​”Information Processing in Complex Systems”

The 12th International Conference on Guided Self-Organization takes place during October 14-15, 2026 in Binghamton, NY (USA), during The 2026 Conference on Complex Systems (CCS 2026) . GSO-2026 is organized by The State University of New York at Binghamton and The International Association for Guided Self-Organization (TIA-GSO).

Research Aims and Topics

GSO “aims to regulate self-organization for specific purposes, so that a dynamical system may reach specific attractors or outcomes. The regulation constrains a self-organizing process within a complex system by restricting local interactions between the system components, rather than following an explicit control mechanism or a global design blueprint.” 

Information processing in complex self-organizing systems involves the storage, transfer, and modification of information through the interactions of components within the system. Unlike traditional computers, which process digital information in a centralized manner, complex systems like biological organisms or social networks process information in decentralized, distributed, and often analog ways. The study of information processing in complex systems seeks to define a set of universal properties that can describe the dynamics of diverse systems, from brain networks to financial markets, using a common language. Understanding information processing in complex systems is fundamental to designing self-organizing systems, engineering collective behavior and developing energetically efficient models of computation. Modern approaches use frameworks from fields such as information theory, dynamical systems, and machine learning to model how systems ranging from economies to ant colonies process information.

The GSO-2026 conference will bring together invited experts and researchers in unconventional computation, swarm intelligence, open-ended evolution, and complex adaptive systems. Special topics of interest include: synthetic and systems biology, agent-based modeling, evolutionary and adaptive computation, socio- and bio-inspired algorithms, swarm robotics, physics of self-organizing behavior, information-driven self-organization, and self-organizing cyber-physical systems.

More at: www.guided-self.org

Abstract submission deadline:   May 1, 2026

We call for submissions of abstracts for oral and poster presentations on a wide variety of complex systems research. Relevant topics include (but are not limited to):

• Theoretical foundations of complex systems
• Nonlinear dynamics and chaos
• Systems theory, information theory, and systems science
• Game theory, decision theory, and socio-economical applications
• Self-organization, pattern formation, and collective behavior
• Structure and dynamics of complex networks
• Sustainability and adaptability of complex systems
• Bio-inspired systems, machine learning, and evolutionary computation
• Data-driven approaches to complex systems
• Applications to the humanities, art, and literature
• Historical and philosophical aspects of complex systems
• Complex systems and education

More at: ccs26.cssociety.org

More information about the session and how to submit: https://alifeforscience.github.io

21-27 June 2026 at Petnica Science Center.

Most of the everyday phenomena we see around us can be categorized as “complex.” Such systems consist of many strongly interacting parts and yet, despite this, they exhibit a certain emergent qualitative unity which endows them with a distinct being, separate, although not independent, from that of their constituent elements.
These complex systems thus possess a kind of “simplicity” as well, which makes them intelligible and allows them to be studied in their own right. The sheer diversity of complex phenomena—from magnets to climate to the economy to the human brain—prevents them from being investigated under a single theoretical framework. Still, studies such as those of Lorenz and Mandelbrot in the 1970s began to reveal a surprisingly large number of common motifs across these systems, including transitions to chaos, fractal structures, pattern formation, and more.
The search for common features of complex systems still remains open. However, most efforts today are focused on understanding particular phenomena. The “Belgrade School of Complex Systems,” organized by the Faculty of Physics at the University of Belgrade (http://www.ff.bg.ac.rs/Engleski/index_eng.html), is an attempt to bring together experts from around the world working on various fields that fall under the broad category of complex systems in order to encourage the exchange of knowledge and promote collaboration between like-minded researchers that may be working in seemingly disparate fields.

More at: becomplex.net