UBM: Undergraduate Research at the Interface of Mathematics and Biology

UBM：数学与生物学交叉点的本科研究

• 批准号: 0634612
• 负责人: Robin Snyder
• 金额: $ 24万
• 依托单位: Case Western Reserve University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-01-01 至 2011-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0634612&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: UBM; Undergraduate; Research; Interface; Mathematics

Intellectual merit: Mathematics is becoming an integral part of all areas of biology, driving areas as diverse as ecology, bioinformatics, neuroscience, and cellular biology. At the same time, biological problems are rapidly inspiring new mathematical developments. However, the few who now work at this interface have usually followed a circuitous career path, and most biologists and mathematicians are unable to communicate effectively. By training mathematically- and biologically-oriented undergraduates to work together on interdisciplinary problems, this project is creating a path for young scientists to enter this area directly and arrive already bilingual.Broader impact: Although work at the interface of mathematics and biology is proving highly fruitful, biology and mathematics students are traditionally trained far apart, creating barriers to entering this area. Future advances at this interface require that mathematicians and biologists be able to collaborate effectively, yet by the time this need becomes apparent to students it is often too late for truly interdisciplinary training. Many biology students are in graduate school by the time they learn of the key role mathematics plays in modern biology. Similarly, many math majors never take a biology course. As a result of these obstacles, the demand for scientists who can work at the bio-math interface far outstrips the available supply. By recruiting, training and directing talented undergraduates towards graduate work in the mathematical biosciences, this initiative provides leadership in biological understanding and capability.Selected juniors (a mix of biology and math students) prepare for research through a seminar class in which they discuss papers from different potential research areas, hear research talks from those involved, learn relevant research skills, and write term papers in the form of research proposals. In the summer after their junior year, math and biology students join in teams of four to do research in connection with existing faculty research projects, continuing this research throughout their senior year. Student teams learn the scope of mathematical biology research on campus by reviewing a variety of potential projects, and adopting the one they find most compelling in any given project year. Thirteen faculty in the mathematical and biological sciences have proposed a variety of projects which compete to be adopted by student research teams. These include projects on the ecology of infectious diseases, analysis of neural spike trains, and metabolic modeling. Students are encouraged to interact not only through their time in the laboratory but also via a shared community work space and through biweekly lunchtime gatherings (that include faculty) to discuss work in progress. Students are writing up the results of their research in a final paper and presenting this work in a public forum.

智力优势：数学正在成为生物学各个领域不可或缺的一部分，推动着生态学、生物信息学、神经科学和细胞生物学等不同领域的发展。与此同时，生物学问题正在迅速激发新的数学发展。然而，现在在这个界面工作的少数人通常遵循迂回的职业道路，大多数生物学家和数学家无法有效地沟通。通过训练以数学和生物学为导向的本科生共同研究跨学科问题，该项目为年轻科学家直接进入这一领域并已经掌握双语创造了一条道路。更广泛的影响：尽管在数学和生物学的交叉领域的工作被证明是卓有成效的，但生物学和数学的学生在传统上受到的训练相去甚远，这给进入这一领域创造了障碍。在这个界面上的未来发展要求数学家和生物学家能够有效地合作，然而当这种需求对学生来说变得明显时，对于真正的跨学科培训来说往往为时已晚。许多生物学专业的学生在读研究生的时候才知道数学在现代生物学中所起的关键作用。同样，许多数学专业的学生从未上过生物课。由于这些障碍，对能够在生物数学界面工作的科学家的需求远远超过了现有的供应。通过招募、培训和指导有才华的本科生从事数学生物科学的研究生工作，该计划在生物学的理解和能力方面发挥了领导作用。选定的三年级学生（包括生物和数学学生）通过研讨会为研究做准备。在研讨会上，他们讨论来自不同潜在研究领域的论文，听取相关研究人员的研究演讲，学习相关研究技能，并以研究提案的形式撰写学期论文。在他们三年级之后的夏天，数学和生物学的学生加入四人一组的研究小组，与现有的教师研究项目相关，并在他们的大四继续这项研究。学生团队通过审查各种潜在的项目，并在任何给定的项目年度中采用他们认为最引人注目的项目，来了解校园数学生物学研究的范围。数学和生物科学领域的13位教员提出了各种各样的项目，这些项目竞相被学生研究团队采用。这些项目包括传染病生态学、神经尖峰序列分析和代谢模型。鼓励学生不仅在实验室里进行互动，还通过共享的社区工作空间和每两周一次的午餐聚会（包括教师）来讨论正在进行的工作。学生们将他们的研究成果写在期末论文中，并在公共论坛上展示这项工作。