Advancing the science of complex systems

Complexity science is evolving

Interconnected, dynamic systems are expanding how we understand the world across disciplines. New theories, models, and analytical tools are advancing how complex systems are studied and understood.

Explore selected research

Discover recent peer-reviewed research spanning theory, modeling, and real-world applications across complex systems.

Towards a foundational platform for generative agents in simulated city environment

Energy landscape analysis based on the Ising model: Tutorial review

Efficient and accurate simulation of infectious diseases on adaptive networks

Creating simple predictive models in ecology, conservation and environmental policy based on Bayesian belief networks

Pattern detection in bipartite networks: A review of terminology, applications, and methods

Emergence of economic and social disparities through competitive gift-giving

Leveraging mathematical modeling framework to guide regimen strategy for phage therapy

How does the institutional environment improve the entrepreneurial quality of returnees? A configuration analysis based on a complex system view

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Read the latest interdisciplinary research that tackles wide-reaching questions affecting individuals and global societies.

Featured insights

Digital twins and the rise of complexity data science

Digital twins are emerging as data-driven representations of complex systems. Their growing role in complexity data science raises questions about how models, data, and simulation can be combined to study dynamic systems.

Complex systems and healthcare: a new paradigm

Interactions across people, institutions, technologies, and environments shape healthcare systems and their outcomes. Complexity science and network-based modeling offer approaches to better understand system behavior and the factors influencing decision-making in healthcare delivery.

The role of complexity science in advancing biomedical research

Biological systems span interacting scales, from genes to whole organisms and environments. Multi-scale modeling and network approaches offer ways to generate systems-level insights into disease progression and health outcomes.

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Explore complex systems research across our journals

Our journals publish peer-reviewed research that brings together approaches from across disciplines to study complex, interconnected systems.

PLOS Complex Systems

PLOS Complex Systems brings together researchers across disciplines, providing a platform for theoretical, modeling, and applied research that advances our understanding of complex systems. The journal encompasses diverse topics—from chaotic systems and networks to risk modeling, systems biology, and economics—emphasizing methodological rigor and broad community impact.

PLOS One

PLOS One accepts research in over two hundred subject areas across science, engineering, medicine, and the related social sciences and humanities. The journal encourages inter-and multidisciplinary studies, and accept a range of submissions from primary research to protocols and systematic reviews, including research with negative or null results.