Network research

Social network analysis (SNA) is one of the latest disciplines of sociology. The systems referred to as networks consist of nodes (the individual units) and edges or ties (the interactions between them), which are referred as graphs (the mathematical description of networks).
Social network analysis is a field of science that examines the behaviour of individuals at the micro level and the relations and interactions between individuals at the macro level. The methodology of the analysis started out from sociometry originally and was extended to several disciplines later on (e.g. anthropology, biology, physics).

The need of applying network research in health care may arise both on the side of decision support for sector development (social diseases mapping and organisational/management analysis) and from the direction of the trend-like shift towards individual health care diagnosis.
As a consequence of the development of molecular biology, an abundance of data have been revealed about the human genome, which can be used, for instance, for drawing up the characteristic, standardisable patterns of co-occurring diseases.

With the development of molecular technology, cells are increasingly viewed as interrelated macromolecular networks rather than bags of enzymes. This is how the concept of interactome or intelligent network has emerged.

Network research is engaged in the simplification of these complex systems, treating them as constituting units (nodes: macromolecules, gene sequences) and the relations between them (edges/ties: physical, biochemical and functional interactions). There are many useful correlations that can thus be established.

Behind the strategic network research partners of the Foundation there are internationally prominent representatives of the methodology like Albert-László Barabási of Northeastern University and researcher Tamás Vicsek, Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, professor at ELTE University and holder of the Széchenyi Award.

Academic Partner: Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences, Budapest