UBM: Interdisciplinary Training for Undergraduates in Biological and Mathematical Sciences at ASU

一个跨学科的调查小组在亚利桑那州立大学开展了一项本科生培训计划。培训计划紧密结合了新的跨学科课程和暑期研究项目。前者的建立是为了让本科生干部最大限度地参与，并促进生命科学专业的学生辅修数学，同样，数学专业的学生通过辅修生物科学来丰富他们的教育。夏季研究项目是一个竞争性企业，涉及至少8名来自生命科学，数学和生物物理学的亚利桑那州立大学教师。研究项目涵盖通过化学计量学约束、生物经济学、化学调节理论和视觉感知建模的新视角对生态和进化过程进行建模。这个项目有可能在当地和全球教育环境中产生广泛的影响。就前者而言，亚利桑那州立大学UBM团队是真正的跨学科团队，成员包括数学、生物学和生物物理学，非常适合生物和数学科学本科生的跨学科培训。它的合作努力可以为不同民族/种族背景的本科生和研究生提供跨学科交流和探索的第一手教育经验。就全球影响而言，在数学生物学培训中提出的整体方法（包括各级数学生物学课程和暑期研究项目）可以垂直整合亚利桑那州立大学教育系统中的所有组成部分。因此，我们期望这个计划可以为全国的数学生物科学教育和研究提供许多宝贵的经验，为下一代学生在这一综合和跨学科的科学努力中丰富经验。

An interdisciplinary team of investigators carry out anundergraduate training initiative at Arizona State University. The training plan intimately combines new cross-disciplinarycourses and summer research programs. The former are constructedto allow maximal participation among undergraduate cadres, andfacilitate life science majors to achieve a minor in mathematics,and, likewise, mathematics majors to enrich their education witha minor in bioscience. The summer research program is acompetitive enterprise involving at least eight ASU facultymembers from life sciences, mathematics, and biophysics. Research projects span modeling of ecological and evolutionaryprocesses through the new lens of stoichiometric constraints,bio-economics, chemostat theory, and modeling of visualperception. This project has potential to make broad impact in bothlocal and global education environs. Regarding the former, theASU UBM team is truly interdisciplinary, with members inmathematics, biology and biophysics, exceptionally well suitedfor interdisciplinary training for undergraduates in biologicaland mathematical sciences. Its collaborative efforts can provideundergraduate and graduate students of diverse ethnic/racialbackgrounds with first-hand educational experience incross-disciplinary communication and exploration. As for globalimpact, the proposed holistic approach (involving mathematicalbiology courses at various levels and summer research projects)in mathematical biology training can vertically integrate all thecomponents in the ASU education system. It is therefore expectedthat this proposed program may yield many invaluable lessons toserve mathematical bioscience education and research nationwide,enriching the experience for the next generation of students inthis integrative and interdisciplinary scientific endeavor.