Phylogenetic combinatorics: A mathematical theory for the analysis of phylogenetic trees and networks

根据查尔斯·达尔文的进化论，现代物种可以通过进化树来联系，就像家庭成员可以通过家谱来联系一样。生物学的核心问题之一是弄清楚这棵树是什么（或者，通常是这棵树的一小部分），因为这可能会有所帮助，例如，在理解生物体是如何工作的。系统发育学的蓬勃发展正致力于解决这一问题。然而，由于这绝不是一个简单的问题，需要先进的数学理论来帮助发现它的解决方案。这个项目的主要目的是研究和发展这样的数学理论。我们期望这些理论不仅能使生物学家更好地理解他们的数据，而且几乎肯定会为纯数学带来新的研究方向，就像物理学在20世纪启发了新的数学一样。

According to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, the present day species can be related by an evolutionary tree, much in the same way as members of a family can be related by a family tree. One of the central problems in biology is to work out what this tree is (or, usually small parts of this tree), since this can be helpful, for example, in understanding how organisms work. The flourishing area of phylogenetics is concerned with solving this problem. However, since it is by no means an easy problem, advanced mathematical theories are required to help discover its solution. The main aim of this project is to investigate and develop such mathematical theories. We expect that these theories will not only enable biologists to better understand their data, but that they will almost certainly lead to new research directions in pure mathematics, much in the same way that physics inspired new mathematics in the 20th century.