Centre for Complexity, Design & Policy

Professor Jeffrey Johnson is Professor of Complexity Science and Design at the Open University, UK. He has wide research interests including: complex systems, simulation, robotics, hypernetworks, agent-based modelling, non-equilibrium social science and policy applications of complex systems. He leads for the Open University on the DA.RE project.
Professor Claudia Eckert is Professor of Design at the Open University. I am interested both in understanding design in different design domains and different phases of the design process, and in developing techniques and computer tools for facilitating design activities. Most of my research in based on empirical studies in industry, but I am also interested in bringing theories and methods from different disciplines into design research. For example I am trying to apply insights from philosophy and sociology of science to design process modeling and from complexity theory to change prediction.
Professor William Nuttall is Professor of Energy at The Open University. He obtained his PhD in physics at MIT in 1993 followed by post-doctoral research positions in the UK. His research involved much work on phase transitions and critical phenomena. In the late 1990s he moved from the laboratory to the world of public policy, especially concerning issues of energy technology and policy. In 2002 he established the MPhil in Technology Policy at the University of Cambridge. He is widely known for his work on nuclear power policy. Complexity science is a continuous thread running through his research. He was a founder Committee member of the Nonlinear and Complex Physics Group of the Institute of Physics. Hiis policy-oriented research uses methods such as system dynamics, agent-based simulation, decision theory and the economics of engineering flexibility.
Professor George Rzevski is Professor Emeritus in Design and Complexity in the Centre. He is building a KnowledgeBase containing material on Complexity Science and Agent Technology. His approach to complexity and agent-based software has been widely applied in many industrial and commerical contexts. He founded a network of multi-agent technology companies, which supply intelligent systems to customers in the USA, Russia, Germany and the UK.
Dr Jane Bromley is Lecturer in Computing at the Open University. Her background is in physics - specifically optics and visual psychophysics. She has carried out research on visual dysfunction and neural networks for human perception tasks. This was followed by a stint in project management with Bell Laboratories before joining the Open University’s Robotics Outreach Programme and working on the EU ASSYST project, a Complex Systems coordination Support Action project. She currently researches information extraction and data mining, and is a member of the DA.RE project team.

Dr David Rodrigues is Research Fellow at The Open University, United Kingdom, UK. My research interests include: Hypernetworks, Network Science, Social Networks, Synchronization Phenomena, Symmetry, Community Detection, Cellular Automata, Emergence and Stigmergy.
Dr Katerina Alexiou Lecturer in Design having joined the OU as research fellow in 2004. Her design background and professional experience is in architecture. Her research is in the area of design theory and methods (including design cognition, collaborative design, learning, creativity, and social aspects of design). She has a special interest on the relationship between complexity science and design, and the exchange of theories and methodologies between the two. She is also interested in design computing, artificial intelligence, simulation, the development of design and planning support systems and the investigation of the relationship between space and human behaviour.
TDr heodore Zamenopoulos Lecturer in Design applies complexity theory and methods in design research and practice. He has been Research Fellow on European and UK funded research projects related to the theme of complexity and design. He is a professionally qualified architect and has practiced architecture in Greece. His research lies in the areas of design theory, design cognition, social theory of design, design computing, computer-aided design, design learning, complexity research methods, mathematics, and artificial intelligence. He conducts empirical as well as mathematical and computational studies on the neurological, cognitive and social level of design activity, and technologies to support design and design learning. He also interested in the built environment, focussing on design computing, and methods for generating spatial configurations.
Dr Matthew Cook is Senior Lecturer in Design and Innovation at the Open University. He joined the Open University in October 2009 after previously working at Cranfield University as lecturer in Economic Geography and Planning for eight years and in UK local government as a spatial planner and cartographer for 10 years. Matthew’s research interests are in design, innovation and transformation to sustainable development. His research focuses on spatiality and power associated with these topics. As such, he draws upon and makes connections between literature of several related fields including science and technology studies (STS), innovation studies, urban studies and spatial planning.
Dr Cristian Jimenez-Romero is Visiting Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Complexity and Design. He worked as a professional programmer for Nokia-Siemens before joining the OU where he completed his PhD in 2016. He is interested in spiking neural networks and developing new kinds of computational systems using hypernetworks. He is also interested in the design of peer marking systems and the development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and is working on the DA.RE project.
Ruggero Rossi is a PhD student in the Centre for Complexity and Design. He works at the European Centre for Living Technology in Venice and is cosupervised by Jeff Johnson and David Lane.
Associates
Paul Bourgine is Visiting Professor in Complex Systems Science in the Centre. He was a founder member of the Complex Systems Society (CSS) and its first President. He is a founder of the UNESCO UniTwin Complex Systems Digital Campus (CS-DC) with more that 100 institutional members worldwide, and he is its first President. Paul is a researcher at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. He will work in the Centre helping to make Étoile courses for the complex systems community, especially the CSS and CS-DC.
David Hales is Visiting Senior Research Fellow at The Open University, UK. Some of my research interests include: Cooperation theory, Agent-Based Modelling, Group Selection, Dynamic Networks and Peer-to-Peer systems.
Anthony Johnston is a Visiting Researcher in the Centre. He is a lecturer in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in Northern Ireland as well as an Associate Lecturer with the Open University. He obtained his PhD in Technology at the Open University in 2013. His research involves helping people with visual impairment to navigate difficult urban environments, including Shared Space, using machine vision.