Dear all, Please spread the word: This symposium is interesting to anyone wanting to understand the similarities and difference in network dynamics across sociology, (animal) group behavior and living neural networks. It is free of charge and we have a great international speakers. Best wishes, Viola Dear colleagues, We are pleased to announce "Living Networks" - an international symposium on self-organization, manipulation, and information flow in neural and social systems. We bring together experts on adaptive networks from societal dynamics, animal groups, living neural networks, and complex systems. Please share this announcement with interested colleagues, students, group members, and collaborators. We warmly welcome you to Göttingen - free of charge. Dates: 30 November–2 December 2026 Venue: Manfred-Eigen-Hörsaal, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany 🔗 More information and registration (free of charge): https://priesemann-group.github.io/living-networks/ The symposium poster is available for download here: https://owncloud.gwdg.de/index.php/s/LCp1TDN87tWHRG6 We look forward to welcoming you to Göttingen. Best wishes, From the organization team: Julia Fischer, Greta Jasser, Thomas Kneib, Piklu Mallick, Viola Priesemann Living Networks: Self-Organization, Manipulation and Information Flow in Neural and Social Systems Abstract Living Networks, including societies, groups and also brains, are continuously reshaping their structure, interactions, and information flow among nodes - yet their large-scale structure and function remain largely invariant. Classic examples are scale-free network properties and robust information processing despite variable neural representation. We want to explore whether these networks are shaped by similar self-organization principles, show similar emergence of robustness and resilience, and are potentially also vulnerable tosimilar manipulation mechanisms. By combining the perspective of complex systems with expertise from sociology and neuroscience, our aim is to identify common principles, but also core differences, that drive the emergence of structure, dynamics, and information flow - from neural networks to societal dynamics. Background: From November 30 to December 2nd, 2026, at the University of Göttingen, we bring together international experts across disciplines - including physics, data science, neuroscience, law, and social and political sciences. With invited and contributed talks, ample time for discussions and poster presentations, we will sharpen our understanding of how self-organization mechanisms drive structure and information flow in social networks, as well as neural networks, with implications for understanding disinformation, polarization, and societal resilience. The symposium is organized by the CIDAS Section "Complexity, Information, Cognition, Society" (CICS), funded by the University of Göttingen, and aims to foster future collaborative research initiatives across disciplines. _____________________ Prof. Dr. Viola Priesemann Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization & Georg-August-University Göttingen Am Fassberg 17, 37077 Göttingen viola.priesemann@ds.mpg.de<mailto:viola.priesemann@ds.mpg.de> https://priesemann-group.github.io<https://priesemann-group.github.io/>