Collaborative Research: NSF Workshop on Models for Uncovering Rules and Unexpected Phenomena in Biological Systems (MODULUS)

该奖项支持参加 NSF 于 2022 年 8 月 11 日至 12 日在乔治梅森大学举行的关于生物系统中揭示规则和意外现象的模型 (MODULUS) 的研讨会。 NSF MODULUS 计划旨在促进开发新的研究工具以在分子尺度上理解生物系统、测量对不断变化的环境的多尺度响应、发现新兴现象和新的生物学原理以及跨数学、理论和计算学科的整合方面取得进展。 本次现场研讨会将重点讨论以下主题：展示当前 MODULUS 资助项目的进展和成就，确定需要新的数学和计算方法或当前方法之间新的协同作用的具有挑战性的生物学问题，探索连接复杂生物系统的分子和细胞尺度所需的新兴数学、理论和计算方法，并探索生物学家、数学家和计算机科学家之间的合作机会。会议将汇集 60 名教师专家，包括高级教师、初级教师和博士后，以及来自政府实验室、资助机构和工业界的数学、计算机科学、物理和生物学领域的专家。本次会议将由乔治梅森大学、罗彻斯特理工学院、加州大学欧文分校和科罗拉多大学博尔德分校联合举办。 推进生物学理解的一个主要挑战是在迭代过程中将理论与实验相结合，从而发现新兴现象、新颖的生物学原理以及生命系统的控制方程和规则。这种集成方式对于生物系统的预测性理解是必需的。此外，在系统层面以及跨时空尺度解决重要的生物学问题将需要包括和整合来自不同领域的知识，包括应用数学、人工智能、生物技术、计算机科学、物理学和生物学。这个面对面的研讨会将汇集来自不同学科的研究人员，在数学、分子和细胞生物学的交叉点上进行协作集思广益并开发新的想法，强调系统规模的集成。它将识别机遇和重大挑战，重点关注通过 NSF MODULUS 项目已经取得和可以取得的进展。通过将来自政府实验室、机构和行业的专家小组与学术演讲穿插在一起，它将促进高度互动的环境和跨领域思想的交流。该研讨会将扩大来自 STEM 领域代表性不足的群体以及各类机构的研究人员的参与范围，并帮助创建一支多元化的跨学科队伍来解决生物系统中的挑战性问题。有关会议的更多详细信息，请访问：https://sites.google.com/view/nsfmodulusconference2022/home 该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

This award supports participation in the NSF workshop on Models for Uncovering Rules and Unexpected Phenomena in Biological Systems (MODULUS), held August 11-12, 2022, at the George Mason University. The NSF MODULUS program aims to catalyze progress in developing new research tools to understand biological systems at the molecular scale, in measuring multiscale response to changing environments, in discovering emergent phenomena and novel biological principles, and in integrating across mathematical, theoretical, and computational disciplines. This in-person workshop will focus on topics showcasing the progress and achievements of the current MODULUS funded projects, identifying challenging biological questions that require new mathematical and computational methods or new synergies between current approaches, exploring emerging mathematical, theoretical, and computational approaches needed to connect molecular and cellular scales for complex biological systems, and exploring opportunities for collaborations among biologists, mathematicians, and computer scientists. The conference will bring together 60 faculty experts including senior faculty members, junior faculty members, and post-doctoral students as well as experts from government labs, funding agencies, and industry who work in areas that bridge mathematics, computer science, physics, and biology. This meeting will be jointly organized by George Mason University, the Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of California, Irvine, and the University of Colorado, Boulder. A major challenge in advancing biological understanding is integrating theory with experiment in an iterative process that leads to the discovery of emergent phenomena, novel biological principles, and the governing equations and rules of living systems. This manner of integration is required for a predictive understanding of biological systems. Furthermore, addressing important biological problems at a systems level and across spatial and temporal scales will require including and integrating knowledge from diverse fields, including applied mathematics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, computer science, physics, and biology. This in-person workshop will bring together researchers from various disciplines to collaboratively brainstorm and develop novel ideas at the interface of mathematics and molecular and cellular biology, emphasizing systems-scale integration. It will identify opportunities and grand challenges, focusing on advances that have been and can be made through NSF MODULUS projects. By interspersing panels from experts from government labs, agencies, and industry with academic talks, it will facilitate a highly interactive environment and exchange of cross-cutting ideas. The workshop will broaden participation by including researchers from groups underrepresented in STEM as well as from wide-ranging types of institutions and help to create a diverse interdisciplinary workforce to address challenging questions in biological systems. More details about the conference can be found at: https://sites.google.com/view/nsfmodulusconference2022/homeThis 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.