Paper alert! Very proud to announce, that our PhD student Tim (@timmauch.bsky.social) got his first paper published. He introduces a meta-community opinion model via a reaction-diffusion system on networks. 1/3

Tim Mauch@timmauch.bsky.social · 2mo ago

My master's thesis got published in Physical Review E🥳! Thanks to @thilogross.bsky.social for the supervision. We develop a meta-community opinion model and use a master stability function approach to find conditions where pattern formation facilitates diversity. Read here: arxiv.org/abs/2508.15377

Mind the gap! Next stop: Biodiversity Theory Our working group just digitized our research landscape using a classic London Tube map design. Every line is a team member; every station is a core topic or application we tackle. Check it out and see where our work interconnects!

Paper alert! Did you ever think that counting the many different structures you can get from the chemical composition is hard? We've got the paper that shows you how to do it. Here's the newest publication by Rana Shojaei (@ranashj.bsky.social) and Thilo Gross (@thilogross.bsky.social).

Rana Shojaei@ranashj.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Very excited to share that our paper with @thilogross.bsky.social , “Counting Chemical Isomers with Multivariate Generating Functions,” has been published in Network Science. doi.org/10.1017/nws.... #network_structure #multivariate_generating_function #Pólya’s_theorem #symmetry #moleculardiversity

Paper alert! Great use of generalized modeling to learn about bacteria. It's Jana's (@janamassing.bsky.social) final paper from her time in our group. Highly recommended!

Jana C. Massing@janamassing.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Hey math and microbiology enthusiasts! 🧮🦠 If you’re curious about bacterial cross-feeding and want to see generalized modeling in action, this paper might be right up your alley. Big thanks to @akfbio.bsky.social, @thilogross.bsky.social, @jdyeakel.bsky.social - I learned a ton from you all!

If you're at dpg today: Our PhD student Tim Mauch (@timmauch.bsky.social) will give his talk about "Jacobian Reconstruction from Time-Series of an Opinion Dynamical Network Model and its Applicability as an Early Warning Signal for Tipping Points" 🕧 12:30 PM 📌 GÖR/0226

At dpg this week? Then you don't want to miss Bernd Fernengel's talk about "Linear Dynamics on Infinite Networks". 11:45 AM, ZEU/0118

Paper alert! Our study about functional motifs is out in PNAS. We use food webs as an example to discuss how small subgraphs drive the dynamics in complex systems. While motifs that determine overall stability are rare, when it comes to reactivity, we show that small groups dominate system behavior.

Ashkaan K. Fahimipour@akfbio.bsky.social · 6mo ago

New paper with @mhab.bsky.social @jdyeakel.bsky.social and @thilogross.bsky.social out now in @pnas.org! We show when and why you can know something about an entire network, just by knowing the behavior of it's building blocks: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Time to introduce a new group member: Juliane Entzian joined us as a new postdoc! "Don’t we all want to improve the world for at least just a tiny bit? And is there a more comfortable way in doing so than just telling decision-makers what should be done – ... 1/5

Don't miss Tom Clegg's (@cleggtom.bsky.social) poster today at EcoNet 2025 with the title "Cross-feeding networks create tipping points in microbiome diversity" where he tries to answer the question how biodiversity of microbiomes emerges from interactions between populations.

If you’re attending EcoNet 2025, don’t miss Jordan Gault’s (@jagault.bsky.social) poster presentation: “Dissimilarity analysis based on diffusion maps.” His work highlights how diffusion maps, a manifold learning approach, provide powerful new tools to track community change across space and time.

If you're at CCS 2025 this week: Tues, Sep 2nd, 12:15 pm, Room 15, Melanie (@mhab.bsky.social) will present her work on functional motifs in foodwebs and networks. Same day, Room 14, Tim (@timmauch.bsky.social) talks about diffusion-driven pattern formation in an opinion dynamical network model.

Paper alert! See the new pre-print up on arXiv by Tim Mauch (@timmauch.bsky.social) and Thilo Gross (@thilogross.bsky.social) on opinion formation: arxiv.org/abs/2508.15377 The paper discusses the very nice results of Tim's master thesis, so let's get into the details, shall we? 1/5

Diffusion-driven pattern formation in an opinion dynamical network model

The spatial organization of individuals and their interactions in communities are important factors known to preserve diversity in many complex systems. Inspired by metapopulation models from ecology,...

arxiv.org

Great opportunity 👇

HIFMB@hifmb.de · last yr.

Hallo artist community, this one is for you! Together with @hanse-ias.bsky.social we are looking for an artist in residence in early 2026. Please share! #artscience #artistinresidence #marinebiodiversity

Meet our group members! Next one up is Fabian Moye: "Hi, I am Fabian, a postdoc in the Biodiversity Theory group at HIFMB and the Eco-Evolutionary Genomics group at AWI, Bremerhaven. I am interested in the formation, fate and function of diversity from chemistry (chemodiversity) ... 1/5

Another talk at #NetSci2025 @netsciconf.bsky.social you shouldn't miss: Thilo Gross @thilogross.bsky.social will give a talk in the Ecological Networks session at 12:45 pm today. 📄Functional Motifs in Food Webs and Networks 📌0.04 Brussels

At #NetSci2025 @netsciconf.bsky.social today and searching for something to do in the lunch break? Then good news! Why not take a look at Rana Shojaei's ( @ranashj.bsky.social ) poster in the lobby? 📄Counting Molecular Structures with Multi-variate Generating Functions 📌Biology, poster no. 20

If you're at #NetSci2025 @netsciconf.bsky.social today, don't miss the talk by Thomas Clegg @cleggtom.bsky.social in the Biological Networks session at 11:30 am! 📄: Cross-feeding Creates Tipping Points in Microbiome Diversity 📌: 0.04 Brussels

Hey, new paper by @cleggtom.bsky.social and me is just out in @pnas.org. This combines a lot of things that start with B: Biodiversity, Bipartite Networks, Bifurcations, Bacteria, ... www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... And yes, I know, Fig 1 looks like one of 'those' papers but please read on ...

Cross-feeding creates tipping points in microbiome diversity | PNAS

A key unresolved question in microbial ecology is how the extraordinary diversity of microbiomes emerges from the interactions among their many fun...

pnas.org

Meet our group members! Let's continue with the brilliant @jagault.bsky.social: "Hi, I'm Jordan, a postdoc in the Biodiversity Theory group. I'm an ecologist interested in understanding mutualism across a variety of scales. Specifically, I focus on the nutritional mutualism, ... 1/12

5th HIFMB symposium: Your ticket to talks, discussions, early career program, art and more. Registration is free of charge. ➡️ www.hifmb.de/symp25 #marinebiodiversity @hillebr1.bsky.social @ibaums.bsky.social @thilogross.bsky.social @merenbey.bsky.social

Meet our group members! More postdocs are still to come. Today, let's say hi to @anuragsau.bsky.social: "Hi, I’m Anurag! I am a Postdoc in the Biodiversity Theory group, with an academic background in Applied Mathematics. My goal is to encapsulate various ecological phenomena ... 1/6

Meet our group members! Time to hear about the wonderful @laurabarthm.bsky.social: "Hi, I’m Laura! I’m a physicist by training and a PostDoc researcher working with physics-informed neural networks to enhance the interpretability of ecological models and improve forecasting.

Meet our group members! Today let's hear from the wonderful @srilenak.bsky.social: "Hi, I’m Srilena, a HIPP postdoc in the Biodiversity Theory group. I have a background in Applied Mathematics with a research focus on theoretical ecology. My research approach combines mathematical modeling, ...

Meet our group members! More postdocs to come. Today is the great Kate P. Maia: “Hello, I am Kate. I am an ecologist with a background on applying network theory to study mainly terrestrial mutualisms, such as the interactions between plants and pollinators.

Meet our group members! We are now starting with our postdocs. First up is @olejmueller.bsky.social, our most important link to the humanities: "Moin and Hello, I am Ole and my role is Staff Scientist in the Biodiversity Theory Group. This means I fill two pairs of shoes: 1/6

I couldn't put it better, so I share this wonderful post. New paper out on arXiv! It's a collaborative work of our group members @mhab.bsky.social, @thilogross.bsky.social as well as our great colleagues @akfbio.bsky.social and @jdyeakel.bsky.social:

Ashkaan K. Fahimipour@akfbio.bsky.social · last yr.

New paper! (arxiv.org/abs/2503.14093) I haven’t been this excited about one in a while, and I think the theory @mhab.bsky.social develops here will be a big step forward for the field. Why? Let me explain 🧵...

An excellent letter by Dennis Hazelett: www.nature.com/articles/s41... And below is my attempt to motivate people in my group and others elsewhere to read it. Putting it here as well in case it may work on you, too :p

Meet our group members! Here‘s our next PhD candidate @mhab.bsky.social : “Hi, I’m Melanie. I have a background in environmental science with a passion for mathematical modeling. I mostly worked with ecological models and am fascinated by system dynamics. ...

Meet our group members! We continue with our PhD candidates. Today @ranashj.bsky.social: "Hi, I'm Rana! I studied physics for both my bachelor's and master's degree. My favorite subjects were statistical physics and quantum mechanics. In my thesis I studied the evolution of social networks ...

Meet our group members! Starting off with our research assistant and newest member @timmauch.bsky.social: Hi, I'm Tim, I studied environmental modeling in my master's degree. I'm interested in the intersection of social and complexity sciences - particularly in relation to social media.