Cross-disciplinary innovations in organismal biology through mathematical and physical modeling

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It remains a Grand Challenge in biology to understand the integrated function of living physical systems and the dynamic interactions between organisms and their environments. Understanding the physical function of organisms forms a critical link in the ‘Rules of Life’— essential for integrating across scales from molecules to biospheres. However, a gap exists between ‘top-down’ approaches that focus on whole-organism behavior but lack insight into underlying mechanisms and ‘bottom-up’ approaches that characterize molecular and biophysical mechanisms but lack insight into their contributions to whole-organism behavior. We propose a 2.5-day workshop to bring together diverse scientists at the intersection of organismal biology and physics. A key focus will be integrative perspectives that enable scientists to understand how organisms robustly sense and respond to their environment. The workshop will generate important opportunities for communication and collaboration between distinct scientific fields at the interface of physics and organismal biology. The workshop will emphasize organismal function and biological diversity in an ecological and evolutionary context. A hybrid in-person and virtual format will be used to facilitate inclusive participation of underrepresented groups. The physics of living systems is a highly visual and engaging field of study that can inspire a new generation of scientists. Public online activities (YouTube live streaming, social media posts, web site) will provide opportunities for general audiences to engage with organismal biology as well as accessible resources for education and outreach. Organisms are complex systems of interconnected elements that must achieve coordinated function and environmental responses across spatial and temporal scales. Modeling tools from mathematics, physics and engineering are becoming increasingly important for hypothesis driven research in organismal function and organism-environment interactions. Cross-disciplinary dialogue and collaboration are required to make effective use of these tools. Yet, a disconnect often exists between the use of models in the physical sciences and the effective translation and use of these models in biology. This workshop will bring together scientists at the intersection of organismal biology and physics with shared interests in using model-based approaches to address fundamental questions about organismal structure and function in comparative, ecological and evolutionary contexts. We will bring together scientists from diverse backgrounds to discuss recent innovations, challenges and community needs for transformative advances in organismal biomechanics. The workshop will use a hybrid in-person and virtual format, making use of synchronous and asynchronous online tools to facilitate communication, collaboration and dissemination of outcomes. Activities will include keynote and invited speakers, group discussions and small-group brainstorming sessions. Early career researchers including postdoctoral scientists and advanced graduate students will be recruited to act as discussion facilitators in virtual breakout sessions, providing an opportunity to develop and demonstrate communication skills and make important scientific network connections. Online elements will be used to develop an ongoing international community and collaborative research network, with sharing of open access resources to help facilitate broader public engagement with the physics of living systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.