UBM Institutional: Integrated Research in Biomathematics at Trinity University

该提案建立在三一大学不断增长的跨学科关注数学生物学的基础上，该大学此前获得了两项连续的HHMI资助。在这里，我们寻求增加进行跨学科研究项目的教师数量，以促进数学和生物学专业更可持续、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，开展项目，包括(1)模拟硬糊粉层的热冲击反应；(2)大型DNA序列数据集的同源性检测；(3)蛋白定位的定量描述；(4)模型竞争是入侵成功的决定因素；(5)哺乳动物空间分布模型；(6)黑质多巴胺能神经元线粒体功能与死亡的数学建模；(7)混合噬菌体Lambda-Escherichia coli K12群体的趋化繁殖作为捕食-被捕食共同进化的模型系统。这些项目代表了来自许多生物学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、概率论、动力系统、差分方程、数学生物学、代数几何、系统和数据建模。未来大多数科学努力的成功将需要跨学科的思考。然而，即使在目前的博士课程中，真正的跨学科研究环境也很难实现。在本科阶段，由于缺乏完整的学科背景和年轻研究人员的认知发展，跨学科合作传统上更加有限。为了应对数学和生物学交叉领域的这一挑战，三一大学生物数学综合研究（IRBM）计划将通过形成涉及教师和学生的研究伙伴关系，以及深化我们的课程合作，建立我们部门之间的关系。具体来说，我们建议建立由来自这两个学科的本科生和教师研究人员组成的研究小组，将生物学和数学方法应用于广泛的生物学问题。为了支持这些学生和其他学生，各系将开设新的跨学科课程，并增加现有课程的合作，最终开设新的生物数学辅修课程。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未来的跨学科研究做好准备。

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.