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

通过数学和物理建模实现有机生物学的跨学科创新

• 批准号: 2040544
• 负责人: Monica Daley
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: University of California-Irvine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-02-01 至 2024-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2040544&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Cross; disciplinary; innovations; organismal; biology

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.

它仍然是生物学的一个巨大挑战，以了解生命物理系统的综合功能和生物体与其环境之间的动态相互作用。 了解生物体的物理功能形成了“生命规则”的关键环节-对于从分子到生物圈的跨尺度整合至关重要。 然而，“自上而下”的方法，专注于整个有机体的行为，但缺乏深入了解潜在的机制和“自下而上”的方法，分子和生物物理机制的特点，但缺乏了解他们的贡献，整个有机体的行为之间存在差距。我们提出了一个为期2.5天的研讨会，汇集了不同的科学家在有机体生物学和物理学的交叉点。一个关键的重点将是综合的观点，使科学家能够了解生物体如何强大的感觉和响应他们的环境。该研讨会将为物理学和有机生物学界面上不同科学领域之间的交流和合作提供重要机会。研讨会将强调生态和进化背景下的生物功能和生物多样性。将采用面对面和虚拟相结合的形式，促进代表性不足的群体的包容性参与。生命系统的物理学是一个高度可视化和引人入胜的研究领域，可以激励新一代科学家。公共在线活动（YouTube直播，社交媒体帖子，网站）将为普通观众提供参与生物学的机会以及教育和推广的可用资源。生物体是由相互关联的元素组成的复杂系统，必须在空间和时间尺度上实现协调的功能和环境响应。数学、物理学和工程学的建模工具对于生物体功能和生物体与环境相互作用的假设驱动研究变得越来越重要。为了有效利用这些工具，需要进行跨学科对话和协作。然而，在物理科学中使用模型与在生物学中有效翻译和使用这些模型之间往往存在脱节。该研讨会将汇集生物学和物理学交叉点的科学家，他们对使用基于模型的方法来解决比较，生态和进化背景下的生物结构和功能的基本问题有共同的兴趣。 我们将汇集来自不同背景的科学家，讨论最近的创新，挑战和社区对生物生物力学变革性进展的需求。讲习班将采用面对面和虚拟相结合的形式，利用同步和异步在线工具促进交流、协作和传播成果。活动将包括主题演讲和特邀演讲者、小组讨论和小组集思广益会议。 包括博士后科学家和高级研究生在内的早期职业研究人员将被招募担任虚拟分组会议的讨论主持人，为发展和展示沟通技能并建立重要的科学网络联系提供机会。在线元素将被用于发展一个持续的国际社区和合作研究网络，共享开放获取资源，以帮助促进更广泛的公众参与生命系统的物理学。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。