Workshop in the MIDST of Complex Networks Analysis in R with Applications to Supply Chain Management and Ecology

Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey

Thursday, June 20, 2019

This workshop will provide a brief introduction to complex networks analysis using the R programming language. The theory session will start with establishing the basics of computation in R, including data structures, operators, functions, control structures, loop functions, and data importing and exporting. The session will continue with defining, manipulating, visualizing, and analyzing complex networks in R. We will create networks from empirical data as well as from models such as preferential attachment model, small-world model, exponential random graph models, and stochastic block models. We will compute and visualize different centrality metrics, measures of cohesion, and community structure. In the hands-on session, we will first compute and visualize descriptive network statistics for an empirical supply network from Choi and Hong (2002). We will then generate and analyze ecological networks from empirical data as well as the niche model (see Allesina et al. (2015) and references therein). No prior knowledge of R or complex networks theory is required. We kindly ask you to bring your laptops and recommend installing R (https://www.r-project.org/) and R Studio (https://www.rstudio.com/) prior to the workshop. This workshop is delivered in the scope of the "Resilience of supply networks: An "interdependent complex networks approach" project funded by the British Academy Newton Mobility Grant NMG2R2\100183.