The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis
(NIMBioS) is now accepting applications for its Investigative Workshop,
"Discrete and Algebraic Mathematical Biology: Research and Education,"
to be held July 25-27, 2016, at NIMBioS.
*Objectives: *Over the past fifteen years, modern biology has been
transformed by new mathematical methods that have complemented and
driven biological discoveries. Problems from signaling, gene regulation,
genomics, RNA folding, infectious disease dynamics, drug resistance
modeling, phylogenetics, neuroscience, and ecological networks such as
food webs, have increasingly benefited from the application of discrete
mathematics and computational algebra. While the use of modern algebraic
methods is now in mainstream mathematical biology research, this trend
has been slow to influence the undergraduate math and biology curricula,
where classical difference and differential equation models still
dominate. Students interested in mathematical biology have relatively
easy access to courses that utilize these classical analytic methods,
and they generally have adequate exposure to such methods before
deciding upon a graduate program. However, students interested in
algebraic and discrete mathematical approaches have fewer doors visibly
open to them, and indeed may not even know that they exist. There is a
general lack of awareness in the academic community for the critical
impact of such approaches on contemporary biology and there is an urgent
need to develop educational resources highlighting this growing trend.
Our 2.5-day workshop will bring together a diverse group of faculty from
the field of algebraic and discrete mathematical biology to address this
need by: 1) surveying existing educational resources in discrete and
algebraic mathematical biology; 2) identifying topics appropriate for
undergraduates not yet featured in the existing literature; 3)
identifying target courses in the mathematics and biology curricula that
would benefit most from featuring those topics; 4) initiating the
development of new curricular materials and ultimately publishing the
materials for those topics; 5) facilitating the growth of a community of
faculty actively involved in creating and using curricular resources for
algebraic mathematical biology.
*Location: *NIMBioS at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
*Co-Organizers: *Raina Robeva, Mathematics, Randolph-Macon College, VA;
Matthew Macauley, Mathematical Sciences, Clemson Univ., SC; and John
Jungck, Biological Sciences, Center for Bioinformatics and Computational
Biology, Univ. of Delaware
For more information about the workshop and a link to the online
application form, go to http://www.nimbios.org/workshops/WS_mathbio
Participation in the workshop is by application only. Individuals with a
strong interest in the topic are encouraged to apply, and successful
applicants will be notified within two weeks of the application
deadline. If needed, financial support for travel, meals, and lodging is
available for workshop attendees.
*Application deadline:* April 25, 2016
The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis
(NIMBioS) (http://www.nimbios.org) brings together researchers from
around the world to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries to
investigate solutions to basic and applied problems in the life
sciences. NIMBioS is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, with
additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
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////Catherine Crawley, Ph.D. //
////Communications Manager//
////National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis
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