Is SFI’s research relevant? Those who know the Santa Fe Institute know we concern ourselves with the underlying and often unseen structures, patterns, and connections in complex systems that, if we understand them well enough, might one day unlock the sorts of knowledge disciplinary science hasn’t yet revealed. This focus on the fundamental nature of things demands that we avoid the temptations of immediate, tangible outcomes.

Still, since I arrived at SFI in 2009, I have witnessed a growing appreciation for the Institute’s scientific research, not only among other scientists, but among policy makers and the public as well. For example:

• Our markets and risk work led by J. Doyne Farmer, John Geanakoplos, and colleagues is, in the wake of the global financial crisis, beginning to rattle the foundations of mainstream economics.
• Research led by Luis Bettencourt and Geoffrey West is providing fresh insights about urbanization, the rapid growth of cities, and the life cycles of companies.
• The work led by Jessica Flack and David Krakauer on the nature of conflict is suggesting ways to manage strife on many scales in a world in which environmental stresses and resource shortages soon may test our institutions, and our humanity.

SFI’s other explorations of cognition, evolution, the chemical origins of life, human behavior, ecological complexity, and patterns of innovation are not only interesting problems in their own right, but unraveling them also requires a transdisciplinary approach in which the tools of physics and the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities all contribute. Studying these issues in this way is rewarding, certainly, and potentially impactful. More important, it builds our theoretical understanding of complex systems generally.

So for me, the important question about SFI isn’t whether the Institute’s research is relevant. The better question is whether we are addressing key scientific questions in the right way. I believe the SFI model – a small, high-quality resident faculty core, an active and creative postdoctoral presence, a highly accomplished group of external faculty, plenty of transdisciplinary collaboration, complexity as a locus for thought, and an environment unfettered by the constraints of a university or government agency – is the right approach, for whatever the question. This way of thinking, and of doing science, and of addressing complex systems has explanatory power across the realm of human experience. Inevitably, relevance emerges from this process.

On behalf of SFI’s great faculty, fellows, and staff, I thank you for your interest in SFI. With your partnership and support we can begin to address some of our world’s most critical and complex problems.