Inho Hong

I am a postdoctoral research fellow at Center for Humans and Machines (CHM), Max Planck Institute for Human Development (MPIB), Germany. My research focuses on understanding society through data science and complex systems methods, with particular interests in science of cities, future of work, digital mobilization, human mobility, and science of science.

Education

• Ph.D. in Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 2019.
  • Social complex systems (advisor: Woo-Sung Jung)
• M.S. in Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 2012.
• B.S. in Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 2010.

Positions

• Center for Humans and Machines (Director: Iyad Rahwan), Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Mar 2020 - Present.
  • Machines and the Future of Work Group (PI: Alex Rutherford)
• Seoul Institute of Technology, Korea
  • Visiting Researcher, Aug 2020 - Dec 2020.
• Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics, Korea
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Sep 2019 - Feb 2020.
  • Statisical Physics of Complex Dynamics Lab (Leader: Hang-Hyun Jo)
• Kellogg School of Management & Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems, Northwestern University, USA
  • Visiting Predoctoral Fellow, Oct 2017 - Aug 2018. (Supervisor: Hyejin Youn)

Visiting experience

• Data Science Group, Institute for Basic Science (Korea), Feb 2020.
• Growth Lab, Harvard Kennedy School (USA), Jun 2017.
• Santa Fe Institute (USA), Feb 2016.
• Aalto University (Finland), Feb 2015.

Honors (selected)

• Young Statistical Physicist Award
  • The Korean Physical Society, Apr 2021.
  • Award news by MPIB
• Best Paper Award
  • Korea Computer Congress 2021, Jun 2021.
• Excellent Poster Presentation Award
  • 2017 Korean Physical Society Spring Meeting, Apr 2017.
  • 2013 Korean Physical Society Fall Meeting, Oct 2013.
• Excellent Oral Presentation Award
  • 2016 Korean Physical Society Fall Meeting, Oct 2016.
• Global Ph.D. Fellowship Program
  • National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), Mar 2014 – Feb 2017.

Articles

• “Universality in Urban Growth” (in Korean), 물리학과 첨단기술 (Webzine published by the Korean Physical Society), May 11, 2021.
• “Open data and COVID-19: Wikipedia as an informational resource during the pandemic”, Medium, Apr 16, 2020.
• “Open data and COVID-19: Language diversity on Wikipedia”, Medium, May 14, 2020.

Media coverage (selected)

• “The universal pathway to innovative urban economies”, Science Advances (2020).
  • “Is It Really Possible For The Next Silicon Valley To Emerge In A Small Town?”, Forbes.
  • Quartz, Fast Company, Northwestern Magazine, Northwestern NOW, 매일경제 (in Korean).
• “Social mobilization and polarization can create volatility in COVID-19 pandemic control”, Applied Network Science (2021).
  • “Polarization and mobilization on social media affect infection figures”, IDW Online.
  • Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Heise Online, Berliner Zeitung, Deutschlandfunk.
• “Urban green space and happiness in developed countries”, EPJ Data Science (2021).
  • The Science Times, Phys.org, Science Daily, 중앙일보 (in Korean), 연합뉴스 (in Korean).

Preprints

• A. Rutherford, M. Cebrian, I. Hong and I. Rahwan, “Impossible by Conventional Means: Ten Years on from the DARPA Red Balloon Challenge”, arXiv:2008.05940 (2020). https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.05940

Recent publications

• O.-H. Kwon*, I. Hong* (*equal contribution), J. Yang, D. Y. Wohn, W.-S. Jung and M. Cha, “Urban green space and happiness in developed countries”, EPJ Data Science 10, 28 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-021-00278-7

• I. Hong, A. Rutherford and M. Cebrian, “Social mobilization and polarization can create volatility in COVID-19 pandemic control”, Applied Network Science 6, 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41109-021-00356-9

• I. Hong, M. R. Frank, I. Rahwan, W.-S. Jung and H. Youn, “The universal pathway to innovative urban economies”, Science Advances 6, eaba4934 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba4934

• I. Hong, W.-S. Jung and H.-H. Jo, “Gravity model explained by the radiation model on a population landscape”, PLoS ONE 14, e0218028 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218028

• H. Kim*, I. Hong* (*equal contribution) and W.-S. Jung, “Measuring national capability over big science’s multidisciplinarity: A case study of nuclear fusion research”, PLoS ONE 14, e0211963 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0211963

• I. Hong and W.-S. Jung, “Application of gravity model on the Korean urban bus network”, Physica A 462, 48-55 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2016.06.055

• S. Lee, I. Hong and W.-S. Jung, “A network approach to the transfer market of European football leagues”, New Physics: Sae Mulli 65, 402-409 (2015). https://doi.org/10.3938/NPSM.65.402