Curriculum Vitae
István Kovács
istvan dot kovacs at northwestern dot edu
CV
Research Experience
2019- Assistant Professor, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA, Department of Physics and Astronomy
2019 Senior Visiting Researcher, Central European University, Department of Network and Data Science
‘Quantum Networks’
2014-2019 Postdoctoral Research Associate, CCNR NetSI, Northeastern University, Boston, USA, Albert-László Barabási
‘Biological Networks in Human Disease’
2014-2019 Visiting scientist, CCSB, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, USA, Marc Vidal
‘Genomic Analysis of Network Perturbations in Human Disease’
2018-2019 Visiting Postdoc, The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Canada, Charles Boone
‘Uncovering the Organizing Principles of Genetic Interaction Networks’
2018-2019 Research Trainee, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, Scott T. Weiss
‘Develop Network Methods for Combining Multiomic Data for Asthma and COPD’
2014-2020 Research Fellow (courtesy), Wigner RCP SZFKI, Hungary, Róbert Juhász
‘Many-body Systems in and out of Equilibrium’
2013-2014 Magyary postdoctoral fellowship at University of Szeged and Wigner RCP SZFKI, Budapest, Hungary,
‘National Excellence Program’ supported by the European Union and Hungary
‘Disorder Effects in Collective Behavior’
2011-2014 Young researcher at Wigner RCP SZFKI, Budapest, Hungary, Ferenc Iglói
‘Disordered Quantum Magnets’
2003-2008 Student researcher and visiting scientist, LinkGroup, Semmelweis University, Péter Csermely
‘Structural and Dynamical Properties of Complex Networks’
Education
2013 PhD in physics (summa cum laude),
Statistical Physics, Biological Physics and Physics of Quantum Systems program,
Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences (ELTE), Wigner RCP SZFKI, Budapest, Hungary.
‘Infinitely Disordered Critical Behavior in Higher Dimensional Quantum Systems’
Supervisor: Prof. Ferenc Iglói, consultant: Prof. emer. Péter Szépfalusy
2008 M.Sc. in physics (excellent) ELTE, statistical physics and high-energy physics specializations
‘Critical and off-critical behavior of disordered quantum spin chains’ (in hungarian)
Supervisor: Prof. Ferenc Iglói
2003-2011 member of the ELTE Bolyai College
Teaching Experience
2022 ‘Statistical Physics’ Phys-420-0 (Renormalization group theory, quantum phase transitions), graduate course, Spring quarter, Northwestern University
2022 ‘Electrodynamics’ Phys-414-1 (Relativistic field theory), core graduate course, Winter quarter, Northwestern University
2021 Phys-590 Research course. Fall quarter, Northwestern University
2021 ISP 398 Research course. Winter, Spring & Fall quarters, Northwestern University
2021 ‘Nonlinear Dynamics’ Phys 371/430 (Chaos and nonlinear dynamics in heterogeneous systems), undergraduate and graduate course, Spring quarter, Northwestern University
2021 ‘Electrodynamics’ Phys-414-1 (Relativistic field theory), core graduate course, Winter quarter, Northwestern University
2020 ‘Advanced Topics in Nonlinear Dynamics’ Phys-465-0 (Disordered systems and complex networks), graduate and undergraduate course, Spring quarter, Northwestern University
2014 ‘Applied statistical physics’ designed the MSc and PhD course, University of Szeged, with Ferenc Iglói
2013 ‘Monte Carlo methods in statistical physics’ designed the MSc and PhD course, University of Szeged
2008-2014 ‘Networks and stability’ PhD course and special lecture, designed with Péter Csermely,
joint course of ELTE, BME, SE and Corvinus University of Budapest
Honors and Awards
2021 Karl Rosengren Faculty Mentoring Award, mentor of best Summer URG project, Ravi Chepuri, Office of Undergraduate Research, Northwestern University
2017 Nation’s Young Talents Scholarship, Ministry of Human Resources, Hungary
‘Statistical Analysis of the PSU Kinetics’
2015 Junior Prize, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
‘Infinitely Disordered Critical Behavior in Higher Dimensional Systems’
2014 Young Researcher award, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
‘Disorder Quantum Magnets and their Entanglement Entropy’
2008 ‘Excellent student of the ELTE Faculty of Sciences’ award
2008 ‘For the ELTE Bolyai College’ award
Grants and Fellowships
2021-2022 NSF Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Pilot Project Award (H. Lee), Northwestern University, co-PI
‘Mapping the Trancriptional Path of Taste Cell Specification’
2021 Weinberg College Faculty Grants for Undergraduate Research Support, funded by the Weinberg College Baker Program in Undergraduate Research, Northwestern University, Principal Investigator
‘Modeling and Denoising Complex Networks’
2020 Weinberg College Faculty Grants for Undergraduate Research Support, funded by the Weinberg College Baker Program in Undergraduate Research, Northwestern University, Principal Investigator
‘Universal, geometric singularities at classical and quantum phase transitions’
2020 Semmelweis University STIA Innovation Grant, Budapest, Hungary (P. Mendik), Participant as consultant
‘Network data integration to infer drug combinations’
2019-2025 ERC Synergy grant, DYNASNET (L. Lovász), Participant
‘Dynamics and Structure of Networks’
2019 Domus Grant, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Principal Investigator
‘Statistical Analysis of the PSU Kinetics’
2019-2023 Hungarian Scientific Research Fund, K-131458 (P. Csermely), Senior participant as consultant
‘Adaptation and learning of biological networks‘
2018-2022 Hungarian Scientific Research Fund, K-128989 (R. Juhász), Senior participant, Investigator
‘Many-body systems in and out of equilibrium‘
2018-2019 Collaborative Research Travel Grant, Burroughs Wellcome Found, Principal Investigator
‘Uncovering the organizing principles of genetic interaction networks’
2018 Research Grant, CEU Foundation of Budapest, Principal Investigator
‘Quantum Link Prediction’
2018 Travel Grant, CEU Foundation of Budapest, Principal Investigator
2017-2019 John Templeton Foundation, ID# 60478 (J. Schmiedmayer), Participant, Project staff
‘The Nature of Quantum Networks’
2017 Nation’s Young Talents Scholarship, Ministry of Human Resources, Hungary, Principal Investigator
‘Statistical Analysis of the PSU Kinetics’
2017 Research Grant, CEU Foundation of Budapest, Principal Investigator
‘Quantum Link Prediction’
2016-2021 NIH/NHLBI P01HL132825 (S. T. Weiss), Participant, Postdoctoral Scholar
‘Systems Biology of Airway Disease‘
2016-2019 Hungarian Scientific Research Fund, K-115959 (L. Gránásy), Investigator
‘Pattern formation in far-from equilibrium systems‘
2014-2018 NIH 5P50HG004233-07 (M. Vidal), Participant, Postdoctoral Scholar
‘Genomic analysis of network perturbations in human disease‘
2014-2018 Hungarian Scientific Research Fund, K-109577 (F. Iglói), Investigator
‘Ordering and dynamics in many-body systems‘
2013-2014 Zoltán Magyary postdoctoral fellowship in the frames of the ‘National Excellence Program’
supported by the European Union and the State of Hungary, Principal Investigator
‘Disorder Effects in Collective Behavior’
2007-2008 Scholarship of the Republic of Hungary, Ministry of Education, Hungary
2006-2007 Scholarship of the Republic of Hungary, Ministry of Education, Hungary
2004-2005 Scholarship of the Republic of Hungary, Ministry of Education, Hungary
Conference Organization
2020 ICCS 2020, Nashua, USA, Program Committee, member
2020 NERCCS 2020, Buffalo, USA, Program Committee, member
2019 Quantum Networks 2019, ESI, Vienna, Austria, scientific adviser
2018 NetSci Satellite: Complex Quantum Networks, Paris, France, organized with Bruno Coutinho
2015 40th Conference of the Middle European Cooperation in Statistical Physics, Esztergom, Hungary, organizing committee member, abstract booklet, logistics
2014 Entanglement Day, school and workshop, Wigner RCP SZFI, Budapest, Hungary, organized with Janos Asboth
2012 Workshop on the occasion of the 60th birthday of Ferenc Iglói, main organizer
2004-2011 organizer of the IX-XVI. Bolyai Conferences
2005 student organizer of the 30th FEBS Congress and 9th IUBMB Conference
Professional Affiliations and Service
2021- Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO), core faculty member
2021- National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity, member
2021 Judge, Undergraduate Research and Arts Exposition at Northwestern University
2020- Recommender, PCI Network Science
2020- Associate Editor, Frontiers in Bioinformatics, Network Bioinformatics section
2020-2021 Physics and Astronomy, Graduate Curriculum Committee
2020- Physics and Astronomy, Colloquium Committee
2020- Organizer, Physics and Astronomy Complex Systems Seminars, bi-weekly
2020 Judge, Rapid Fire Research, Department of Physics and Astronomy
2020 Judge, Undergraduate Research and Arts Exposition at Northwestern University
2019 NERCCS 2019, Student career development session, panelist
2019-2020 Graduate Student Admissions Committee, Physics Program, Northwestern University, member
2019- American Physical Society, member
2018- The Network Science Society, member
2018 conference chair at NetSci Satellite: Complex Quantum Networks, Paris, France
2017- Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, member
2016- Hungarian Society of Massachusetts, board member
2015- Boston Hungarian-American Science Club, organizer, board member
2014- European Physical Society, member
2014- Roland Eötvös Physical Society, member
2014- public body of Hungarian Academy of Sciences, member
2014- Junior Section, Friends of Bolyai College, ELTE, member
2004-2014 choir member of the ‘Budapesti Vandor Korus’, Budapest
2009-2014 choir member of the St. Stephan Basilica, Budapest
2005-2013 organizer of several hiking competitions in Hungary
2004-2011 board member of the Student Union of Bolyai College
2005- peer reviewer for scientific journals (Nature, New Journal of Physics, PRL, Science Advances, Scientific Reports, Europhysics Letters, npj Systems Biology and Applications, Genes, EPJ B, PLoS ONE, Bioinformatics, National Science Review, Journal of Physics: Complexity, The Journal of Physical Chemistry, IEEE Transactions on Big Data, Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, Physica A, BioMed Research International, Physica A, Physics Letters A, J. Phys. A, J. Stat. Mech., Physica Status Solidi B, Proceedings of the Romanian Academy Series A, etc.) [publons.com]
Languages
hungarian (native language), english (fluent), german (conversational), latin (basic)
Skills and Hobbies
C, C++, Pascal, Perl, Python, R, over 7 years of experience in system administration
board games, singing, hiking, indoor rock climbing, table tennis, swimming, cooking