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Contacts: Diane Greenberg, (631) 344-2347 or Mona S. Rowe, (631) 344-5056

Albert-László Barabási to Speak at Brookhaven Lab on 'Science Networks,' June 9

May 13, 2008

László Barabási (Click on the image to download a high-resolution version.)

UPTON, NY — Albert-László Barabási, Distinguished Professor at Northeastern University and Director of the University's Center for Network Science, will give a BSA Lecture titled, "Network Science: From the Web to Human Diseases," at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory on Monday, June 9, at 4 p.m. in Berkner Hall. BSA Distinguished Lectures are sponsored by Brookhaven Science Associates, the company that manages Brookhaven Lab, to bring topics of general interest before the Laboratory community and the public. The lecture is free and open to the public. Visitors to the Laboratory age 16 and over must bring a photo ID.

Systems as diverse as the Internet and the cell have highly interconnected networks with amazingly complex links. Recent studies by Barabási and colleagues indicate that simple but generic laws govern the evolution of these complex networks, resulting in apparently universal architectural features. Barabási will discuss the surprising order that characterizes interconnected networks and its implications in communications and medicine. He will also touch upon the next challenge of network research - quantitative studies of these interconnected systems.

A Hungarian-born native of Transylvania, Barabási earned a Master's degree in theoretical physics at Eötvös University in Budapest, Hungary. He then came to the U.S. to study physics at Boston University, where he earned a Ph.D. After a year as a postdoctoral fellow at IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, he joined Notre Dame University in 1995 as an assistant professor, where he was promoted to Professor and Endowed Chair at the unprecedented age of 33. In 2007, he became Director of the Center for Complex Network Research at Northeastern University, where he also holds the title of Distinguished University Professor.

One of today's most cited scientists, Barabási is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Science Foundation's Early Career Development Award, the Office of Naval Research's Young Investigator Award, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers von Neumann Award for Computer Science, and the Federation of Biochemical Societies' Anniversary Prize for Systems Biology. He was elected a member of the Hungarian National Academy and Academia Europeae. Barabási is the author of Linked: The New Science of Networks, co-author of Fractal Concepts in Surface Growth, and co-editor of The Structure and Dynamics of Networks.

Call (631) 344-2345 for more information about the lecture. The Laboratory is located on William Floyd Parkway (County Road 46), one-and-a-half miles north of Exit 68 of the Long Island Expressway.

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One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE’s Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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