InterSpaces

ZiF Bielefeld
InterSpaces ist der Podcast des Zentrums für interdisziplinäre Forschung (ZiF) der Universität Bielefeld, wo interdisziplinäre Forschung in Gruppen gefördert wird. Diese Perspektivenvielfalt soll im Podcast hörbar werden, weswegen in den meisten Folgen mehrere Wissenschaftler*innen aus unterschiedlichen Fächern über ihre gemeinsamen Forschungsthemen sprechen.

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InterSpaces is the podcast of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) at Bielefeld University and is funding interdisciplinary research in groups. This diversity of perspectives is meant to be audible in the podcast, which is why most episodes will feature several researchers from different disciplines talking about their joint research topics. 

Episode #26: The Lush World of Random Matrices

with Jean-Philippe Bouchaud, Valentina Ros and Tobias Galla

13.05.2026 48 min

Random Matrix Theory (RMT) stands out as a unifying framework at the core of seemingly unrelated fields ranging from signal processing, theoretical ecology, economics and finance, to the theory of learning and the statistical physics of disordered classical and quantum systems. Far from being a mere set of computational tools, RMT provides deep theoretical insights and a foundational understanding of various complex systems. It is key to understand the stability or fragility of complex systems with numerous interacting agents, providing a theoretical framework to capture their responses to perturbations, that may lead to significant changes in the system’s configuration with substantial rearrangements in the state of the individual components (thus describing scenarios of crises or extinctions).
In this episode physicist and capital fund manager Jean-Philippe Bouchaud Paris), quantum physicist Valentina Ros and Tobias Galla from the Institute for Cross-disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems (IFISC) at Palma de Mallorca talk about their research group at ZiF and discuss the potential of Random Matrix Theory and the challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration. 
 

Weitere Folgen

Episode #25: Robust Decision Heuristics for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

with Mohan Sridharan, Özgür Şimşek and Gerd Gigerenzer

15.04.2026 69 min

Since September 2025 the long-term research group “Robust Decision Heuristics for Natural and Artificial Intelligence” is working at ZiF. The group seeks to ...

Episode #24: Täter:innen in der Literatur

Lesung und Gespräch mit Sebastian Schönbeck, Marcel Beyer und Nora Bossong

11.03.2026 70 min

In der Literaturgeschichte hat die Einfühlung in Täter:innen mit den Mitteln der Kunst eine lange Tradition. Dies bedeutet jedoch nicht, dass die literarisch...

Episode #23: AI Risk and Safety Landscape

with Benjamin Paaßen, Elizabeth Herbert and Olle Häggström

18.02.2026 46 min

With the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) methods in society, discussions about associated risks and how to mitigate them have also intens...