Networks describe relations between objects. They show how objects relate to one another and which ones are mutually influential. In this context, how does space impact structure? Geoinformatics scientist Dr. Franz-Benjamin Mocnik was particularly interested in answering this question. In his study, the Heidelberg University researcher demonstrated that the spatial reference can be identified in a number of datasets of different thematic networks. Thereby, the dimension of the space – that is, the spatial expanse in different directions – can be derived from the abstract structure of a network alone.