E2-C2 is a Specific Targeted Research Project (STREP) within a "Pathfinder" Initiative aimed at "Tackling Complexity in Science" and initiated by the New and Emerging Science and Technology (NEST) Programme of the European Commission, as part of its Sixth Framework Programme (FP-6).
 Research breakthroughs, controversies and fashions in science can emerge unexpectedly, sometimes with unwelcome political and economic effects. What triggers these so-called ‘scientific avalanches’? An interdisciplinary team from five countries will apply insights from physics, mathematics and the social sciences to the complex social networks of science and the media. Why do such critical events occur and can their probability be estimated? The results will be of interest not only to scientists and journalists but also to science policy-makers.
 Significant, and usually unwelcome, surprises, such as floods, financial crisis, epileptic seizures, or material rupture, are the topics of Extreme Events in Nature and Society. The book, authored by foremost experts in these fields, reveals unifying and distinguishing features of extreme events, including problems of understanding and modelling their origin, spatial and temporal extension, and potential impact. The chapters converge towards the difficult problem of anticipation: forecasting the event and proposing measures to moderate or prevent it. Extreme Events in Nature and Society will interest not only specialists, but also the general reader eager to learn how the multifaceted field of extreme events can be viewed as a coherent whole.
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