Luís A. N. Amaral (born 12 July 1968) is a Portuguese physicist recognized for his research in

complex systems A complex system is a system composed of many components which may interact with each other. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as power grid, transportation or communication s ...

and

complex networks Complex Networks is an American media and entertainment company for youth culture, based in New York City. It was founded as a bi-monthly magazine, ''Complex'', by fashion designer Marc (Ecko) Milecofsky. Complex Networks reports on popular a ...

. His specific research interests include the emergence, evolution, and stability of complex social and biological systems. He is best known for his work in network classification and cartographic methods for uncovering the organization of complex networks. He is currently professor at McCormick School of Engineering and Feinberg School of Medicine,

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Education

Amaral received both his bachelor's and master's degrees in Physics from the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

in 1990 and 1992, respectively. He then went to Boston where he performed his doctoral work under the supervision of H. Eugene Stanley at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

, and received his doctoral degree in 1996. He was a post-doctoral researcher at Forschungszentrum Jülich, MIT, Boston University, and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

. In 2002, he became a professor at

Academic career

Amaral has published over one hundred fifty scientific peer-reviewed papers in leading scientific journals, with more than twelve thousand citations. His research has been featured in many media sources. He is currently editor of several academic journals including Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment and PLoS ONE. He also serves as the Graduate Program Director at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northwestern University. He will become the co-director of Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) in the fall of 2013.

Entrepreneurship

Amaral is the co-founder and Scientific Advisor of Chimu Solutions, Inc. The company's main product, Footballrrating.com, tracks the performance of soccer teams and individual players. The technique is based on a paper co-authored by Amaral and the other co-founder of the company, Jordi Duch.

Personal life

Professor Amaral currently lives in the city of Evanston with his wife and his two sons, Jordi and Ferran. Apart from science, he is interested in food and history. He is also an avid soccer fan, particularly for the Portugal national soccer team and Sport Lisboa e Benfica.

Awards and honors

* Fellow, American Physical Society (2014) * Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2012) * Invited Participant in NAE Japan-American Frontiers of Engineerium Symposium, National Academy of Engineering (2009) * Member of Advisory Board on "Complex Systems", James S. McDonnell Foundation (2009) * Early Career Scientist, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2009) * Invited Participant, NA-Keck Futures Initiative on Complex Systems, National Academies and W. M. Keck Foundation (2008) * Distinguished Young Scholar in Medical Research, W. M. Keck Foundation (2006) * Invited Participant on Workshop on Transformative Research, National Science Board (2005) * Invited speaker at German-American Frontiers of Science Symposium, National Academy of Sciences and Humboldt Foundation (2005) * Organizer, 11th Annual Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, National Academy of Engineering (2005) * K-25 Career Award, NIGMS/NIH (2004) * Invited participant in 10th Annual Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, National Academy of Engineering (2004) * Invited participant in 9th Annual Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, National Academy of Engineering (2003) * Searle Leadership Fund Award, Northwestern University (2002) * Postdoctoral Fellowship (2 years), Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal (1997) * Postdoctoral Fellowship (15 months), DFG, Germany (1995) * Pre-doctoral Fellowship (3 years), JNICT, Portugal (1992) * Pre-doctoral Masters Fellowship (2 years), JNICT, Portugal (1990) * Scholarship (10 years), Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Portugal (1981)

Selected publications

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Notes

External links

Amaral Lab website

Chimu Solutions, Inc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amaral, Luis Complex systems scientists Boston University alumni Portuguese academics Portuguese scientists Northwestern University faculty University of Lisbon alumni Living people 1968 births Network scientists