Order and function in complex systems: coherent structures, selection and stability

Conference on order and function in complex systems: coherent structures, selection and stability
August 10 – 14, 2026
University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Overview

Many systems of interest in the natural sciences and engineering are complex, in that they possess a large number of degrees of freedom, which makes it a priori difficult to predict their behavior. Despite this, the behavior of many complex systems may be largely driven by a small number of coherent states, with a simpler description and a small number of free effective degrees of freedom. The focus of this conference is on methods from dynamical systems, PDE theory, and functional analysis for explaining and predicting the emergence of such coherent structures, as well as understanding their subsequent temporal dynamics. These coherent structures include fronts, waves, vortices or patterned states such as rolls or spots. Their existence and dynamics are essential to a range of applications spanning ecology, fluid dynamics, materials science, biology, and physics. There are nonetheless many mathematical commonalities in the study of coherent structures in these seemingly disparate areas of application. Recent years have seen many significant advances in both the theoretical and experimental understanding of different aspects of coherent structures. The conference will assemble international experts in the dynamics of coherent structures, together with a sizable group of early career researchers, for a week-long meeting covering the many facets of coherent structures research. It will facilitate the cross pollination of ideas key to recent advances in theory, computation, and experiment.

The first day of the conference will be dedicated to junior participants with two tutorials offered on dynamical systems and functional analytic tools for coherent structures research. The full conference will commence on August 11th. We have confirmed tentative interest of 23 experts in coherent structures spanning career stages and geographical location from the US to Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, the UK, and Germany.

Registration

Registration is now open!

Graduate student applicants are asked to provide a CV, a statement of interest, and a letter of recommendation. The statement and letter need not exceed 500 words each. If you would like to request funding for your visit, please ensure you complete the Funding Request portion of the application. Decisions on support for applicants will be made once the organizers receive a decision on funding for the conference.

Tutorial leaders

Paul Carter, University of California, Irvine
Gabriela Jaramillo, University of Houston

Organizers

Montie Avery, Emory University
Grégory Faye, CNRS, Institut de Mathématiques de Toulouse
Ryan Goh, Boston University
Matt Holzer, George Mason University
Gabriela Jaramillo, University of Houston
Merlin Pelz, University of Minnesota
Qiliang Wu, Ohio University

Confirmed Participants

Location

Tentative program

Order and function in complex systems: coherent structures, selection and stability

Conference details

Getting to UMN

Child care

Explore the Twin Cities

Monday, August 10 (pre-conference day)

Tuesday, August 11 (start of the conference)

Wednesday & Thursday, August 12 & 13

Friday, August 14