UBM: An Undergraduate Biology and Mathematics Training Program at NJIT

智力优势：物理学家、计算机科学家、工程师和数学家最近对生物研究产生了巨大的兴趣，部分原因是数学、计算能力的进步，以及认识到生物系统通常可以作为复杂的动力系统进行研究。这使得人们对探索这些新工具和思想在生物科学中的潜在应用越来越感兴趣。另一方面，几乎所有的生物学学科，包括神经生物学、生物物理学、生态学、细胞和分子生物学，对数学跨学科研究的兴趣和需求都在上升。研究人员正在开发一个本科生物学和数学训练计划（UBMTP），在一个数学和生物学在课程和研究水平上紧密联系的环境中教育本科生。一个主要的目标是教学生数学家和生物学家的不同语言，这样这些学生将能够用其中任何一种语言交谈，并理解这两种语言。从该课程中脱颖而出的学生能够从分析和建模的角度研究生物学问题。他们还能够将数学技术应用于生物学问题，并能够将生物学问题转化为数学问题，并将数学答案转化为生物学问题。更广泛的影响：虽然最近数学家与实验家之间的合作历史被证明是富有成效的，但这种合作时间太短，以至于很少有研究人员“长大”时就认为数学和生物学是或可能是密切相关的。相反，目前大多数跨学科研究人员的职业生涯开始时只从事数学（或相关领域）或生物学，直到博士后水平或更晚才转向其他领域。在为另一个阵营带来新的想法的同时，这些研究人员需要，并且继续需要大量的时间来获得新的跨学科领域的专业知识。该项目在学生职业生涯的早期阶段，即在本科阶段开始对学生进行跨学科培训。目的是提高数学家的生物学能力和生物学家的数学能力。在更基本的层面上，该项目训练学生认识到数学和生物学是如何相互补充的，从而使他们不仅能够提出新的假设，而且还能为他们提供检验预测所需的工具。培养计划的目标是：1)有针对性地招收生物学和数学专业的学生。3)培养学生进行独立研究的能力。4)促进科学讨论和互动。拟议中的项目汇集了来自数学科学系和联邦生物科学系的14名研究人员，生物科学系不仅包括新泽西理工大学的教员，也包括罗格斯-纽瓦克大学的教员。这两个系的教员似乎有着跨学科和合作研究的悠久传统。庞大的师资队伍为研究项目提供了广阔的可能性。这些学科包括神经生物学、发育生物学和生态学。学生获得了跨越两个学年和中间夏季的深度体验，提供了出色的连续性。

Intellectual Merit: The enormous recent interest in biological research by physicists, computer scientists, engineers and mathematicians has been inspired in part by advances in mathematics, computing capabilities, and the realization that biological systems are often amenable to study as complex dynamical systems.This has led to a growing interest in exploring potential applications of these new tools and ideas within the biological sciences. On the other hand, almost all disciplines in biology, including neurobiology, biophysics, ecology, and cellular and molecular biology, have seen a rising interest and need for cross-disciplinary research with mathematics.The investigators are developing an Undergraduate Biology and Mathematics Training Program (UBMTP) to educate undergraduate students in an environment in which mathematics and biology are intimately linked at both the curricular as well as the research level. A primary goal is to teach students the separate languages of mathematicians and biologists so that these students will be able to converse with either language, and to understand both. Students who emerge from this program are able to study biological problems from an analytic and modeling point of view. They are also capable of applying mathematical techniques to biological problems and are able to translate biological questions to mathematical ones, and mathematical answers to biological ones.Broader Impact: While the recent history of collaboration between mathematicians with experimentalists has proved fruitful, it has been so short that very few researchers have "grown up" with the idea that mathematics and biology are, or could be, intimately linked. Instead, most of the current interdisciplinary researchers began their careers working solely in either mathematics (or a related area) or biology, and only switched into the other field at the post-doctoral level or later. While bringing new and fresh ideas to the other camp, these researchers needed, and continue to need, a significant time to acquire expertise in their new interdisciplinary field. This project begins the interdisciplinary training of students at an early stage of their careers, namely at the undergraduate level.The goal is to enhance the biological abilities of mathematicians and mathematical abilities of biologists. At a more fundamental level, the project trains students to recognize how mathematics and biology complement one another, thereby allowing them to not only formulate novel hypotheses, but also equipping them with the tools needed to test their predictions. The training program is based on the following aims: 1) Conduct targeted recruitment of students majoring in biology and mathematics.2) Develop a directed interdisciplinary curriculum for the UBMTP.3) Train students to conduct independent research.4) Foster scientific discussion and interactions.The proposed program brings together 14 investigators from the Department of Mathematical Sciences and the Federated Department of Biological Sciences, a department that includes not only NJIT faculty but Rutgers-Newark faculty as well. The faculty of both departments appear to have a long tradition of interdisciplinary and collaborative research. The large number of faculty provides broad possibilities for research projects. These include neurobiology, developmental biology and ecology. Students gain an in depth experience that spans two academic years and the intervening summer, providing outstanding continuity.