Complex Networks Tarot Cards!

Peter Dodds has produced some seriously awesome Complex Networks tarot cards!

(Tip of the cap to YY Ahn.)

Statistics Seminar by Mark Newman (Friday of Week 8)

Mark Newman will be speaking in the Department of Statistics's Distinguished Seminar Series on Friday of week 8. He will be speaking about statistical inference.

Date and Time: Week 8, Friday 11th March, 3.30 p.m.

Location: LG.01, Department of Statistics, 24-29 St Giles.

Slides from this Week's Lectures Posted

I have posted slides from this week's lectures (as well as another set of slides with more discussion of community structure) onto the course-materials page.

"In Conversation with Mark Newman: The Future of Network Science": Wednesday at 4pm at the Oxford Internet Institute

This Wednesday at 4pm at 1 St Giles, Bernie Hogan of the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) will be interviewing Mark Newman.

Week 4 Scanned Lecture Notes Available

I have posted a scan of the lecture notes from week 4.

I will briefly discuss k-cores next Monday, but please read the bits that I am not covering in lecture.

Physics Colloquium by Mark Newman: Friday 12 February 15:30

Mark Newman will be giving the physics colloquium this Friday at 15:30 in the Martin Wood Lecture Theatre in Clarendon Laboratory. The title of the lecture is "Epidemics, Erdos Numbers, and the Internet: the Physics of Networks".

3.5 Degrees of Separation

Apparently, the mean geodesic distance between nodes in the Facebook network is down to 3.5.

MFoCS Extra Homework Sheets now Posted

I have posted the two extra homework sheets for MFoCS students.

The first one is due at the end of Week 4, and the second one is due at the beginning of Week 7.

Some Python Code for Homework 1

Se Wook Oh (a class tutor) has kindly prepared a python package (with some data sets) to go with homework 1 for any of you who want to look at networks with Python. (It is optional to use these files.)

Now Posted: Solution Set 1 and Scanned Lecture Notes for Week 2 Material

I have now posted a solution sheet for homework 1 and a scanned copy of the lecture notes from the week-2 material.

Week 1 Scanned Notes Posted

I have posted the scanned lecture notes from week 1 in the course materials. Note that these scribbled notes were created last year (so ignore the 'unit 0' preamble from 2014–2015 and use what I presented this year in lecture).

Miniprojects from Past Years

Assessment for C5.4 this year will be via "Miniprojects", which in past years have been used for MFoCS students but not for undergraduates. You can see them from 2013–2015 on this website.

Homework Sheets Posted

I have now posted homework sheets 1–6.

General Talk by Mark Newman in Keble College

Mark Newman, who is visiting Oxford this term, will be giving a general talk about network science (suitable for undergraduates) on Thursday 21 January. It will start at 5pm and will take place in the Keble Pusey Room.

Welcome to Networks: Hilary Term 2016

Welcome to the Math C5.4 ("Networks") for Hilary term 2016.

Our lecture times are as follows:

Monday, 5–6 pm [L3] (weeks 1–6)
Tuesday, 2–3 pm [L2] (weeks 1–3, 5,6), [L3] (week 4)
Wednesday, 4–6 pm (week 7 only) [L3]
Thursday, 1-2 pm (weeks 7,8) [L3]

All locations are in the Mathematical Institute.

The class tutors are Se Wook Oh (one set), Vladimirs Murevics (one set), and me (two sets). The TAs are Roxana Feier (two sets) and Marco Pangallo (two sets).

Each set of classes consists of 6 one-hour classes. There will be 6 homework assignments.

The classes are as follows:

1. Wednesdays, weeks 2–7, room C2, 14:00 – 15:00 (Tutor: Se Wook Oh; TA: Marco Pangallo). Homework due Tuesday at 5pm.

2. Wednesdays, weeks 2–7, room C2, 15:00 – 16:00 (Tutor: Vladimirs Murevics; TA: Roxana Feier). Homework due Tuesday at 5pm.

3. Fridays, weeks 2–7, room C4, 10:00 – 11:00 am (Tutor: Mason Porter; TA: Marco Pangallo). Homework due Wednesday at 5pm.

4. Fridays, weeks 2–7, room C4, 11:00 – 12:00 noon (Tutor: Mason Porter; TA: Roxana Feier). Homework due Wednesday at 5pm.

Assessment will be based on a miniproject.

Scanned Notes Posted

I have scanned my handwritten notes that I used for the lectures and have posted them. Note that these notes are "as is" (and should be treated as such), but I hope they are helpful. I know some people had to miss lectures for things like interviews and perhaps not everybody had a chance to ask their classmates for notes. There are sections 0–7 (where Section 0 is tiny), and note that the second half of the last lecture follows the Powerpoint slides to which I have already provided an out-edge.

If you missed lectures, I still recommend strongly that you consult your classmates regarding any discussions or clarifications of points therein.

Networks Outreach Event, Oxford, Saturday, 14 March

I will be running a networks outreach event in the Mathematical Institute on Saturday 14 March. It will occur from 9:30 am until noon, and I could use some more volunteers to help me. Maybe some of you would be interested in joining in on this. We'll be interactively teaching some of the basics of networks to school students.

To get an idea of what we've done before, we described our efforts in this article. We also developed some teaching materials.

I know that the day after week 8 tends to be busy for many of you, but maybe some of you will be interested in helping out. Let me know if you are.

Classes and Consultation Sessions in Trinity Term

We have now determined the classes and consultation sessions for Trinity term.

Classes:

[1] Monday, week 1, 15:00–16:30, room C1, tutor: Peter Grindrod, TA: Bo Fan

[2] Monday, week 1, 16:30–18:00, room C1, tutor: Peter Grindrod, TA: Bo Fan

[3] Friday, week 1, 10:00–11:30, room C5, tutor: Mason Porter, TA: Barbara Mahler

[4] Friday, week 1, 14:00–15:30, room C3, tutor: Mason Porter, TA: Se Wook Oh



Consultation Sessions:

[1] Tuesday, week 2 (5/5), 10:00–12:00, room C3, Mason Porter

[2] Friday, week 2 (8/5), 10:00–12:00, room C3, Mason Porter

[3] Monday, week 3 (11/5), 15:30–17:30, room C1, Peter Grindrod

[4] Tuesday, week 3 (12/5), 10:00–12:00, room C3, Mason Porter

[5] Wednesday, week 3 (13/5), 14:00–16:00, room C3, Mason Porter

[6] Monday, week 5 (25/5), 15:30–17:30, room C1, Peter Grindrod, week 5


Tentatively, I plan to go through the 2014 exam in consultation sessions 4 and 5.

Problem Sheet 1 is Posted

Yup, that's right: I have posted problem sheet 1 on the course materials page.

Welcome to C5.4: HT 2015

Well, a new term is upon us, and the new iteration of this course now has a different numbering from before.

I don't have the new homework assignments ready yet, so for now I'll just indicate who will be lecturing, conducting classes, and TAing.


Lectures: Fridays: 2-4 pm, rooms L3 (weeks 1–4, 6, 8) and L1 (weeks 5,7), Andrew Wiles Building


Classes:

[1] Monday: Weeks 3,5,7 (and 1TT). HT coordinates: 3:30–5:00, room C4, tutor: Peter Grindrod, TA: Bo Fan

[2] Monday: Weeks 4,6,8 (and 1TT). HT coordinates: 3:30–5:00, room C4, tutor: Peter Grindrod, TA: Bo Fan

[3] Friday: Weeks 3,5,7 (and 1TT). HT coordinates: 4:30–6:00, room C1, tutor: Mason Porter, TA: Barbara Mahler

[4] Friday: Weeks 4,6,8 (and 1TT). HT coordinates: 4:30–6:00, room C1, tutor: Mason Porter, TA: Se Wook Oh


In all cases above, all HT rooms and times are confirmed. Times and rooms for TT will be determined later.

I will post course materials when I get a chance. In the meantime, there are a bunch of useful resources among the out-edges in the sidebar. Additionally, you can get free access to Mark Newman's 2010 book on networks via University of Oxford. For most subjects, that will be our main textbook.