The Centre for Coupled Dynamics & Complex Systems (CDCS) was a research unit from where the MS2Discovery Institute was developed. The centre was created in 2004 by the efforts of researchers from different departments of the Faculty of Science, combining research expertise in the areas of applied mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology via tools and methods of mathematical modelling and computational science. Research activities of the CDCS centre focused on the following areas:
- Mathematical models for coupled systems and phenomena;
- Computational physics, optoelectronics, and computational chemistry;
- Modelling in systems biology, computational genomics;
- Mathematical models for applications in nanoscience and bionanotechnology;
- Stochastic processes in sciences, engineering, and quantitative finance.
The backbone of the CDCS centre was the Laurier dynamic research community in mathematical & statistical modelling and computational science. Members of the centre together with their colleagues from other disciplines run several highly successful seminar series. They were active in establishing and maintaining links with colleagues from other institutions, inside and outside of Canada, as well as with industrial companies. At the CDCS Centre, both analytical and numerical methods were developed for solving challenging problems that appear at the cutting edge of scientific and technological applications. Over a decade, the CDCS researchers sponsored many undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and visitors. These traditions have been continued by the MS2Discovery Interdisciplinary Research Institute.
The main goal of the Centre for Coupled Dynamics & Complex Systems was to use the methodology of mathematical modelling and computational experiment and to develop new theories and techniques for the solution of important problems arising in sciences. Many such problems require dealing with processes and phenomena that have components interacting in a complicated manner; they are "coupled". Better understanding such processes and phenomena has important implications for applications in such diverse fields as optoelectronics, medicine, biotechnology, and finance, environmental and energy-saving technologies, among many others. The Journal of Coupled Systems and Multiscale Dynamics has been devoted to studies of such coupled processes, phenomena, and systems.