Milena Tsvetkova

Times Square at 6 am on a Sunday

I am a Master of Science student in Sociology and Social Research at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. I specialize in a field that combines game theory and network analysis to study how macro-level social phenomena (efficiency, inequality, the division of labor…) emerge from rational individual behavior. My thesis project concerns the coevolution of behavior and social networks in situations where both cooperation and coordination present a social dilemma.

I come from Bulgaria but I have spent seven years studying and working in the United States (I have lived in Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and New York). My undergraduate education was in Architecture and although I always thought of my switch to Sociology as a path dependency story, I have recently started to admit it to myself that it may have something to do with a secret desire to build artificial societies! In any case, my interest in complex systems and the Santa Fe Institute started with Mitchell Waldrop’s “bible” and I am truly excited at this opportunity to be part of SFI’s interdisciplinary environment. I look forward to meeting you all!

1. Main interests. In very broad terms, I am interested in the emergence, evolution and sustainability of social order. My research focuses on the coevolution of social structure (forms of relating) and human action (ways of behaving). I am particularly interested in decentralized forms of self-organization, welfare and equality.

2. Expertise. I am familiar with basic game theory and models and methods employed in the study of dynamic networks. I also have solid experience with advanced statistical methods for the social sciences. I would love to team up with a fellow social scientist from the CSSS group and prepare and give a tutorial on social network analysis.

3. What I hope to get out of the CSSS. I hope to acquire skills in and obtain experience with computational methods and modeling techniques and to get an overview of state-of-the-art approaches to the study of complex systems in different disciplines. I also look forward to participating in an interdisciplinary research project and finding friends and future collaborators among the program participants.

4. Possible projects in mind. I would like to work on a project that uses computer simulations to study a social problem. I look forward to discussing possible topics with the other program participants during the first week.