Random Graphs and Complex Networks Volume 2 wins INFORMS APS Best Publication Award

We are delighted to inform you that the book Random Graphs and Complex Networks Volume Two, written by Remco van der Hofstad, has won the INFORMS Applied Probability Society Best Publication Award, for 'its clarity, as well as for making significant strides to foster interdisciplinary connections between probability theory and a range of applications in computer science, statistical physics, and biology.'

This is a prize awarded once every two years during odd calendar years by the Applied Probability Society (APS) of INFORMS for an outstanding contribution (book, paper, set of papers) to applied probability. It is noteworthy that it has rarely been awarded to single authors, and particularly those not based in the U.S.! The citation of the jury, consisting of Neil Walton (chair), Mariana Olvera-Cravioto, and R. Srikant is the following:

Random Graphs and Complex Networks, Vol. 2, provides a standout text in network science research. Providing the first extensive treatment of local weak convergence in graphs, the work brings these modern tools to bear on a range of phenomena, including phase transitions, scaling limits, and the impact of network heterogeneity.

The treatment systematically develops local convergence theory, establishing novel global properties for a range of models, including the Stochastic Block Model, the General Inhomogeneous Random Graphs, the Configuration Model, and the Preferential Attachment model.

Beyond its technical contributions, the work is commended for its clarity, as well as for making significant strides to foster interdisciplinary connections between probability theory and a range of applications in computer science, statistical physics, and biology.

The book is the second volume of a pair of books that describe the mathematical foundations and random graph models for complex networks. They have become standard texts in the field. Remco started writing these books for a master course on random graphs, taught at Eindhoven University of Technology, in 2005, and the books have significantly evolved since then, since the field matured enormously in this time period. At the start of the NETWORKS program, in 2014, Remco decided to split the document into two parts, the first aimed at Master students, and the second at PhD students and researchers. Both books have also attracted attention from the more applied complex networks community, and, as such, act as bridges between this community and the mathematical random graphs community.

The work of many NETWORKS researchers has been a major source of inspiration for the book. Examples are local convergence results for preferential attachment models with Rounak Ray and Rajat Hazra, local convergence of PageRank with Alessandro Garavaglia and Nelly Litvak, random graphs with community structures with Clara Stegehuis and Johan van Leeuwaarden, as well as with Viktoria Vadon and Julia Komjathy. These works have sparked many follow up papers, and continue to shape the field.