network measures of systemic financial risk. Tomomi Kito (who is based at the BT Centre for Major Programme Management) is focusing on the structure and function of large supply chains.
In addition, Felix currently supervises three doctoral students. Griffith Rees (DPhil in Sociology, jointly with Michael Biggs) is studying the evolution of an electronic bulletin board service. Nick Sabin (DPhil in Management Studies) is conducting research into microfinance, with a focus on group lending in Sierra Leone. Daniel Conrad (DPhil in Management Studies) is initially exploring the dynamics of innovation adoption in online contexts, with a longer-term interest in understanding how technology platforms evolve and succeed.
Former group members
Phillip Staniczenko, DPhil in Physics, 2007-2011.
Thesis: "Structure, dynamics, and robustness of ecological networks"
Current position: Research Technician, Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago.
Diego Garlaschelli, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2009-2010.
Current position: Assistant Professor, Lorentz Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Leiden.
Jukka-Pekka Onnela, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2006-2009.
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard Medical School.
Serguei Saavedra, DPhil in Engineering Science, 2005-2008.
Thesis: "Modelling and measuring complex systems: supply chains and network characteristics"
Current position: Research Assistant Professor, NICO and Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
David Smith, Postdoctoral Research Assistant, 2006-2008.
Current position: Postdoctoral Researcher, Centre for Mathematical Biology, University of Oxford.
Sean Gourley, Postdoctoral Reseach Assistant, 2005-2007.
Current position: Chief Technology Officer, Quid.