UBM Institutional: Integrated Research in Biomathematics at Trinity University

该提案建立在Trinity University数学生物学日益增长的跨学科重点基础上，此前连续两次获得HHMI资助。在这里，我们寻求增加教师进行跨学科研究计划的数量，以促进数学和生物学专业之间更可持续，更广泛的跨学科学习。参与的数学和生物学教师将与来自这两个学科的学生组成团队，共同完成以下项目：（1）模拟糊粉层的热休克反应;（2）大型DNA序列数据集的同源性检测;（3）蛋白质定位的定量描述;（4）模拟竞争作为入侵成功的决定因素;（5）模拟哺乳动物的空间分布;（6）黑质多巴胺能神经元的线粒体功能和死亡的数学建模;（7）混合噬菌体λ-大肠杆菌K12种群作为捕食者-猎物共同进化模型系统的恒化器繁殖。这些项目代表了一些生物和数学分支学科的专业知识，包括遗传学，生态学，细胞生物学，神经科学，统计学，概率，动力系统，差分方程，数学生物学，代数几何和系统和数据建模。未来大多数科学工作的成功将需要跨学科的思维。一个真正的跨学科的研究环境是很难实现的，然而，即使在目前的博士课程。在本科阶段，跨学科合作传统上更加有限，由于不完整的学科背景和年轻研究人员正在进行的认知发展的看法。为了迎接这一挑战，在数学和生物学之间的交叉点，在生物数学综合研究（IRBM）在Trinity大学倡议将建立在我们的部门之间的关系，通过形成研究伙伴关系，涉及教师和学生，以及深化我们的课程合作。具体来说，我们建议建立由这两个学科的本科生和教师组成的研究小组，应用生物学和数学方法to a wide宽spectrum光谱of biological生物questions问题.为了支持这些学生和其他学生，各部门将提供新的跨学科课程，并增加现有课程的合作，最终在生物数学中创建一个新的未成年人。通过这些变化，我们将吸引具有广泛兴趣和准备的本科生，同时发展一个更大的志同道合的研究人员社区，所有这些都是为了让这些学生为跨学科研究的未来做好准备。

This proposal builds upon a growing interdisciplinary focus on Mathematical Biology at Trinity University previously supported by two consecutive HHMI grants. Here, we seek to increase the number of faculty conducting interdisciplinary research programs to catalyze more sustainable, widespread interdisciplinary learning among Mathematics and Biology majors. Participating mathematics and biology faculty will work in teams with students from both disciplines on projects including (1) Modeling the heat shock response of barely aleurone layers; (2) Homology detection in large DNA sequence datasets; (3) Quantitative description of protein localization; (4) Modeling competition as a determinant of invasion success; (5) Modeling spatial distributions of mammals; (6) Mathematical modeling of mitochondrial function and death of substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons; and (7) Chemostat propagation of mixed bacteriophage Lambda-Escherichia coli K12 populations as a model system of predator-prey co-evolution. These projects represent expertise from a number of biological and mathematical subdisciplines, including genetics, ecology, cell biology, neuroscience, statistics, probability, dynamical systems, difference equations, mathematical biology, algebraic geometry and systems and data modeling. Success in most future scientific endeavors will require interdisciplinary thinking. A truly interdisciplinary research environment is difficult to achieve, however, even among current PhD programs. At the undergraduate level, interdisciplinary collaborations have traditionally been even more limited due to the perception of incomplete disciplinary backgrounds and ongoing cognitive development of young researchers. To meet this challenge at the intersection between mathematics and biology, the Integrated Research in Biomathematics(IRBM) at Trinity University initiative will build on the relationship between our departments by forming research partnerships involving faculty and students, as well as deepening our curricular collaboration.Specifically, we propose to establish research groups consisting of undergraduate and faculty researchers from both of these disciplines that will apply biological and mathematics approaches to a wide spectrum of biological questions. To support these and other students, the departments will offer new interdisciplinary courses, as well as increase the collaboration in existing courses, culminating in the creation of a new minor in biomathematics. Through these changes we will engage undergraduates with a wide range of interests and preparation, while developing a larger community of like-minded researchers, all in an effort to prepare these students for the future of interdisciplinary research.