 NIMBioS News
Bi-Monthly News from the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis
September/October 2010 - Vol 2, Issue 5
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| Report Your Results |
The results produced from NIMBioS research activities are important in measuring our success. Click the button below
for an online form to report publications and/or other products that have resulted from your NIMBioS activities.
Click here
for specific language to use in acknowledging NIMBioS in your work.
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Celebrating Our Second Year
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 NIMBioS celebrated its second anniversary in September. Since
our first activity in March 2009, more than 1,000 people from 33 different countries and 49 U.S. states have participated in NIMBioS-sponsored events. A total of 363 different institutions were
represented, primarily colleges and universities. NIMBioS
has hosted 12 Working Groups, 6 Investigative Workshops, 4
Tutorials, 50 short-term visitors, and numerous outreach and
education activities. Research and training opportunities slated for 2010-11 are described in this newsletter. If you are interested in participating in an activity, please register using the online registration form for that activity; space is limited. We have now recruited six new faculty members whose research interests are at the interface of mathematics/computation and biology and have a total of ten postdoctoral fellows. A new feature at NIMBioS is our blog where we post the latest happenings at NIMBioS and what else is new at the interface of mathematics and biology. Produced and moderated by NIMBioS staff, the blog showcases news and commentary generated
by NIMBioS staff and partners. To submit feedback or suggest a post,
please e-mail us at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you or seeing you at NIMBioS.
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Featured Science: Biodiversity Under a Changing Climate
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Climate change poses one of the principal threats to the biological
diversity of the planet. Altering species' distribution, reproductive timing, and the growing season for plants -- the rate of climate
change is happening so fast that many species cannot adapt quickly
enough and risk extinction. NIMBioS postdoc Dr. Xavier Thibert-Plante wants to know how climate change affects biodiversity. Thibert-Plante examines the interaction between ecological and
evolutionary forces and their impact in shaping the planet's
biodiversity. Adaptation and gene flow, which can work in oppositional ways, are just some of the processes underlying biodiversity that Thibert-Plante studies. Click here to read more about his work. |
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Video Feature: Preserving Nature on Land and Sea
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 Four short-term visitors gathered at NIMBioS from around the world in recent months to collaborate on a project focusing on optimal
strategies for designing and managing marine and terrestrial reserves. The
group of early career scientists is developing and applying constrained optimization techniques to
inform the design of spatial and spatio-temporal management strategies for terrestrial biodiversity conservation and fisheries management. Click here to view the video. Click here to read more about NIMBioS' short-term visitor program.
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Education Spotlight: Undergraduate Research at the Interface of Biology and Mathematics
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 The second annual undergraduate research conference to be held Nov.
19-20, 2010, at the Univ. of Tennessee Conference Center provides
opportunities for undergraduates to present their research at the
interface of biology and mathematics. Student talks and posters will be
featured as well as Dr. Abdul-Aziz Yakubu, professor and chair of the department of mathematics at Howard University,
as plenary speaker. Faculty, students and Tennessee
teachers are invited to attend. Registration Deadline: November 5. For more information about the conference and how to register,
click here.
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New Songwriter-in-Residence Program
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 NIMBioS, in
conjunction with the Univ. of Tennessee's James R. Cox Endowment Fund,
is sponsoring a Songwriter-in-Residence Program to encourage the
creation and production of songs involving ideas of modern biology and
the lives of scientists who pursue research in biology. The program supports a four-week long residency of professional
singer-songwriters to interact with scientists at NIMBioS through June 2011. Up to five songwriters-in-residence
will be chosen; only one will be
in residence at a time. To read more about the program and how to apply online, click here.
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Upcoming Research and Education Opportunities at NIMBioS
|  INVESTIGATIVE WORKSHOP: SOLID TUMOR MODELING
NIMBioS is now accepting applications for the NIMBioS Investigative
Workshop on Solid Tumor Modeling to be held Jan. 19-21, 2011, at
NIMBioS. Current achievements and challenges in modeling solid tumors in
the human body will be discussed, and areas that could improve our
understanding of tumor development and treatment will be identified. The
main focus will be on modeling tumor level cancer progression. Application deadline: October 15. For more information about the workshop and how to apply, click here.
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 TUTORIAL: STOCHASTIC MODELING IN BIOLOGY
NIMBioS is now accepting applications for the NIMBioS Tutorial:
Stochastic Modeling in Biology to be held March 16-18, 2011, at NIMBioS.
This tutorial is designed to introduce selected topics in stochastic
models with an emphasis on biological applications. Basic
theory of Markov chains and stochastic differential equations will be introduced. The tutorial will consist of a series of lectures and lab sessions. Application
deadline: December 16, 2010.For more information about the tutorial and how to apply,
click here.
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 INVESTIGATIVE WORKSHOP: SYNCHRONY IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
Synchronous oscillatory activity is a universal phenomenon that occurs
in biological systems ranging from the level of intracellular dynamics
to population dynamics across thousands of kilometers. NIMBioS is now accepting applications for the NIMBioS
Investigative Workshop: Synchronous Activity in Biological Systems to be
held April 11-13, 2011, at NIMBioS. Application deadline: January 15,
2011. For more information about the workshop and how to apply, click here.
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 METABOLISM AND BODY WEIGHT INVESTIGATIVE WORKSHOP
With more than two-thirds of adults considered overweight and more than
one-third categorized as obese, understanding the mechanisms behind
weight gain, loss and maintenance is a major national goal. NIMBioS is now accepting
applications for the NIMBioS Investigative Workshop: Mathematical Models of Metabolism and Body Weight Regulation to be held July 12-15, 2011, at NIMBioS. Application deadline: March 14, 2011. For more information about the workshop and how to apply, click here.
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The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) brings together researchers from around the world to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries to investigate solutions to basic and applied problems in the life sciences. NIMBioS is funded by the National Science Foundation in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
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NIMBioS is located on the Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, campus
1534 White Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37996-1527
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