Evolutionary Dynamics by Martin Nowak
book from Harvard University Press

excerpt | review | review

News & Upcoming Events


PED seminars:
9 Nov Simon Gächter
16 Nov Samuel Bowles

press: Positive Interactions Promote Public Cooperation

graduate student Erez Lieberman honored by Technology Review magazine as one of the "2009 Young Innovators under age 35"

PED congratulates Corina Tarnita who was awarded the HighBridge prize by the Department of Mathematics for the best Ph.D. thesis in 2009.

PED congratulates David Rand for earning the first Ph.D. in Systems Biology at Harvard.

PED congratulates Anna Dreber and Johan Almenberg who both successfully defended their Ph.D. theses at the Stockholm School of Economics in June 2009.

R.O.M.E.
is currently accepting applications for student researchers

our newest recruit

PREvolutionary dynamics

graduate student Erez Lieberman stands up for iShoe

PED is newly WED
(or WEDDED?)

Harvard study finds that nice guys do finish first!

Scientific American article on Martin Nowak

New York Times article on Martin Nowak

Mission Statement

Evolution is the one theory that permeates all of biology. The evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhanski once remarked: "Nothing in biology makes sense if not seen in the light of evolution." We add: "Nothing in evolution makes sense if not seen in the light of evolutionary dynamics."

Evolutionary dynamics is the study of the fundamental principles of evolutionary change. Evolution requires populations of reproducing individuals. Mutation generates novelty. Natural selection and random drift determine the fate of new mutants. Cooperation leads to organization.

The natural laws of evolution can be formulated in terms of precise mathematical equations. These equations describe reproduction, mutation, selection and cooperation. Reproduction can be genetic or cultural. Therefore, evolutionary dynamics describe both genetic and cultural evolution.

The Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED) at Harvard University is dedicated to research and teaching. We would like to communicate our enormous enthusiasm of doing science to students, post-docs and visitors from all over the world. Martin Nowak, Professor of Mathematics and Biology, is the Director of PED. May Huang is the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO).

Our current research topics include:

Evolution of cooperation

Evolutionary game theory

Evolutionary graph theory

Somatic evolution of cancer

Virus dynamics

Prelife

Publication genetics

Evolution of language

and "Winners don't punish"


















PED meets China
PED meets China: a Feng Fu event.