The Grand Challenges in Natural Computing Research: The Quest for a New Science

An important premise of Natural Computing is that some form of computation goes on in Nature, and that computing capability has to be understood, modeled, abstracted, and used for different objectives and in different contexts. Therefore, it is necessary to propose a new language capable of describing and allowing the comprehension of natural systems as a union of computing phenomena, bringing an information processing perspective to Nature. To develop this new language and convert Natural Computing into a new science it is imperative to overcome three specific Grand Challenges in Natural Computing Research: Transforming Natural Computing into a Transdisciplinary Discipline, Unveiling and Harnessing Information Processing in Natural Systems, Engineering Natural Computing Systems. Leandro Nunes de Castro Natural Computing Laboratory (LCoN), Mackenzie University, Brazil Rafael Silveira Xavier Natural Computing Laboratory (LCoN), Mackenzie University, Brazil Rodrigo Pasti Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Bio-Inspired Computing (LBiC), State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil Renato Dourado Maia State University of Montes Claros, Brazil Alexandre Szabo Natural Computing Laboratory (LCoN), Mackenzie University, Brazil Daniel Gomes Ferrari Natural Computing Laboratory (LCoN), Mackenzie University, Brazil