 NIMBioS News
Bi-Monthly News from the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis January - February 2013, Vol 5, Issue 1
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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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 Bat monitoring strategies, humans and climate change, carbon cycles, and leadership emergence in humans and animals are among the new topics to be studied in Working Groups in 2013 at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis. New Investigative Workshops for 2013 are Systems and Synthetic Microbiology in March (applications currently closed) and Modeling Blood Cell Interactions in June (application deadline is Feb. 25). Working Groups focus on well-defined questions at the interface between biology and mathematics, while Investigative Workshops, in which half of the participants are filled through open application, have a broader focus. The deadline for submitting proposals for new Working Groups and Investigative Workshops, as well as for Sabbatical Fellowships, is fast approaching: March 1, 2013. The next deadline for applications for Postdoctoral Fellowships is Sept.1. Short-term Visits are considered four times annually: March 1, June 1, Sept. 1 and Dec. 1. |
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 Epigenetics - how gene expression is regulated by temporary switches, called epi-marks - appears to be a critical and overlooked factor contributing to the long-standing puzzle of why homosexuality occurs. According to the study, published in The Quarterly Review of Biology, sex-specific epi-marks, which normally do not pass between generations and are thus "erased," can lead to homosexuality when they escape erasure and are transmitted from father to daughter or mother to son. Researchers from the NIMBioS Working Group on Intragenomic Conflict integrated evolutionary theory with recent advances in the molecular regulation of gene expression and androgen-dependent sexual development to produce a biological and mathematical model that delineates the role of epigenetics in homosexuality.
Citation: Rice WR, Friberg U, Gavrilets S. Homosexuality as a consequence of epigenetically canalized sexual development. The Quarterly Review of Biology. Published online 11 Dec. 2012.
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Education Spotlight: New Program Supports Graduate Student Research
|  Are you a graduate student interested in getting more research experience in mathematical biology with top-notch scientists? The new Visiting Graduate Student Fellowship supports visits to NIMBioS for up to several months by graduate students interested in pursuing research with NIMBioS senior personnel, postdoctoral fellows or working group participants. The program is designed to facilitate graduate student training while fostering research at the interface of mathematics and biology. Applications are considered year-round. For more information about the fellowship and how to apply, click here.
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Video Feature: New Full Length Seminar Videos
|  If you missed, either locally or from a far-flung destination, a NIMBioS Interdisciplinary Seminar, we now offer the full-length seminar on video featuring the speaker as well as slides. One of the more popular recent seminars, "The sound of fear: A journey from marmot meadows to Hollywood," with Dr. Daniel Blumstein from the University of California-Los Angeles' Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, can now be viewed in its entirety. The marmot screams and other vocalizations are not to be missed! The seminar videos, which are about one hour in length, can be viewed here.
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Upcoming Research and Training Opportunities at NIMBioS
|  RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR UNDERGRADUATES
Looking for a fun and challenging research experience this summer? NIMBioS is now taking applications for its eight-week long summer research program for undergraduates (REU) interested in research at the interface between mathematics and biology. The program takes place June 10 - August 2, 2013, on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, campus. Application deadline: February 15. For more information about this year's program, full description of the projects, and the online application, click here.
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 MODELING BLOOD CELL INTERACTIONS WORKSHOP
Applications are now being accepted for the NIMBioS Investigative Workshop: Modeling Blood Cell Interactions, to be held June 5-7, 2013, at NIMBioS. The MBCI. The workshop will bring together experts from disciplines such as cell biology, physiology, biophysics, engineering, and mathematics to share their recent progress in the investigation of blood cell interactions. Application deadline: February 25, 2013. For more information about the workshop and how to apply, click here.
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 REQUESTS FOR SUPPORT
March 1 is the deadline for submitting proposals for new scientific and educational activities at NIMBioS, including Working Groups, Investigative Workshops and Sabbatical Fellowships. Although all areas at the interface of mathematics and biology are acceptable, potential organizers are particularly encouraged to submit requests for Working Groups and Investigative Workshops in areas of molecular biology, cell biology, network biology, immunology and systems biology. For more information, 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.
____________________________________________________ NIMBioS is located at the Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville
1122 Volunteer Blvd, Suite 122, Knoxville, TN 37996-3410
Phone: +1 865 974 9334
Fax: +1 865 974 9461
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