Research Seminar - A Briefly Introduction of Complexity Science

Our world is abundant with intricate systems, including Earth's global climate, social and economic structures, the human brain, and transportation and communication networks. The complex network serves as an essential theoretical instrument for examining the behavior of these multifaceted systems. Nodes within a complex network represent distinct entities within a system, while links illustrate the relationships between these entities. Consequently, the investigation of complex networks has emerged as a unifying focal point across numerous scientific disciplines. In this seminar, the speaker aims to provide a concise overview of complexity science.

Dr. Taotao Cai is a Lecturer in Computing at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) and an Honorary Lecturer at Macquarie University. His primary focus is on research and teaching in the field of Data Science, including graph data processing, social network analytics, recommendation systems, and complexity science. He completed his Ph.D. degree from Deakin University in 2020 after spending two years at The University of Western Australia (Jan 2017 - Mar 2019) and over one year at Deakin University (Mar 2019 - July 2020) during his Ph.D. studies. In addition to his Ph.D., Dr. Cai also holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from Shenzhen University, which he earned in 2016.

Prior to joining the faculty at UniSQ, Taotao held positions as a Postgraduate Research Fellow at Macquarie University (Mar 2021 - Jan 2023) and an Associate Research Fellow at Deakin University (July 2020 - Feb 2021). During this time, he made significant research contributions, which have been published in leading international conferences and journals such as IEEE ICDE, Information Systems, and IEEE TKDE. 

In addition to his research, Dr. Cai has gained considerable teaching experience in both online and offline settings. He has served as a Course Examiner, Lecturer, and Guest Lecturer in various units and courses, and has received positive feedback from students for his engaging teaching style and ability to effectively convey complex concepts.