Serguei Saavedra, Sonia Kéfi

Systems Ecology Vol. 1 (2026)

Systems ecology seeks to understand how interactions among ecological components generate system-level patterns, dynamics, and responses to change. In this founding editorial, we outline the motivation and scope of Systems Ecology, a diamond open-access journal organized around systems-level ecological questions rather than disciplinary boundaries. We introduce the journal’s Field Map as a living framework for connecting contributions across ecological systems and identify a set of open questions spanning emergence, energy and material constraints, persistence and fragility, transformation, recovery, scaling, spatial connectivity, and inference and prediction. We argue for a publishing model in which synthesis, theory, empirical work, methods, and cross-system comparisons contribute collectively to cumulative understanding in systems ecology.Systems ecology seeks to understand how interactions among ecological components generate system-level patterns, dynamics, and responses to change. In this founding editorial, we outline the motivation and scope of Systems Ecology, a diamond open-access journal organized around systems-level ecological questions rather than disciplinary boundaries. We introduce the journal’s Field Map as a living framework for connecting contributions across ecological systems and identify a set of open questions spanning emergence, energy and material constraints, persistence and fragility, transformation, recovery, scaling, spatial connectivity, and inference and prediction. We argue for a publishing model in which synthesis, theory, empirical work, methods, and cross-system comparisons contribute collectively to cumulative understanding in systems ecology.

Read the full article at: systems-ecology.org

The Santa Fe Institute — a private, not-for-profit research and education organization — has an opening for a two-year full-time postdoctoral fellowship. We are seeking a highly motivated scholar with expertise in physics (or in special cases in computer science), who has a desire to apply their expertise to understand the thermodynamic cost of distributed computation, from digital circuits and neural networks to human brains.

The candidate will work with PI David Wolpert on a project investigating how the network coupling the components of the distributed computer controls the tradeoff among the thermodynamic cost of running the computer, the computer’s speed, its robustness against component error, and the precise computation it performs. A particular focus will be to see how the hierarchical and / or modular structure of the network controls the tradeoff among these aspects of distributed computers.

Apply at: santafeinstitute.teamtailor.com

We are now accepting applications for the 2027 cohort until September 30, 2026.

The Santa Fe Institute Complexity Postdoctoral Fellowships, comprising the Omidyar Fellowships, are unique among postdoctoral appointments. The Fellowships offer early-career scholars the opportunity to undertake their own independent research within a collaborative research community that nurtures creative, transdisciplinary thought in pursuit of key insights about the complex systems that matter most for science and society. The Institute rejects compartmentalized thought common in academia. Instead, SFI scientists transcend boundaries between fields, freely synthesizing ideas spanning many disciplines – from math, physics, computer science and biology to the social sciences and the humanities – in pursuit of creative insights that advance our scientific frontiers.

Read the full article at: apply-sfi.smapply.org

Explore academic impact beyond rankings. Rankless offers a fresh perspective on how universities influence each geography and topic, emphasizing diverse forms of impact and providing a richer understanding of academic influence.

Read the full article at: www.rankless.org

Nathaniel J. Gaut, Christopher Deich, Brock Cash, Tanner Hoog, Aaron E. Engelhart, Katarzyna P. Adamala

Prof. Kate Adamala and her team at the University of Minnesota have built SpudCell, a cell-like system constructed entirely from known chemical components that can perform a complete cell cycle.

The system contains 36 purified enzymes, a 90,000 base pair genome spread across nine separate DNA molecules, and a lipid membrane. SpudCell is able to grow, replicate its genome, divide, and undergo selection and competition across multiple generations.

Unlike earlier work on minimal cells that carved down living cells, SpudCell is built entirely bottom-up from individually purified, non-living components. It is the first time such a system has demonstrated a complete cell cycle.

Read the full article at: biotic.org