National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis
Encyclopedia
The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis is a research institute focused on the science
of mathematics
and biology
. Known by its acronym NIMBioS , the Institute opened in September 2008, arising from a collaborative agreement between the National Science Foundation
, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with additional support from The University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville. NIMBioS hosts more than 600 scientists each year at its facility located on the UT campus.
Primary goals of NIMBios are:
To achieve its goals, NIMBioS advances a wide variety of research and outreach/education activities designed to facilitate interaction between mathematicians and biologists to arrive at innovative solutions to environmental problems. Two primary mechanisms for research are Working Groups and Investigative Workshops. Working Groups are composed of 10-15 invited participants focusing on specific questions related to mathematical biology. Each group typically meets at the Institute two to three times over the course of two years. Investigative workshops may include 30-40 participants with some invited by organizers and others accepted through an open application process. Workshops are more general in focus and may lead to working group formation. NIMBioS also provides support for post-doctoral and sabbatical fellows, short-term visitors, graduate research assistants, and faculty collaborators at UT.
Research activities have investigated intragenomic conflict
, multi-scale simulation of cellular processes, human origins, natural system dynamics
, and infectious diseases in systems with wildlife hosts.
NIMBioS encourages multidisciplinary participation in all its activities. Participants at NIMBioS have included behavioral biologists, ecologists, evolutionary biologists, computational scientists, anthropologists, geneticists, psychologists, bioinformaticians, mathematicians, statisticians, veterinarians, epidemiologists, and wildlife biologists.
NIMBioS has an active Education and Outreach program with events and activities for everyone from elementary school students through college professors and the general public. At the college level, NIMBioS organizes a Research Experience for Undergraduates and a Research Experience for Veterinary Students program for seven weeks each summer. Veterinary students and undergraduates majoring in math, biology, and related fields live on campus and work in teams with UT professors on innovative research projects. High school teachers can also participate in the program.
For teachers, NIMBioS offers the Teacher Collaboration Program in which teachers with interest in mathematics and biology are paired with active researchers in the math biology community. Collaboration activities range from teaching projects and classroom visits to curriculum design and after school activities.
NIMBioS provides varying levels of tutorial workshops designed to enlighten biologists about key quantitative methods, such as optimal control and optimization or high performance computing methods for analyzing biological problems involving large data sets, spatial information, and dynamics.
NIMBioS’ director is Louis Gross, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. NIMBioS leadership team also includes four associate directors and a deputy director. NIMBioS has an external Board of Advisors consisting of 23 members from academic institutions from around the world. In addition, NIMBioS has a group of seven senior personnel consisting of UT faculty and Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(ORNL) scientists, and a group of 39 additional associated faculty and staff collaborators from UT and ORNL.
NIMBioS collaborates with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
to develop methods of particular interest for natural area management that are transferable to numerous U.S. locations. Other partners in NIMBioS include IBM
and ESRI.
The need for the Institute arose out of the significant growth of the field of mathematical biology over the last decade with research becoming more closely linked to observation and experiment. Rather than starting from mathematical abstractions, it is now common for researchers to 1) begin with observations; 2) use those to suggest promising methods, tools and models; and 3) proceed to analysis, simulation, evaluation and application. Across the spectrum of the life sciences in which mathematics has been contributing new insights, data are increasingly used to focus conceptual models as the first step in problem formulation.
The NIMBioS website includes descriptions of working groups, investigative workshops, post-doctoral fellowships, sabbaticals, short-term visits, graduate assistantships, and faculty positions and information on how to submit requests for support. The web site also describes education and outreach opportunities for undergraduates, teachers, and K-12 students.
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
of mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
. Known by its acronym NIMBioS , the Institute opened in September 2008, arising from a collaborative agreement between the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with additional support from The University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville. NIMBioS hosts more than 600 scientists each year at its facility located on the UT campus.
Primary goals of NIMBios are:
- to address key biological questions using cross-disciplinary approaches in mathematical biology
- to foster the development of a cadre of researchers who are capable of conceiving and engaging in creative and collaborative connections across disciplines.
To achieve its goals, NIMBioS advances a wide variety of research and outreach/education activities designed to facilitate interaction between mathematicians and biologists to arrive at innovative solutions to environmental problems. Two primary mechanisms for research are Working Groups and Investigative Workshops. Working Groups are composed of 10-15 invited participants focusing on specific questions related to mathematical biology. Each group typically meets at the Institute two to three times over the course of two years. Investigative workshops may include 30-40 participants with some invited by organizers and others accepted through an open application process. Workshops are more general in focus and may lead to working group formation. NIMBioS also provides support for post-doctoral and sabbatical fellows, short-term visitors, graduate research assistants, and faculty collaborators at UT.
Research activities have investigated intragenomic conflict
Intragenomic conflict
The selfish gene theory postulates that natural selection will increase the frequency of those genes whose phenotypic effects ensure their successful replication...
, multi-scale simulation of cellular processes, human origins, natural system dynamics
System dynamics
System dynamics is an approach to understanding the behaviour of complex systems over time. It deals with internal feedback loops and time delays that affect the behaviour of the entire system. What makes using system dynamics different from other approaches to studying complex systems is the use...
, and infectious diseases in systems with wildlife hosts.
NIMBioS encourages multidisciplinary participation in all its activities. Participants at NIMBioS have included behavioral biologists, ecologists, evolutionary biologists, computational scientists, anthropologists, geneticists, psychologists, bioinformaticians, mathematicians, statisticians, veterinarians, epidemiologists, and wildlife biologists.
NIMBioS has an active Education and Outreach program with events and activities for everyone from elementary school students through college professors and the general public. At the college level, NIMBioS organizes a Research Experience for Undergraduates and a Research Experience for Veterinary Students program for seven weeks each summer. Veterinary students and undergraduates majoring in math, biology, and related fields live on campus and work in teams with UT professors on innovative research projects. High school teachers can also participate in the program.
For teachers, NIMBioS offers the Teacher Collaboration Program in which teachers with interest in mathematics and biology are paired with active researchers in the math biology community. Collaboration activities range from teaching projects and classroom visits to curriculum design and after school activities.
NIMBioS provides varying levels of tutorial workshops designed to enlighten biologists about key quantitative methods, such as optimal control and optimization or high performance computing methods for analyzing biological problems involving large data sets, spatial information, and dynamics.
NIMBioS’ director is Louis Gross, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. NIMBioS leadership team also includes four associate directors and a deputy director. NIMBioS has an external Board of Advisors consisting of 23 members from academic institutions from around the world. In addition, NIMBioS has a group of seven senior personnel consisting of UT faculty and Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a multiprogram science and technology national laboratory managed for the United States Department of Energy by UT-Battelle. ORNL is the DOE's largest science and energy laboratory. ORNL is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near Knoxville...
(ORNL) scientists, and a group of 39 additional associated faculty and staff collaborators from UT and ORNL.
NIMBioS collaborates with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...
to develop methods of particular interest for natural area management that are transferable to numerous U.S. locations. Other partners in NIMBioS include IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and ESRI.
The need for the Institute arose out of the significant growth of the field of mathematical biology over the last decade with research becoming more closely linked to observation and experiment. Rather than starting from mathematical abstractions, it is now common for researchers to 1) begin with observations; 2) use those to suggest promising methods, tools and models; and 3) proceed to analysis, simulation, evaluation and application. Across the spectrum of the life sciences in which mathematics has been contributing new insights, data are increasingly used to focus conceptual models as the first step in problem formulation.
The NIMBioS website includes descriptions of working groups, investigative workshops, post-doctoral fellowships, sabbaticals, short-term visits, graduate assistantships, and faculty positions and information on how to submit requests for support. The web site also describes education and outreach opportunities for undergraduates, teachers, and K-12 students.
External links
- National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis: www.nimbios.org official website