----------------------------------------------------
Subject: SMB Digest v13i05
SMB Digest February 1 , 2013 Volume 13 Issue 5
ISSN 1086-6566
Editor: Amina Eladdadi eladdada(at)strose(dot)edu
Note:
Information about the Society for Mathematical Biology, including an
application for membership, may be found in the SMB Home Page,
Access the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, the official journal of SMB, at
Inquiries about membership or BMB fulfillment should be sent to
membership(at)smb(dot)org .
Issue's Topics:
Conference: SBIP 2013, May 13-15, Lyon, France
Conference: CMPD4, May 29-June 30, Taiyuan, China
Workshop: on Decision Making in Nature, May 2-4, UK
Workshop: Neutron Scattering Apps. in Structural Bio., June 24-28, TN, USA
CfP: EWM and the EMS Women in Mathematics, 2014 Summer School,Stockholm
PhD Fellowship: Wellcome Trust, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle Univ.
PhD Studentship: Modelling of Retinal Neural Networks, UK
PhD Studentship: Evolutionary Ecology of Fungal Killers, U. of Exeter
PhD studentships: Neuroinformatics & Comp. Neuroscience, U. of Edinburgh
Postdoc: Math. & Comp. Infectious Disease Dynamics, U. of Michigan
Postdoc & RA: Computational Population Biology, UC Berkeley
Research Fellows: Math. Modelling of Complex Brain Networks, UK
SMBnet Reminders
----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 5:14 AM
Subject: Conference: SBIP 2013, May 13-15,Lyon, France
SBIP2013. First call for abstracts.
We are happy to invite you to participate in the Systems Biology
Approach to Infectious Processes Conference (SBIP 2013) that will be
held in Lyon, France, from May 13th to May 15th 2013.
The conference aims at bringing together leading specialists
addressing different facets of infectious processes from a systems and
modeling perspective. This includes microbial ?omic? approaches in
relation to infection, analysis of immune response, evolution of
pathogens and epidemiology. On each of these broad topics, the
conference will bring together experimentalists and modelers
attempting to characterize system-wide properties of infectious
processes that might be put at use for disease control.
In addition to keynote lectures by invited speakers (see below), the
conference program will leave ample space for contributed talks and
posters for which proposals are welcome. Please use the website
March 15, 2013.
Registration is free but mandatory. If you submit an abstract, don't
forget to register as well. To register and to submit an abstract, you
registration and submission forms.
We will be honored to welcome the following speakers:
Alain Barrat
Centre de Physique Théorique, Marseille, France
Christophe Fraser
Imperial College of London, UK
Ronald N. Germain
Laboratory of Systems Biology, National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases, USA
Michael Lässig
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, Germany
Yoram Louzoun
Department of Mathematics, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
Jason E McDermott
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Group, Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA
Alan Perelson
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
Paul Sharp
Institute of Evolutionary Biology, The university of Edimburgh, UK
Adrien Six
Immunology-Immunopathology-Immunotherapy, Hôpital de la Pitié, Paris, France
Jacky Snoep
Department of biochemistry, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
On behalf of the organizing comitee,
Fabien Crauste.
----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 3:54 PM
Subject: Conference: CMPD4, May 29-June 30, Taiyuan, China
First Announcement and Call for Sessions and Papers
The Fourth Conference on Computational and Mathematical
Population Dynamics (CMPD4)
Taiyuan, China
May 29 - June 2, 2013
The Conference on Computational and Mathematical Population Dynamics
is the fourth joint meeting of the Conference on Mathematical
Population Dynamics (MPD) and the Conference on Deterministic and
Stochastic Models for Biological Interactions (DeStoBio), with a
26-year history of international meetings. The previous joint
conferences were CMPD1 (Trento, Italy, 2004); CMPD2 (Campinas, Brazil,
2007); and CMPD3 (Bordeaux, France, 2010). The goal of this
international conference is to bring together leading researchers from
different fields (applied mathematics, biology, computer science,
ecology, epidemiology, medicine, public health, etc.) to report and
communicate with each other about their current work on computational
and mathematical population dynamics. The conference will also provide
a unique opportunity for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to
interact with leading researchers in these areas.
Taiyuan is the capital of Shanxi Province, China, with a population of
4.2 million. It was constructed 2500 years ago and was the capital of
several dynasties. It has a wealth of historical and natural tourist
attractions. Taiyuan is 500 km south-west of Beijing and 1500 km
north-west of Shanghai. Travel from Beijing to Taiyuan can be by
airplane, train (two hours), or bus.
Plenary Speakers: Odo Diekmann (Universiteit Utrecht?The Netherland),
Zhilan Feng (Purdue University, USA), Hisashi Inaba (University of
Tokyo, Japan), Zhen Jin (North University of China, China), Hanna
Kokko (Australian National Universit), Frithjof Lutscher (University
of Ottawa, Canada), Pierre Magal (University of Bordueax, France),
Sebastian Schreiber (University of California at Davis, USA), Jianhong
Wu (York University, Canada).
Conference Sessions: Effects of Wolbachia on insect population
dynamics and Stochastic models of gene expression; Population game
dynamics; Modeling and dynamics of vector-borne diseases; Modeling of
infectious diseases; Influence of heterogeneity in disease dynamics
and control; Adaptive dynamics; Spatial dynamics in population
biology; Viral dynamics and drug treatment; Bifurcation theory and
applications in biology; Modeling antibiotic-resistance bacteria;
Pattern formation in biology; Control problems in population biology;
Traveling waves in population biology; Mathematical modeling of
ecological and environmental problems; Computational system biology;
Mathematical modeling of immune response; etc.
Local Organizing Committee: Youzhi Liu (Honorary Chair), Zhen Jin
(Co-Chair, China), Shigui Ruan (Co-Chair, USA), Guihua Li, Maoxing
Liu, Lipeng Song, Guiquan Sun, Yakui Xue, Fenqin Zhang, Juping Zhang
Registration: Please register by March 31, either online or send the
in bank transfer, is U$250 for each foreign participant or RMB1500 for
each domestic participant (except the members of the Scientific
Committee and Plenary Speakers). The registration fee for graduate
students or accompanying persons is U$200 or RMB1200. The registration
fees cover full board (three meals) and refreshments during sessions
for the conference period and social programs (including a one-day
tour). After March 31, the fees will be U$300 (RMB1800) and U$250
(RMB1500), respectively.
Abstracts and Lectures: Any participant can give only one talk at the
conference. If you are invited to give talks in multiple sessions,
please choose the one that is the closest to your interest. If you are
interested in organizing a session, please contact the conference
talk in one of the existing conference sessions, please contact the
session organizers. If you would like to make a contributed talk,
Please send the title and abstract of your talk to Dr. Guiquan Sun
The TEX file should start with personal data, which includes the title
of the paper, author(s)' name, affiliation and e-mail address. Please
note that the abstract must be received by March 31, 2013 and not
exceeding 800 words.
Hotel: Hotel information will be provided in the second announcement.
Conference Web Site: All information and related forms can be found at
Contact Addresses: CMPD4, School of Science, North University of
----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 9:55 AM
Subject: Workshop on Decision Making in Nature, May 2-4, UK
Imperial College Biomathematics group is organising a meeting on
Decision Making in Nature (2-4 May 2013). Biological decisions take
place at different levels including single cells (e.g. yeast budding
or cell differentiation), populations of cells (e.g. in bacterial
biofilms or in developmental biology ), networks of interacting cells
(e.g. neural ensembles), by individual complex organisms (e.g. the
brain) or by populations of individuals (e.g. group of fish or human
society). There has been a recent marked increase in the study of
biological decision making in disciplines such as cell biology,
developmental biology, neuroscience, psychology, behavioural ecology,
robotics and economics. The researchers use a diverse set of
theoretical methods including stochastic processes, game theory,
dynamical systems, Bayesian statistics, machine learning and control
theory. This meeting brings those researchers together to explore the
overlap of mathematical formulations and techniques employed in these
different areas mentioned above that could lead to improved
understanding of decision making processes at different levels in
Nature.
The confirmed speakers at the workshop grouped loosely based on the
level of decision making they focus on are:
Decisions by Cells:
Peter Swain (Edinburgh, UK); Jordi Garcia Ojalvo (Barcelona, Spain);
Alfonso Martinez-Arias (Cambridge, UK); Ido Golding (Houston, US)
Decisions by Neurons:
Mike Shadlen (Seattle, US); Andrew Straw (Vienna, Austria); Alex
Pouget (Rochester, US); Bert Kappen (Nijmegen, Netherlands)
Decisions by Individuals:
Alex Kacelnik (Oxford, UK); Daniel Wolpert (Cambridge, UK); Josh
Tenenbaum (MIT, US); Paul Glimcher (New York, US); Nick Chater
(Warwick, UK)
Decisions by Collectives:
Kevin Foster (Oxford, UK); David Sumpter (Uppsala, Sweden); James
Marshall (Shefield, UK); Tobias Galla (Manchester, UK)
Registration deadline is 28th of February. For more information and
for registration go to the workshop website at:
----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 12:11 PM
Subject: Workshop: Neutron Scattering Apps. in Structural Bio., June 24-28, TN
Fourth Workshop on Neutron Scattering Applications in Structural Biology
Oak Ridge, TN. June 24 ? June 28, 2013
Application deadline: April 22, 2013
The workshop on Neutron Scattering Applications in Structural Biology
aims at enabling structural biologist to fully exploit the latest
instrumentation and software development at the SNS and HFIR
facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Attendees will
participate in lectures and tutorials focusing exclusively on neutron
techniques applied in structural biology. The workshop is designed for
graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty new to or with
limited experience of neutron scattering.
Travel and accommodation expenses are supported for selected
participants from the United States. International applications are
welcome. However the course organization may not be able to offer
travel or accommodation support.
The number of participants will be limited to 15. There is no
registration fees for all selected participants.
The application package consisting of 1) Information form, 2) CV, 3)
Applicant motivation letter (1/2 to 1 page), 4) Principal Investigator
letter of support (for graduate students only; 1/2 to 1 page), should
Detailed information can be found on the course web page:
(gcnb2013 in construction).
----------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, Jan 31, 2013 at 9:31 AM
Subject CfP: EWM and the EMS Women in Mathematics, 2014 Summer School,Stockholm
European Women in Mathematics and European Mathematical Society
2014 Summer School at the Institut Mittag-Leffler
Call for Proposals
EWM and the EMS Women in Mathematics Committee are pleased to invite
proposals for a one week summer school at the Institut Mittag Leffler
in Stockholm in summer 2014.
There are places for about 20 young people and two invited lecturers.
The Institut will cover lodging and a meal allowance for everyone. The
school should be on a focused topic of current importance and open to
PhD students and post-docs of both sexes.
A special feature of the summer school is that there will be a much
larger than usual involvement by women. We expect that most or all of
the organizing committee, at least half the participants, and if
possible the lecturers, should be female.
There may be some scope for slightly increasing the number of
participants or lecturers; this will have to be negotiated with the
Institut nearer the time, as will the exact dates. Participants are
expected to fund their own travel expenses, and organizers will have
to find additional funding for the speakers, as well as any additional
participants. The EMS is supportive of this project and it is likely
that they will be ready to assist with some of the necessary
additional funding. Additional help and advice will also be given by
EWM and the EMS committee.
Proposals, which should be framed according to the guidelines which
selected by the committee on the basis of their scientific merit and
the extent to which they fulfill the aims of the guidelines.
----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2013 23:17:43 +0000
Subject: PhD Studentship-Modelling of Retinal Neural Networks, UK
PhD Studentship "Modelling of retinal neural networks"
(Full-time, tuition paid, UK/EU only)
University of Reading PhD Studentship (UK/EU only)
Project Title: Mesoscopic modelling of retinal neural networks
Supervisor: Dr. Etienne B. Roesch
School/Department: School of Systems Engineering & Centre for
Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics
Overview:
The goal of the project is to build neural field models of the retina
that will allow the investigation of the architecture underlying
visual information processing. These models will also be used to
simulate the disturbances yielding visual impairment in early diabetic
retinopathy. Neural fields are integro-differential equations,
similar to wave equations, that represent electrical and chemical
neurodynamics on continuous space-time scales. They are thus ideal to
study populations of cells as homogeneously structured, and as
dependent on spatial contiguity as the retina, whilst exploring
complex nonlinear dynamics of neural information processing. The
construction of the models will be informed by connectomic and
physiological data, and the models subjected to extensive
parameter-sensitivity analyses. The project falls into the remit of
the University of Reading?s strategic investment to support
neuroscience and interdisciplinary research. The student will be
supervised by Dr. Etienne B. Roesch and Prof. Ingo Bojak.
Eligibility: Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK Honours Degree
at 2:1 level or equivalent in a relevant subject. Please note that
due to restrictions on the funding this studentship is for UK/EU
applicants only.
Funding Details: Studentship will cover Home/EU Fees and pay the
Research Council minimum stipend (£13,590 for 2011/12) for up to 3
years. The studentship will begin in October 2013.
How to apply: To apply for this studentship please submit an
application for a PhD in Cybernetics (full time) to the University ?
you have submitted your application, you should receive an email to
confirm receipt of your online application. Please forward this
email, along with a covering letter, to Dr. Etienne B.
Please quote the reference GS13-15 in the ?Scholarships applied for?
box that appears within the Funding Section of your online
application.
Application Deadline: Friday 15th March 2013
Further Enquiries: Please contact Dr. Etienne B. Roesch,
----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 9:16 AM
Subject: PhD Fellowship: Wellcome Trust, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle Univ.
Applications are now open for Newcastle University?s Institute of
Neuroscience four-year MRes+PhD programme supported by the Wellcome
Trust.
Our programme is tailored specifically for students with outstanding
backgrounds in physical sciences, engineering, mathematics or
computing. Students will be trained for productive careers in
neuroscience through a combination of intensive taught coursework and
laboratory rotations in the first year, during which hands-on
experience with experimental data collection will be the key aspect,
followed by PhD research projects in the final three years, which will
enable students to apply their previously acquired quantitative,
technical and scientific skills to challenging questions in
neuroscience.
Please note the deadline for applications has been extended to the
10th of February. The provisional date for interviews is the 15th of
March. For more information about the programme, please visit
----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 2:01 PM
Subject: PhD Studentship: Evolutionary Ecology of Fungal Killers, U. of Exeter
PhD position: Evolutionary Ecology of Fungal Killers, University of Exeter
We are looking to recruit a highly-motivated and dedicated student
with a real interest in applying evolutionary biology to antimicrobial
resistance and we are inviting applications for this BBSRC-funded PhD
studentship to commence September 2013 at the University of Exeter
supervised by Dr Ivana Gudelj and Prof. Ken Haynes.
Fungal diseases devastate human lives. Bloodstream infections are the
second biggest killer of hospital patients with almost 50% of
infections proving fatal, leading to 1.5 million patient deaths
worldwide each year. However, fungal infections are not
well-understood and there is much less public awareness than for
diseases caused by bacterial and viral infections.
We therefore urgently need to understand how fungal pathogens evolve,
adapt to different environments and become resistant to drugs. This is
the research goal of a fully-funded PhD scholarship in Biosciences at
the University of Exeter. The successful applicant will participate in
a lively research environment where we combine mathematical modeling
with an experimental evolutionary approach to build new theories and
test them in the lab. We are looking for PhD students, either
experimental or theoretical with a biological or a physics background,
to join our interdisciplinary team in a unique environment where
theoreticians and experimentalists share a common research vision.
We expect to apply diverse experimental and theoretical tools, from
the molecular and genetic to the evolutionary and ecological,
depending on the successful candidate and full training will be
provided as appropriate.
You must have obtained, or be about to obtain, a First or Upper Second
Class UK Honours degree, or the equivalent qualifications gained
outside the UK, in Biology, Physics, Mathematics or a relevant
subject. The studentship will cover a stipend for at least three years
at the standard Research Council rate (currently £13,590 per annum for
2012-2013) and is opened to UK/EU students.
More information about the project and how to apply can be found at:
Closing date is 20th February 2013
----------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 10:12 AM
Subject:PhD studentships: Neuroinformatics and Comp. Neuroscience, Edinburgh
Second-round applications for fully-funded PhD studentships at the
University of Edinburgh Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) in
Neuroinformatics and Computational Neuroscience are now being
considered. The DTC is a world-class centre for research at the
interface between neuroscience and the engineering, computational, and
physical sciences.
Our four-year programme is ideal for students with strong
computational and analytical skills who want to employ cutting-edge
methodology to advance research in neuroscience and related fields, or
to apply ideas from neuroscience to computational problems. The first
year consists of courses in neuroscience and informatics, as well as
lab projects. This is followed by a three-year PhD project done in
collaboration with one of the many departments and institutes
affiliated with the DTC.
Current DTC PhD topics fall into five main areas:
* Computational neuroscience: Using analytical and computational
models, potentially supplemented with experiments, to gain
quantitative understanding of the nervous system. Many projects
focus on the development and function of sensory and motor systems
in animals, including neural coding, learning, and memory.
* Biomedical imaging algorithms and tools: Using advanced data
analysis techniques, such as machine learning and Bayesian
approaches, for imaging-based diagnosis and research.
* Cognitive science: Studying human cognitive processes and analysing
them in computational terms.
* Neuromorphic engineering: Using insights from neuroscience to help
build better hardware, such as neuromorphic VLSI circuits and robots
that perform robustly under natural conditions.
* Software systems and applications: Using discoveries from
neuroscience to develop software that can handle real-world data,
such as video, audio, or speech.
Other related areas of research are also encouraged. Edinburgh has a
large, world-class research community in these areas and leads the UK
in creating a coherent programme in neuroinformatics and computational
neuroscience. The University of Edinburgh was ranked 21st worldwide
in the latest QS World University Rankings, and the School of
Informatics is the largest and highest-ranked computing department in
the UK. Edinburgh has often been voted 'best place to live in
Britain', and has many exciting cultural and student activities.
Students with a strong background in computer science, mathematics,
physics, or engineering are particularly encouraged to apply. Highly
motivated students with other backgrounds will also be considered.
Studentships include a stipend of 14,385-17,782 UK pounds/year along
with research and travel costs. They are available to UK or other EU
citizens who have been residing in the UK for the past three years
(whether for work or for education); see our web site for full
details. Other applicants can be considered if they provide their own
funding, typically via a scholarship from their country of origin.
Applications are now being accepted for September 2013
entry. Applications must be complete by 30th March 2013 to receive
full consideration for the remaining studentships, and will be
considered for interviews in April.
Further information and application forms can be obtained from:
----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 5:11 PM
Subject: Postdoc: Math. & Comp. Infectious Disease Dynamics, U. of Michigan
*POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES*
Departments of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics and
Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, USA
Applications are invited for two postdoctoral research fellowships in
the immunity, epidemiology and evolution of pertussis (whooping
cough). These posts are part of a long-term NIH-funded project
supervised by Pej Rohani and Aaron King. Successful applicants will
develop mathematical and computational transmission models and
confront them with longitudinal incidence data using cutting-edge
statistical inference techniques. The ideal candidate has a PhD in
statistics, applied mathematics, applied physics, other highly
quantitative field and previous experience in the analysis of
epidemiological or ecological systems.
Initial appointments will be for one year, with possible renewal
depending on progress. The salary will be in the range of
$37,000-42,000 per year (depending on experience), plus fringe
benefits. Starting date is negotiable.
The University of Michigan is a vibrant scientific community and the
successful applicants will be afforded many opportunities for
professional development. Ann Arbor offers a rich cultural and
intellectual life in a very livable small city setting.
letter, a detailed CV, a brief statement of research interests, and
the names of three references. The cover letter should discuss
possible starting dates.
Review of applications will start immediately and will continue until
the posts have been filled.
----------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, Jan 31, 2013 at 12:00 PM
Subject: Postdoc & RA: Computational Population Biology, UC Berckely
Research Assistant/Postdoctoral Position: Computational Population
Biology Dept. Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management UC
Berkeley Applications from scientists/engineers/statisticians with a
background in both computation and population biology is sought to
develop library models for the NOVA
construct agent/individual-based models using NOVA for research in
movement and disease ecology. Minimum qualifications are an
engineering degree or an MS, but Ph.D. applicants are preferred.
Experience with R, ArcGIS, and JavaScript is a plus, as is experience
with fitting biological/environmental models to data.
Position available immediately for an initial one-year period. Send
CV, statement of interest and availability, and the names, phone
numbers and email addresses of three people who can provide letters of
reference.
----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 5:10 PM
Subject: Two Research Fellows in Math. Modelling of Complex Brain Networks
We seek to recruit two Research Fellows to work with Professor John
Terry on an MRC Programme Grant: ?Brain Networks in Epilepsy:
Endophenotypes and Generative Models?. These posts form part of a
large scale research effort involving collaborators at King?s College
London and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (Brisbane) and
are available from July 1, 2013 or a mutually agreeable date
thereafter, for an initial period of 3 years. You are encouraged to
submitting an application.
The successful applicants will work on a multidisciplinary project
involving the development of mathematical models, network analysis
tools and methods for fusing models and data. Working closely with
clinical scientists at King?s College London, developed methods will
be applied to clinical data (including EEG, fMRI and DTI) collected
from a very large sample of patients with epilepsy. These will be used
to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms of seizure emergence and to
predict treatment outcome.
The successful applicants will have experience in at least one of the
following areas:
* Constructing mathematical models of biological or neural systems;
* Analysis of nonlinear and/or stochastic dynamical systems;
* Numerical methods for analysing dynamical systems (e.g.
bifurcation analysis and numerical continuation)
* Analysis of complex networks or graph theory
Applicants should have a PhD in computational or mathematical
biology, complex networks and graph theory, systems biology,
computational neuroscience, nonlinear dynamical systems or a closely
related discipline. It is further desirable that the candidate has
experience of working in a multidisciplinary environment, ideally
interacting with clinicians or experimental neuroscientists.
For further details and to apply please visit:
----------------------------------------------------
Subject: SMBnet Reminders
To subscribe to the SMB Digest please point your browser at
and complete the subscription information. Alternatively, if you prefer
to simply receive notice when the next issue is available, send mail to
in the body of the mail (omit the quotes and include your name).
After you subscribe, you will receive a greeting with additional information.
Submissions to appear in the SMB Digest may be sent to
SMBnet(at)smb(dot)org .
Items of interest to the mathematical biology community may be submitted
for inclusion in the SMBnet archive. See instructions at
The SMB Digest is also available on the SMB Home Page at
The contents of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part with
attribution.
End of SMB Digest
****************************************************