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

理解生物物理系统的综合功能以及生物体与其环境之间的动态相互作用仍然是生物学中的一项重大挑战。了解生物体的物理功能是“生命法则”中的一个关键环节--这是从分子到生物圈的跨尺度整合的关键。然而，在“自上而下”的方法和“自下而上”的方法之间存在差距，前者专注于整个有机体的行为，但缺乏对潜在机制的洞察，后者表征了分子和生物物理机制，但缺乏对其对整个有机体行为的贡献。我们提议举办一个为期2.5天的研讨会，让生物生物学和物理学交叉领域的不同科学家汇聚一堂。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烈地感知和响应他们的环境。研讨会将为不同科学领域在物理学和生物生物学领域之间的交流和合作创造重要机会。研讨会将在生态和进化的背景下强调生物功能和生物多样性。将采用面对面形式和虚拟形式相结合的形式，促进代表性不足群体的包容性参与。生命系统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现场直播、社交媒体帖子、网站)将为普通受众提供接触生物生物学的机会，并为教育和外联提供可利用的资源。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。来自数学、物理学和工程学的建模工具对于假说驱动的生物功能和生物-环境相互作用的研究正变得越来越重要。要有效利用这些工具，需要进行跨学科对话和协作。然而，在自然科学中使用模型和在生物学中有效地翻译和使用这些模型之间往往存在着脱节。这次研讨会将汇聚生物生物学和物理学交叉领域的科学家，他们对使用基于模型的方法在比较、生态和进化背景下解决关于有机体结构和功能的基本问题有着共同的兴趣。我们将把来自不同背景的科学家聚集在一起，讨论最近的创新、挑战和社区对有机体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，促进成果的交流、协作和传播。活动将包括主旨演讲和特邀演讲、小组讨论和小组集思广益会议。将招募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在虚拟分组会议中担任讨论主持人，提供一个发展和展示沟通技能并建立重要科学网络联系的机会。在线元素将被用来发展一个持续的国际社区和合作研究网络，共享开放获取的资源，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，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.