The role of mathematics in identifying and using information embedded in the masses of data produced by molecular biology will be the theme of a Winter School being held at The University of Queensland from July 5-9.
Leading researchers such as Federation Fellow Professor Kevin Burrage, from UQ’s Advanced Computational Modelling Centre and the ARC Centre in Bioinformatics, will make presentations on the theme Mathematics and Computational Biology.
The Winter School will be the first held in the advanced courses program of the new International Centre of Excellence for Education in Mathematics (ICE-EM), funded by the Federal Government Department of Education, Science and Training.
The Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) in which the University is a leading partner conducts ICE-EM. The School is being presented through collaboration by the UQ Department of Mathematics, the ARC Centre in Bioinformatics and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematics and Statistics of Complex Systems.
Organiser Professor Mark Gould said the biological revolution, including large genome projects and “post-genomic” technologies was posing fascinating new problems for mathematicians and statisticians, working with molecular biologists and geneticists.
“We need to find a way to identify and use the fundamentally important information that lies embedded in the masses of data produced by molecular biology,” Professor Gould said.
“Such work promises to lead to discoveries as spectacular and important as the ones of the 20th century that led to the development of many of the devices we take for granted in modern life.
“These new areas, known as computational biology, rely on the ability of mathematicians to combine their skills with those of other scientists, bringing powerful perspectives to problems that were once thought to be too hard to solve.
Associate Professor Peter Adams, a mathematician from the UQ School of Physical Sciences, said that by combining mathematicians’ skills with those of biologists and information technologists, new research avenues had been opened up.
“Once we understand the general principles at play, we can join forces with biologists and IT researchers to uncover some of the secrets of large and complex systems,” he said.
“Using sophisticated modelling and applying mathematical techniques, we can break problems down into logical parts. And we can suggest different ways of solving a problem that other scientists may not think of.”
The Winter School is aimed at honours and postgraduate students, and will feature a number of workshops. It will be held at UQ’s Queensland Biosciences Precinct in Brisbane. Travel scholarships are available to interested students.
For more information visit http://research2.imb.uq.edu.au/amsi/
Media: For more information contact Associate Professor Peter Adams (telephone 07 3365 3276) or Brad Turner at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2659). null
