Wednesday, November 17, 4:00-6:00 pm, Gradroom at Grad House, 66 Harbord St, Toronto. All are welcome. No advance registration is required.

Presentations:

Networks in Telecommunications and Computer Engineering
Ruediger Willenberg (Electrical & Computer Engineering)

Computer and Telecom networks are very much part of our modern life. We will will take a brief look at what the different motivations for and requirements towards communication networks are. Then, I will describe what metrics and characteristics are used to measure and compare networks. I will introduce different network types and transport mechanisms and their advantages and drawbacks. To round this out, We will take a closer look at the two types of networks that most directly affect our daily lives, mobile (cell phone) networks and the Internet.

How do genes interact?
Daniele Merico (Molecular and Cellular Biology)

How do genes interact? This question has driven lots of recent research in biology. It has been addressed by large-scale research projects, systematically mapping interactions from different angles. Computational resources have also been developed for biological network visualization and analysis. I will focus on two examples: 1) physical protein-protein interactions, pathways, and the investigation of disease mechanisms, and 2), synthetic lethality, and the search for cancer cell specific vulnerabilities

Network Analysis in Anthropology and the Quest for Structure
Peter Bikoulis (Archeology)

Socio-cultural anthropologists of the mid-twentieth century made use of Network Theory to map out how individuals within family structures relate to each other, and to track patters of affinity and obligation. More recently, archaeologists have begun to explicitly use Social Network Analysis to understand relationships between human settlements at regional and macro-regional scales. Drawing on examples from fellow archaeologists and my own research on prehistoric settlements in the Göksu Valley and south-central Anatolia, I will show that it is only through a more encompassing and wider vision of human culture – without a loss of complexity – that a richer understanding is offered of the ways in which people and societies have come together.