Dani S. Bassett

Dani S. Bassett is the J. Peter Skirkanich Professor at the University of Pennsylvania with primary appointment in the Department of Bioengineering (School of Engineering and Applied Science) and secondary appointments in Physics & Astronomy, Electrical & Systems Engineering, Neurology, and Psychiatry. They serve as an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute and lead a research group focused on complex systems and network science.

• B.S. in Physics, Penn State University (2004)
• Ph.D. in Physics, University of Cambridge as Churchill Scholar and NIH Health Sciences Scholar (2009)
• Postdoctoral position at UC Santa Barbara and Junior Research Fellow at Sage Center for the Study of the Mind

Their research integrates complex systems science, statistical mechanics, and applied mathematics to study network dynamics in physical and biological systems. Key areas include brain connectivity mechanisms, cognitive processes, neurological disease modeling, granular matter physics, and collective human curiosity. Bassett employs advanced methodologies including algebraic topology, network control theory, and multilayer network analysis to investigate how network architecture influences system function across diverse domains.

Recent publications reveal a strong trend toward interdisciplinary network science applications, particularly in modeling human curiosity through Wikipedia navigation patterns and analyzing brain network reconfiguration during cognitive development. Their work bridges physics, neuroscience, and behavioral science with emphasis on topological network properties and dynamical processes.

• American Psychological Association's Rising Star (2012)
• MacArthur Fellow Genius Grant (2014)
• Lagrange Prize in Complex Systems Science (2017)
• Erdos-Renyi Prize in Network Science (2018)
• American Physical Society Fellow (2021)
• Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher (3 consecutive years)

Bassett's research is supported by major agencies including NSF, NIH, DoD, ONR, and private foundations (MacArthur, Sloan, Paul Allen). Their lab actively recruits students from physics, engineering, neuroscience, and computer science backgrounds, emphasizing diversity in academic perspectives. Current projects include the 'Curious Minds' initiative exploring collective knowledge building and network-based models of neurological disorders. Bassett co-authored the MIT Press book 'Curious Minds: The Power of Connection' with philosopher Perry Zurn.