About ISC-PIF...

The ISC-PIF (Institut des Systèmes Complexes, Paris Île-de-France – Paris Île-de-France Complex Systems Institute) is a multidisciplinary research and training center that promotes the development of French, European and international strategic projects on complex adaptive systems, understood as large networks of elements interacting locally and creating macroscopic collective behavior.

Why complex systems

The science of complex systems is built on theoretical issues that cut across the majority of scientific disciplines. It also responds to a reality of modern science: the growing number of sophisticated data on from measurements at several scales. Because it relates to biological systems (which is what we are) and environmental systems (in which we live), the science of complex systems contributes to the reconciliation of science with societal needs.

ISC-PIF status

The ISC-PIF is a GIS (Grouping of Scientific Interest) whose partners are the main French scientific institutions. The ISC is particularly supported by one of these partners, the Île-de-France region, by virtue of its recognition as a Domain of Major Interest (DIM).
>> Learn more about how the institute is organized

ISC-PIF missions

The following partners enable the Institute to carry out its activities. Their principal aims are to :

• Federate and bring together teams working on complex systems in Île-de-France.
• Assist in the identification or emergence of new teams and working groups.
• Organize events (e.g., thematic schools, national and international conferences).
• Develop tools for the interdisciplinary research that lies at the heart of research on complex systems, in particular through advanced introductions.
• Welcome students and foreign and French researchers (junior and senior).
• Serve as a relay with the national and international complex systems community.
• Establish partnerships with the private sector to develop joint research projects.
• Help academic partners develop courses on complex systems.
• To provide scientific information on complex systems to the wider public.

In addition to these coordinating actions, the ISC-PIF actively participates in the development of complex systems research, in particular through its members' research projects. The specificities of interdisciplinary research on complex systems lead to an original form of organization on two levels: one focused on the objects of study, and the other on methods. The orientations of the researchers responsible for projects in residence naturally fit in with this duality.

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Related documents

• Consult the "Annexe scientifique de la convention constitutive de l'institut" (in French).
• Download the "Plaquette de présentation de l'institut" (in French).