SYMPOSIUM: Keynote Symposium on "New Biologists for the New Biology," ASCB Annual Meeting, December 1, 2007

美国细胞生物学学会年会主题研讨会“新生物学家的新生物学”将于2007年12月1日在华盛顿会议中心举行。 研讨会吸引了大约5,000名与会者-科学家教师，学生和博士后-在学会的第47届年会开始。普林斯顿大学生物制药学家威廉Bialek将解决为什么一个新的，更统一的本科科学教育的方法是必要的，以产生下一代的科学家，以及如何这样的计划可以实施。 为了实现真正的定量生物学的全部承诺，培训必须改变。 Bialek将概述他在普林斯顿共同开发和教授的革命性课程的目标和影响。 基于“对自然科学的综合，定量介绍”，两年制课程由化学，计算机科学，分子生物学和物理系联合提供。 它提出了“寻求对世界的数学理解作为一个统一的奋进。它侧重于可推广的基本概念和批判方法，并“围绕着统一我们对周围世界的理解的数学思想组织起来”。通过强调数学描述的价值，即使问题不能用数学来解决，Bialek致力于向他的学生传授数学和计算的复杂性，这远远超出了今天大多数本科生的水平。物理学家、伦斯勒理工学院院长雪莉·安杰克逊在她2002年的书《安静的危机：在培养美国科学和技术人才方面存在不足，”关于退休潮的迫近和接受过培训或正在接受培训的美国学生人数不足。 作为一名非洲裔美国人，杰克逊将讨论如何使美国科学多样化，提供灵感和有效的战略。 她将分享她的个人故事和她的观点。 她的目标是通过方法、教学法和观点的多样性来创造“事实上的多样性”。 Bialek和杰克逊分享了ASCB主题演讲的最终目标：打破学科之间的人为障碍，培养新一代科学家，为解决科学问题提供更好的理解，技能和复杂性。 两人都是成功打破障碍以实现目标的先驱者，他们都将展示案例研究，以戏剧性地说明我们如何改善下一代科学家的大学科学教育。 与会者将受到启发，重新思考自己机构的本科生和研究生课程，并被引导到网站上，在那里可以找到大量有用的教学材料。他们将学习如何促进跨越传统部门界限的强大互动，这些界限将科学和数学学科与人文学科分开。 预计许多人将致力于在自己的机构实施更统一的本科课程。 除了直接的活动外，“亚洲安全合作理事会通讯”专栏和网播将有助于传播主题，并开始对话，这种对话应在今后几年继续下去。

The American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting Keynote Symposium, "New Biologists for the New Biology," will be held at the Washington, DC, Convention Center, on December 1, 2007. The Symposium attracts approximately 5,000 attendees -- scientist teachers, students, and postdocs -- at the start of the Society's 47th Annual Meeting.Princeton University biophysicist William Bialek will address why a new, more unified approach to undergraduate science education is necessary for producing the next generation of scientists and how such a program can be implemented. To achieve the full promise of genuinely quantitative biology, training must change. Bialek will present an overview of the goals and impact of the sequence of revolutionary courses that he co-developed and teaches at Princeton. Based on "an integrated, quantitative introduction to the natural sciences," the two-year sequence is offered jointly by the Chemistry, Computer Science, Molecular Biology and Physics departments. It presents "the search for a mathematical understanding of the world as a unified endeavor." It focuses on generalizable, fundamental concepts and critical methods and is "organized around the mathematical ideas that unify our understanding of the world around us." By emphasizing the value of mathematical description even when problems cannot be solved mathematically, Bialek works to impart a mathematical and computational sophistication to his students that is far beyond that available to most undergraduates today.Shirley Ann Jackson, a physicist and President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, sounded the alarm in her 2002 book, "The Quiet Crisis: Falling Short in Producing American Scientific and Technical Talent," about the looming wave of retirements and insufficient numbers of American students trained or in training to succeed them. An African American, Jackson will address how to diversify American science, providing inspiration and effective strategies. She will share both her personal story and her perspectives. Her goal is to create "diversity in fact" through diversity of approach, pedagogy, and outlook. She will focus on how to implement these, as well as on methods for improving scientific education.Bialek and Jackson share the ultimate goal of the ASCB Keynote: breaking down artificial barriers between disciplines and training a new generation of scientists prepared to address scientific problems with greater understanding, skill, and sophistication. Both are pioneers who have successfully broken down barriers to accomplish their goals, and both will present case studies that dramatically illustrate how we can improve college science education for the next generation of scientists. Attendees will be inspired to rethink the undergraduate and graduate curricula at their own institutions, and be directed to websites where a great deal of useful teaching material can be found. They will learn how to promote strong interactions across the traditional departmental boundaries that have separated scientific and mathematical disciplines and the humanities. It is anticipated that many will work toward implementing more unified undergraduate curricula at their own institutions. Beyond the immediate event, "ASCB Newsletter" columns and webcasts will help disseminate themes and begin a dialogue that should continue for years to come.