IGERT: Cross-Disciplinary Research Training in Mathematical Biology

这个IGERT项目将开发一个数学生物学跨学科研究和培训的研究生课程。该项目的目标是为学生提供核心数学方面的扎实培训和当代生物学领域的真正专业知识。这样的训练将使数学在现代生物学令人兴奋和具有挑战性的问题上发挥作用。学生将从广泛的数学、科学和文化背景中招募。预计该项目的毕业生将获得S的数学博士学位，但凭借他们基础广泛的培训，将能够在众多学术和行业环境中为合作研究努力做出贡献。在这个过程中，该计划寻求在数学和生物学之间建立许多新的桥梁，可能会重塑新一代数学生物学家的研究。研究和培训计划将围绕生物体液、生态学和进化生物学、神经科学和生理学四个研究主题组织。这一研究和培训计划的一个独特之处将是建立特殊利益集团(SIG)。每个SIG将由一名或多名教员领导，活动包括讨论研究问题，讨论最近的研讨会，关于最近论文的正式和非正式演讲，学生关于背景文献的演讲等。学生的培训还将包括数学和生物的正式课程作业，实验室轮换或生命科学领域的实地工作，数学和生命科学教员的指导，以及期刊俱乐部，实验室小组会议和研讨会。通过这些方式，学生的培养将非常重视跨传统学科的合作和互动。IGERT是一个NSF范围内的项目，旨在应对培养具有多学科背景以及满足未来职业需求所需的技术、专业和个人技能的美国博士科学家和工程师的挑战。该项目旨在通过建立创新的研究生教育和培训新模式，在超越传统学科界限的合作研究的肥沃环境中，催化研究生教育的文化变革。在该计划的第五年，将向21个机构颁发奖项，这些机构的项目共同涵盖了NSF支持的科学和工程领域。

This IGERT project will develop a graduate program of cross-disciplinary research and training in Mathematical Biology. The goal of the program is to give students a solid training in core mathematics and genuine expertise in an area of contemporary biology. Such training will bring to bear the power of mathematics on the exciting and challenging problems of modern biology. Students will be recruited from a broad spectrum of mathematical, scientific and cultural backgrounds. It is expected that the graduates of this program will receive Ph.D.'s in mathematics, but by virtue of their broad-based training will be able to contribute to collaborative research efforts in numerous academic and industrial settings. In the process, the program seeks to build many new bridges between mathematics and biology potentially reshaping research for a new generation of mathematical biologists. The research and training program will be organized around the four research themes of biofluids, ecology and evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and physiology. A unique feature of this research and training program will be the establishment of Special Interest Groups (SIG's). Each SIG will be led by one or more faculty members with activities that include discussion of research problems, discussion of recent seminars, formal and informal talks about recent papers, student presented talks on background literature, etc. The training of students will also include formal coursework in both Mathematics and Biology, laboratory rotations or field work in an area of the life sciences, mentoring by both mathematics and life science faculty, and journal clubs, laboratory group meetings, and workshops. In these ways, the training of students will put great emphasis on collaboration and interaction across traditional academic disciplines. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the multidisciplinary backgrounds and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. In the fifth year of the program, awards are being made to twenty-one institutions for programs that collectively span the areas of science and engineering supported by NSF.