Hector Zenil Chavez | Personal Homepage

Hector Zenil
hectorz [at] labores [dot] eu

Contact Info:

Unit of Computational Medicine
Center for Molecular Medicine
Karolinska Institutet
Address: Karolinska University Hospital
L8:05, S-171 76, Stockholm, Sweden

I am a research fellow in Algorithmic Complexity and Computational Biology at the Unit of Computational Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. My research focuses on applying Information Theory and Complexity Science to Genomics, Systems and Network Biology.

I am also the head of the Algorithmic Nature Group (the lab responsible for the Online Algorithmic Complexity Calculator and the Human Randomness Perception and Generation Project), and co-director of the French-based lab LABoRES For the Natural and Digital Sciences.

I have been also a consultant and senior research associate for Wolfram Research (the creators of Mathematica) since 2006. An invited member of the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi) and of the Π Research Network of the Society for the Philosophy of Information in the UK; an honorary founding associate of ASSRU (Italy); an appointed member of the Turing Centenary Advisory Committee in the UK and of Mexico's national researchers system (SNI).

I have held various visiting positions in the U.S. In Pittsburgh, I was a visiting scholar at Carnegie Mellon University in 2008, and in Boston I was at MIT during the Summer of 2007 associated with the Mars Society and NASA Mars Gravity Biosatellite project.

Postdoc
Behavioural and Evolutionary Theory Lab
Department of Computer Science,
University of Sheffield, UK

PhD. Computer Science
University of Lille I, France

MPhil. Logic (LoPHISS)
University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, France

BSc. Mathematics, UNAM, Mexico

PhD. Philosophy (candidate)
IHPST (Paris 1/ENS Ulm/CNRS), France

Research Interests

Computation in Complex Adaptive Systems
Applications of Algorithmic Information Theory
Computational Systems Biology
Molecular Computing and Self-assembly
The Theory of Cellular Automata
Pseudorandom Number Generation
Real and Synthetic Complex Network Biology

Latest News

Forthcoming special issue (2014) of Information (ISSN 2078-2489)
Theme: The Physics of Information
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2013
Guest Editors: H. Zenil and G. Dodig-Crnkovic
(express Gordana or me your submission interest)

Media Coverage and Appearances

I was interviewed by Wired for the article "Computers Made Out of DNA, Slime and Other Strange Stuff" in its Science section where my work is briefly mentioned.

The May 2013 issue N° 427 of Pour La Science (the French edition of Scientific American) featued my work on Bennett's Logical Depth in the article "Qu'est-ce qu'un objet complexe?" (What is a complex object?) applied to image classification. Full article here.

I was selected Featured Reviewer by the ACM Computing Reviews in May 2013. A short interview was published in their ACM CR blog. The same year, my review The Nature of Computation (C. Moore and S. Mertens) was selected the best review in the classification of Theory of Computation 2012.

The July 2011 issue N°405 of Pour La Science (the French edition of Scientific American) devoted the Logic and Computation (Logique et Calcul) section of its July 2011 issue to my PhD thesis on algorithmic complexity. The article was entitled "Le défi des faibles complexités" (The challenge of weak complexities). Full article here.

It was announced at the 2011 World Science Festival in New York City that my article "The World is Either Algorithmic or Mostly Random" was awarded 3rd. Place in the FQXi essay contest on the topic "Is Reality Digital or Analog?

Journalist John Santore from the Northwestern University interviewed me (August 2012) on the Turing Year as a member of the Turing Centenary Advisory Committee. Transcription here.

Appearance in the Four Rooms national TV show on Channel 4 (UK) in early 2013, presenting my Greek and Latin rare 1573 edition of Euclid's Elements book.

Latest Submitted Papers
(* means equal contribution than first author)

H. Zenil, F. Soler-Toscano, K. Dingle and A. Louis
Graph Automorphism and Topological Characterization of Real and Synthetic Complex Networks by Information Content
submitted to Physica A (requested minor revision)

L. Ting Lui, G. Terrazas, H. Zenil, C. Alexander and N. Krasnogor
Complexity Measurement Based on Information Theory and Kolmogorov Complexity
submitted to Artificial Life

H. Zenil, F. Soler-Toscano and Frank Vega
A pseudo-efficient method for upper bound calculations of Kolmogorov complexity
submitted to PLoS One

H. Zenil, F. Soler-Toscano, J.-P. Delahaye and N. Gauvrit
Two-Dimensional Kolmogorov Complexity and Validation of the Coding Theorem Method by Compressibility
submitted to Information Sciences [preprint]

F. Soler-Toscano, H. Zenil*, J.-P. Delahaye and N. Gauvrit
Correspondence and Independence of Numerical Evaluations of Algorithmic Information Measures
submitted to Computability [preprint] (requested revision)

F. Soler-Toscano, H. Zenil*, J.-P. Delahaye and N. Gauvrit
Calculating Kolmogorov Complexity from the Frequency Output Distributions of Small Turing Machines
submitted to Theo. Comp. Sci. [preprint]

J. Joosten, F. Soler-Toscano and H. Zenil
Fractal Dimension and Computational Complexity
In submission process to Chaos, Solitons & Fractals

Selected Journal Papers
(for all papers click here)

G. Terrazas, H. Zenil and N. Krasnogor
Exploring Programmable Self-Assembly in Non DNA-based Computing
Natural Computing (last revision)

H. Zenil and E. Villarreal-Zapata
Asymptotic Behaviour and Ratios of Complexity in Cellular Automata Rule Spaces
Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos (accepted) [preprint]

H. Zenil
Turing Patterns with Turing Machines: Emergence and Low-level Structure Formation
Natural Computing, 2013, DOI:10.1007/s11047-013-9363-z [preprint]

H. Zenil, C. Gershenson, J.A.R. Marshall and D. Rosenblueth
Life as Thermodynamic Evidence of Algorithmic Structure in Natural Environments
Entropy, 14(11), 2173-2191, 2012. [online] DOI: 10.3390/e14112173

G.J. Martinez, J.C. Seck-Touh-Mora and H. Zenil
Computation and Universality: Class IV versus Class III Cellular Automata
J. of Cellular Automata, vol. 7, no. 5-6, p. 393-430, 2013.

H. Zenil
Programmability for Natural Computation and the Game of Life as a Case Study
J. of Experimental & Theoretical Artificial Intelligence (accepted)

H. Zenil and J.A.R. Marshall
Some Aspects of Computation Essential to Evolution and Life
Ubiquity (ACM), Volume 2013, Number April (2013), Pages 1-16. [online,preprint]

H. Zenil
What is Nature-like Computation? A Behavioural Approach and a Notion of Programmability
Philosophy & Technology (special issue on History and Philosophy of Computing), 2013.
[online, preprint] DOI: 10.1007/s13347-012-0095-2

H. Zenil
On the Dynamic Qualitative Behavior of Universal Computation
Complex Systems, vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 265-278, 2012. [PDF]

L. Ma, O. Brandouy, J.-P. Delahaye and H. Zenil
Algorithmic Complexity of Financial Motions
Res. Int. Business Finance, 2012. [in press]
[preprint] DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2012.08.001

J.J. Joosten, F. Soler Toscano and H. Zenil*
Program-size versus Time complexity, Slowdown and speed-up phenomena in the micro-cosmos of small Turing machines
International Journal of Unconventional Computing, vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 353-387, 2011. [preprint]

J.-P. Delahaye and H. Zenil*
Numerical Evaluation of the Complexity of Short Strings: A Glance Into the Innermost Structure of Algorithmic Randomness
Applied Mathematics and Computation 219, pp. 63-77, 2012. [preprint]
DOI:10.1016/j.amc.2011.10.006 (online 2011)

H. Zenil, F. Soler-Toscano and J.J. Joosten
Empirical Encounters with Computational Irreducibility and Unpredictability
Minds and Machines, vol. 22, Number 3, pp. 149-165, 2012.
[preprint]. DOI: 10.1007/s11023-011-9262-y

H. Zenil, J.-P. Delahaye and C. Gaucherel
Image Information Content Characterization and Classification by Physical Complexity
Complexity, vol. 17-3, pages 26-42, 2012.
[preprint] DOI:10.1002/cplx.20388

H. Zenil and J.-P. Delahaye
An Algorithmic Information-theoretic Approach to the Behaviour of Financial Markets
Journal of Economic Surveys, vol. 25-3, pp. 463, 2011.
[preprint] DOI:10.1111/j.1467-6419.2010.00666.x

H. Zenil
Compression-based Investigation of the Dynamical Properties of Cellular Automata and Other Systems
Complex Systems, vol. 19, No. 1, pages 1-28, 2010. [PDF]

In Proceedings

9. S. Hernández Orozco, F. Hernández-Quiroz and H. Zenil
Sparsity of Non-trivial Proving Speed-up in Random Systems of Propositional Calculus,
Proceedings Computability in Europe (CiE), Milan, Italy, 2013.

8. H. Zenil
A Turing Test-Inspired Approach to Natural Computation
In G. Primiero and L. De Mol (eds.), Turing in Context II (Brussels, 10-12 October 2012), Historical and Contemporary Research in Logic, Computing Machinery and Artificial Intelligence. Proceedings published by the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts, 2013.

7. H. Zenil
A Behavioural Foundation for Natural Computing and a Programmability Test
In G. Dodig-Crnkovic and R. Giovagnoli (eds), Computing Nature: Turing Centenary Perspective, Springer, 2013. [preprint] [conference picture] (Invited paper to the Turing World Congress in Birmingham, UK)

6. H. Zenil
From Computer Runtimes to the Length of Proofs: With an Algorithmic Probabilistic Application to Waiting Times in Automatic Theorem Proving.
In M.J. Dinneen, B. Khousainov, and A. Nies (Eds.), Computation, Physics and Beyond Theoretical Computer Science and Applications, WTCS 2012 (Calude's Festschrift), LNCS 7160, pp. 223-240, Springer, 2012. [preprint] DOI:10.1007/978-3-642-27654-5_17

5. L. Ma, O. Brandouy, J.-P. Delahaye and H. Zenil
Algorithmic Complexity of Financial Motions.
In S. Kinsella, New Directions in Modeling International Finance, Routledge Advances Series on Experimental and Computable Economics, forthcoming 2012. [preprint]

4. H. Zenil
What Randomness for What Biological Process?
XXIII SITGES, Understanding and Managing Randomness in Physics, Chemistry and Biology, University of Barcelona, p.98, Spain, 2012.

3. J.J. Joosten, H. Zenil and F. Soler-Toscano
Fractal Dimension as an Indication of the Terminating Runtime of Discrete Dynamical Systems, (abstract p. 214) in S. Thurner M. Szell (eds), Löcker Verlag, ECCS'11, Vienna 2011.

2. J.J. Joosten, F. Soler-Toscano and H. Zenil*
Program-size versus Time complexity, Slowdown and speed-up phenomena in the micro-cosmos of small Turing machines
In H. Guerra (ed.). Physics and Computation 2010, Pre-Proceedings, CAMIT, University of Azores, 3rd International Workshop on Physics and Computation, Luxor, Egypt, 2010. [PDF]

1. J.J. Joosten, F. Soler-Toscano and H. Zenil*
Complejidad descriptiva y computacional en máquinas de Turing pequeñas
Actas de las V Jornadas Ibéricas, Lógica Universal e Unidade da Ciência, CFCU, Portugal, 2010. [preprint]

In Collections

9. H. Zenil
Algorithmic Information Patterns in Biological Networks
In M. Elloumi, C.S. Iliopoulos, J.T.L. Wang, A.Y. Zomaya (eds.), Pattern Recognition in Computational Molecular Biology, Wiley, 2014 (in preparation)

8. G.J. Martinez, J.C. Seck-Touh-Mora and H. Zenil
Wolfram's Classification and Computation in Cellular Automata Classes III and IV
In H. Zenil (ed), Irreducibility and Computational Equivalence: Wolfram Science 10 Years After the Publication of A New Kind of Science, Springer, forthcoming early 2013 [preprint].

7. H. Zenil, and J.-P. Delahaye, Un método estable para la evaluación de la complejidad algorítmica de cadenas cortas (A Stable Method for the Evaluation of the Algorithmic Complexity of Short Strings).
In G.J. Martinez, H. Zenil and C.R. Stevens (eds), Complex Systems as Computing Models, Luniver Press, 2011. [preprint]

6. H. Zenil and J.-P. Delahaye
An Algorithmic Information-theoretic Approach to the Behaviour of Financial Markets.
In S. Zambelli, D.A.R. George (eds.) Nonlinearity, Complexity and Randomness in Economics: Towards Algorithmic Foundations for Economics, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. [preprint]

5. H. Zenil and J-P. Delahaye
On the Algorithmic Nature of the World. In G. Dodig-Crnkovic and M. Burgin (eds), Information and Computation, World Scientific Publishing Company, 2010. [preprint]

4. J-P. Delahaye and H. Zenil*
On the Kolmogorov-Chaitin complexity for short sequences
In C. Calude (ed) Randomness and Complexity: From Leibniz to Chaitin, World Scientific Publishing Company, 2007. [preprint]

3. H. Zenil and F. Hernandez-Quiroz
On the Possible Computational Power of the Human Mind
In Worldviews, Science and Us, Philosophy and Complexity, C. Gershenson, D. Aerts, and B. Edmonds (eds), World Scientific, 2007. [preprint]

2. J.J. Joosten, F. Soler-Toscano, H. Zenil*
Complejidad descriptiva y computacional en máquinas de Turing pequeñas
En Lógica Universal e Unidade da Ciência, Centro de Filosofia das Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, pp. 11--32, 2011. [preprint]

1. H. Zenil
El Universo Algorítmico
In, O. Miramontes and K. Volke (eds.) Fronteras de la Física en el Siglo XXI, CopIt arXives, UNAM, 2013 [PDF]

Books & Edited Volumes

I. Zelinka, A. Sanayei, H. Zenil and O.E. Rössler (eds), Emergence, Complexity, and Computation in Nature, ECCN Series, vol. 1, Springer, 2013.

H. Zenil (ed), Irreducibility and Computational Equivalence: Ten Years After the Publication of Wolfram's A New Kind of Science, Springer, 2013. [book website]

H. Zenil (ed.), A Computable Universe: Understanding Computation & Exploring Nature As Computation, with a Foreword by Sir R. Penrose, World Scientific/Imperial College Press, 2012. [book website, Amazon]

G.J. Martínez, H. Zenil and C.R. Stephens (eds.), Sistemas Complejos Como Modelos de Computación (Complex Systems as Computing Models), Luniver, 2011. [Amazon]

H. Zenil, Lo que cabe en el espacio: develando las propiedades geométricas de nuestra realidad, (in Spanish), Copit ArXives UNAM , 2011. [paper and Kindle versions will soon be available at Amazon.com]

H. Zenil (ed.), Randomness Through Computation: Some Answers, More Questions, World Scientific/Imperial College Press, 2011. [book website]

H. Zenil, F. Soler-Toscano, J.-P. Delahaye and N. Gauvrit,Approximating Kolmogorov Complexity: An Alternative to Compression Algorithms”, Springer, forthcoming mid 2013.

Theses

L'approche algorithmique de l'aléatoire, thesis fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the direction of J. Mosconi, IHPST (Paris 1/ENS Ulm/CNRS). (in progress)

Une approche experimentale à la théorie algorithmique de la complexité, doctoral dissertation in computer science, under the direction of J.-P. Delahaye and Cris Calude (Examiners: Gregory Chaitin, Serge Grigorieff, Philippe Mathieu and Hervé Zwirn), University of Lille 1, 2011, with highest honour (très honorable). All chapters have been published as papers and are available from previous sections above. [Jury Reports]

Calcul et hyper calcul, (mémoire) fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the degree of Masters (Logic) under the direction of Jacques Dubucs at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2006. 16/20.

Encaje de las Redes Neuronales Recurrentes Analógicas en la Jerarquía Aritmética fulfilling the requirement for the B.Sc. (Math) degree, under advice of F. Hernández-Quiroz, Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM, 2005.

Selected Essays and Reviews

H. Zenil, Complejidad y Aleatoriedad, Ciencia, número especial sobre Alan Turing, Academia Mexicana de Ciencia, 2013.

A. German and H. Zenil, Afterword to Konrad Zuse's Calculating Space (Rechnender Raum)--The MIT translation--In A Computable Universe, World Scientific, 2012. [PDF]

H. Zenil, Introducing the Computable Universe, Introduction to A Computable Universe (with Foreword by Roger Penrose), World Scientific, 2012. [PDF]

H. Zenil
The Complexity of Simple Programs: Workshop Report from Cork, Ireland
Bulletin of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (BEATCS), 2009.

H. Zenil
Artificial Intelligence Profits from Biological Lessons: Book Review
IEEE Distributed Systems Online, 5(5), 2004.
(and other 30 book reviews published by IEEE and ACM Computing Reviews journals)

H. Zenil
Très courte enquête sur l'extension non-triviale de la logique de propositions à la logique du premier et deuxième ordre
2005. [PDF]

Coauthors and Collaborators

F. Soler-Toscano (Seville), J.-P. Delahaye (Lille), J. Tegnér (Stockholm), D. Gomez-Cabrero (Stockholm), G. Ball (Stockholm), J.J. Joosten (Barcelona), N. Gauvrit (Paris), J.A.R. Marshall (Sheffield), A. German (Bloomington), C. Gaucherel (Montpellier), L. Ma (Lille), O. Brandouy (Paris), C. Gershenson (UNAM), G.J. Martínez (UWE Bristol, IPN), F. Hernandez-Quiroz (UNAM), J.C. Seck-Touh-Mora (Mexico), I. Zelinka (Czeck Republic), D. Rosenblueth (UNAM), N. Krasnogor (Nottingham), G. Terrazas (Nottingham), C.R. Stephens (UNAM), K. Dingle (Oxford), A.A. Louis (Oxford), T. Bolognesi (Pisa), P. Brugger (Zürich).

Possible Thesis Projects for Posgrad Students

Statistical modeling of natural images and distribution of high v low contrast patches
Granular and cellular complex system analysis using renormalization group techniques
Mathematical topology, big data analysis and information theory
Distribution of high frequency motifs in metabolic networks
Biological big data is deep data
Does Kolmogorov complexity map to temperature in a hyperbolic geometry?
Block decomposition method in the image segmentation problem
Hypothesis testing: Matching data and network models. The static and the time-dependent case
Switch the Shannon entropy to K complexity in the ARACNE method and compare & benchmark
Algorithmic randomness and topological properties of boolean networks

If interested and funded (or with a funding idea), contact me for further details.

Selected Online Presentations (SlideShare)

Information Content of Complex Networks from Hector Zenil
(since April 2013: 71 views)

Algorithmic Information Theory and Computational Biology from Hector Zenil

(since March 2013: 77 views)

L’approche algorithmique de l’aléatoire from Hector Zenil
(since 2012: 74 views)

Towards a stable definition of Algorithmic Randomness from Hector Zenil
(since 2012: 712 views)

A Numerical Method for the Evaluation of Kolmogorov Complexity: An alternative to lossless compression algorithms from Hector Zenil
(since 2012: 3502 views)

Organizing, Reviewing & Committee Memberships

Expert reviewer for the National Science Foundation (NSF), USA. 2012 and appointed expert scientific evaluator for by the European Commission in 2011 (FP7 proposals).
Invited Expert Review Panel member at the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi)

Committee member: Turing Centenary Advisory Committee, The Alan Turing Year, 2012.
Program Committee Member:
- PAAMS 2013 - Special Session, Agents Behaviours and Artificial Markets
- IEEE ALIFE 2013 (Singapore)
- Complex Behaviour in Discrete Synamical Systems, 2012 European Conference on Complex Systems (Brussels, Belgium)
- Symposium on Computational Philosophy, AISB/IACAP Turing World Congress, University of Birmingham, UK, 2012
- Symposium on Natural/Unconventional Computing, AISB/IACAP Turing World Congress, University of Birmingham, UK, 2012
- 3rd. Symposium on Computing and Philosophy, University of York, England
- IEEE ALIFE 2011 (Paris, France).
- 2012 Interdisciplinary Symposium on Complex Systems, ICNAAM (Kos, Greece).
- PAAMS 2012 - Special Session, Agents Behaviours and Artificial Markets
- 2011 Interdisciplinary Symposium on Complex Systems, ICNAAM (Halkidiki, Greece).
Reviewer for the CONICYT (Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, Gobierno), Chile, 2009.
Co-chair: Midwest NKS 2008 Conference, Indiana University Bloomington; JOUAL workshop 200, CNR, Pisa, Italy; Workshop on Complex Systems as Computing Models Nov 2011, (Mexico City, Mexico), 2011.
Organizer: The Shortest Universal Turing Machine Implementation Contest.
Co-organizer: The 2,3 Wolfram Turing Machine Research Prize. 2012 Interdisciplinary Symposium on Complex Systems.
Peer reviewer for: Theoretical Computer Science; Fundamenta Informaticae; Complex Systems; Nonlinearity; Information Processing Letters; Discrete Applied Mathematics; International Journal of Unconventional Computing; and Natural Computing, New Journal of Physics.
Book and paper reviewer: For the ACM Computing Reviews (more than 25 reviews published, some of them featured selected review and selected reviewer).

Lecturing, Recent & Forthcoming Talks

2014 forthcoming

Invited plenary speaker: Title to be determined, tentative: The Challenges from Natural Computing (based on the Wired art), The Annual Meeting of the International Association for Computing and Philosophy (IACAP) 2014, 2-4, July, Thessaloniki, Greece.

2013

Invited seminar talk: Foundations of Finite Algorithmic Information Theory, May 13, "Philosophie de l'informatique de la logique et de leurs interfaces ", Centre Cavaillès, ENS, Paris, France.
Invited seminar talk: Algorithmic Information Theory and Synthetic Biology: Towards characterising and reprogramming nature, February 21, Unit of Computational Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Invited seminar talk: Tools from Algorithmic Information Theory to Synthetic Biology, January 29, Non-standard Computation and Intelligent Systems groups seminar, Departments of Computer Science and Electronics, University of York, UK.
Invited seminar talk: Algorithmic Information Theoretic Tools for Systems Biology, February, Systems Biology seminar, Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, UK.

2012
Talk: A Turing Test-Inspired Approach to Natural Computation, Turing in Context II, Historical and Contemporary Research in Logic, Computing Machinery and Artificial Intelligence, Royal Flemish Academy for the Sciences and Arts, Paleis der Academieën, October, 12, Brussels, Belgium.
Invited talk: A Measure of Programmability and Nature-like Computation, Symposium on natural computing/unconventional computing and its philosophical significance, AISB/IACAP 2012 Turing World Congress, July, University of Birmingham, UK.
Invited talk: Turing, Randomness and Economics (Turing, aleatoriedad y economía), Alan Turing Workshop From Computers to Life, June 2012, Turing Centenary event, CEIICH, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), July, Mexico City, Mexico.
Invited seminar talk: Computation and Applications of Measures of Algorithmic Complexity, Weekly Seminar, Interdisciplinary Computing and Complex Systems (ICOS) research group, June, University of Nottingham, UK.

2011
Talk: The Algorithmic Approach to Information and Meaning, Faculty of Informatics. Interdisciplinary Workshop: Ontological, Epistemological and Methodological Aspects of Computer Science, Philosophy of Simulation (SimTech Cluster of Excellence), Institute of Philosophy, July 7, University of Stuttgart, Germany.
Invited talk: Towards a stable definition of algorithmic randomness, Session on Algorithmic Randomness, Phil Math Seminar, May 17, University of Paris 7 (Diderot), France.

2009

Invited talk: The Algorithmic Footprint in Empirical Data, Workshop on Nonlinearity, Complexity and Randomness, Department of Economics, CIFREM, October 27, University of Trento, Italy.
Invited seminar talk: Towards a stable definition of program-size complexity, November 19, 2009. ECCO Seminar Series, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
Talk: Program-size complexity for short strings, Math department, Summer School on Randomness 2009, University of Florida, USA.

2008
Invited seminar talk: L'approche algorithmique de l'aléatoire, Séminaire PhilMath Grande Salle IHPST, December 1, Université de Paris 1, France.
Seminar talk: Complexité de Kolmogorov-Chaitin des séquences courtes, January 2008, Amphitheatre Alan Turing, Bat M3, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, France.

2007
Invited talk: On the Kolmogorov-Chaitin complexity for short sequences, NKS Science Conference, July 2007, University of Vermont, Burlington, USA.

2006

Internal tech talk: Axioms, Proofs and Logic with Mathematica, September 12, Wolfram Research, Inc. USA.
Poster presentation: Exploring the Mathematical Universe, NKS Science Conference 2006, Washington, D.C., USA.

2005

Poster presentation: Enumerating and generating quantified axiom systems with equality for automatic theorem proving, Midwest NKS Conference 2005, Indiana University Bloomington, USA.
Talk: On the possible computational power of the human mind, The Centre for Complexity Research, Society and Complexity Conference, September 2005, University of Liverpool, UK.
Lecturing: Seminar on Artificial Intelligence, Teaching Assistant, 2005-2 semester, Course Number 0061, Math Department, Faculty of Science, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico.

2004

Invited talk: The Computer Science behind Matrix the film, Universidad Autónoma de México (UAM), Mexico City, Mexico.

Periodically

Lecturing and supervising: Summer School Instructor, Lecturing on Randomness, Turing Machines and the Basics of NKS-- since 2007, Wolfram Science Summer School, University of Vermont and ISTI, CRS Italy (2009).

Awards & Grants

Appointed member of the National Researchers body (SNI) of the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACyT), 2012.
Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi) mini-grant awarded by way of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation for the project "Computation and Biology", (No. FQXi-MGA-1212) 2012-2013.
Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi) mini-grant awarded by way of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation for the project "Computation and Time" (no. 2011-93849 (4661)), 2011-2012.
Winner in the Computational Imagery category of the "2011 Kroto Institute Scientific Image Competition". Image entitled "Visualising the Computational Universe: Runtime Space in a Peano Curve", 2011.
3rd Place Prize "Reality: Digital or Analog" Contest 2011, awarded by the Foundational Questions Institute (Essay title: "The World is Either Algorithmic or Mostly Random") announced at the World Science Festival, NYC, 2011.
Travel support by the British Society for the Philosophy of Science through the University of Leeds, 2012.
Early nominated to the MIT Technology Review (Spanish version) annual list of 35 INNOVATORS UNDER 35, 2012.

Bourse aux jeunes chercheurs Comité National Français d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences, 2011.
Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche (bourse de mobilité aires culturelles), 2007, University of Paris.
Association for Symbolic Logic (ASL) Travel Grant Award (CiE 06, Swansea UK)
NSF and the New England Complex Institute (NECSI) (ICCS06-Boston, USA)
Université de Lille III, Kurt Gödel: The Writings, Maison de la Recherche 2006, Lille, France.
Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge University, UK (visiting fellow, Workshop LAAW04, Wolfson Court, Girton College, UK), 2006.
Masters and PhD fellowships from CONACYT and the French Ministry of Education, 2005-2011.

Volunteering & Internships
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Summer 2007
Mars Gravity Biosatellite team
Supporting member of the software engineering team for the program, in charge of assembling, reviewing and enhancing software requirements and flowdown. Project co-sponsored by the NASA.

The International Wikimania Conference
Summer 2006
for the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (the Wikipedia Foundation)
Wikimedia Organization Team, July-August, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Summer 2006
Artificial Gravity Project (test subject)
Man-Vehicle Laboratory, August, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Mexican Consulate in Seattle, WA.
December 2003-January 2004
Documentation and Consular Activities
Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

Pictures and Videos

From left to right:
H. Zenil, Stephen Wolfram, Paul Davies, Ugo Pagallo, Greg Chaitin, Cris Calude,
Karl Svozil, Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic and John Casti.
Invited Speakers, NKS Conference, University of Vermont, USA. 2007.
(Picture by Sally McCay)

Per Martin-Löf (right) and H. Zenil (left)
Having lunch at the Maison de la Recherche, Paris 2010, France

Visiting Greg Chaitin at his office in Yorktown, New York
IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, 2006, USA

Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-123 liftoff
(video by H. Zenil on March 11, 2008)
This video recording was made from the vantage point of the Banana river, 6 miles from the Shuttle platform in a restricted area inside the Kennedy Space Center. The STS-123 was the 25th. flight to the International Space Station (ISS) and delivered a Japanese module and the Canadian Dextre robot.

Wolfram Science School trip to San Gimignano, Italy
(Summer, 2009)
From left to right school instructors: Hector Zenil, Jamie Williams, Paul-Jean Letourneau,
Tommaso Bolognesi, Jean Baetens. Among the participants: Ray Aschheim.

Héctor Zenil-Chávez, Personal Homepage 2006-2012

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Irreducibility and
Computational Equivalence

Randomness Through Computation

Repositories

Papers in ArXiv