The Leo Apostel Center

in collaboration with the Doctoral Programme of the VUB invites
everyone to the 45th of its interdisciplinary seminars in the
Foundations series. In this series CLEA invites scholars that are
actively engaged in the research on the foundations of a particular
discipline. Their lectures will always be directed to an
interdisciplinary audience, and the discussions aim at confronting
the foundations of the different disciplines.




             M O D E L L I N G   M O D E L L I N G
             *************************************

                     by Dr. Bruce Edmonds
                     ********************


  (Centre for Policy Modelling; Manchester Metropolitan University)



Monday, December 13, 1999 at 5 p.m. in room 2/ B111(building B)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Campus Oefenplein


About the lecture
*****************

Understanding the process of modelling is important. Such an
understanding could underpin an improvement in our modelling efforts;
help us understand "complex adaptive systems" (which can be
characterised as systems which themselves engage in modelling); and
even help us understand how we model our selves. To progress this
understanding a model of modelling is presented. The model
description and content are separated out and the object phenomena
are not directly related to the model description but via possible
model contents. This static picture reduces to the process-oriented
one when a particular prediction is needed. This framework allows
many aspects of modelling to be represented: relating different
models; chains of models; specificity; model generality; model
complexity; error; verification;validation; the effect of language
change; modelling trade-offs; and context.

About the speaker
*****************

Bruce Edmonds is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy
Modelling (CPM) at the Manchester Metropolitan University. His
research include: complexity, logic, context, understanding
modelling, social simulation, and cognition.  He has recently co-
chaired a workshop on "Socially Situated Intelligence" and is an
editor of the Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of
Information Transmission. For more about him see
http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/~bruce


The presentation with questions will last about an hour. Afterwards,
an hour or more is reserved for an in-depth, group discussion of the
topic. More info at the CLEA office: phone 02-644 26 77 or via the
Web-page: http://pcp.vub.ac.be/CLEA/