János Kertész, internationally recognized for his contributions to complex systems and network science and a key contributor to CSH from its founding, turns 75 this year. His foundational work on modeling large-scale networks, understanding financial market dynamics, and advancing interdisciplinary applications of statistical physics – including econophysics, network science, and computational social science – has had a profound impact on the field and continues to do so. Central to his research is the enduring challenge of understanding the micro-to-macro transition, a problem that, after 250 years of effort, remains one of the most complex in the social sciences and one János continues to explore.

He is a Professor at the Department of Network and Data Science at CEU and has been an active faculty member and collaborator at CSH since its early years – having been among its first visitors in 2017, just one year after the CSH opened.

“János has always been a hub connecting researchers across the globe,” says CSH President Stefan Thurner. “We warmly congratulate him and thank him for his continuous support and inspiration over so many years.”

To celebrate his 75th birthday, CEU was hosting a symposium featuring keynote talks and presentations by leading researchers from János Kertész’s extensive international network. Speakers included Albert-László Barabási (Northeastern University, USA / CEU, Austria), Fosca Gianotti (Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy), Marta Gonzalez (University of California, Berkeley, USA), Shlomo Havlin (Bar-Ilan University, Israel), Kimmo Kaski (Aalto University, Finland), Dino Pedreschi (University of Pisa, Italy), Jari Saramäki (Aalto University, Finland), Tamás Vicsek (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary), Taha Yasseri (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland), and CSH’s own Stefan Thurner.

Once again, happy birthday, János! Thank you for your dedication to science and for inspiring colleagues around the world.

>> Click here for pictures of the CEU symposium.