2nd International Summer School on Biocomplexity, July 14-21, 2002, in Hanover, New Hampshire

Dartmouth College, Hanover NH

Investigators

Abstract

The biological sciences have become more quantitative and information-driven since the emergence of computational and mathematical tools have facilitated collection and analysis of vast amounts of biological data. Complexity analysis of biological systems provides knowledge for the organization, management and mining of biological data by using advanced computational tools. The biological data are inherently complex and non-uniform and collected at multiple temporal and spatial scales. The investigations of complex biological systems and processes require an extensive collaboration between biologists, mathematicians, computer scientists and engineers to improve our understanding of biological processes from genes to systems. The objectives of this summer school are to expose undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral biological science and bioengineering students to relatively new mathematical and computational approaches and challenges in integrative biology; knowledge discovery from biological data mining; new directions in computational biology, bioinformatics and molecular engineering research; and to facilitate rapid diffusion of these mathematical and computational tools in the biological sciences. These methods will be helpful, also, to both students and post-doctoral fellows in computer science and mathematics who are interested in pursuing research in biology and bioengineering, since the summer school provides exceptional insights into fundamental challenges in biology. The summer school uses lectures, oriented toward biological science students, by expert faculty, and will focus on biological data mining and knowledge discovery that can be used to understand highly interconnected and complex biological systems. In addition to these lectures, the summer school will employ 3 two-hour panel discussions, with active participation of undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral fellows, focused on future developments in computational biology, bioinformatics and molecular engineering and science. In addition, students will present the results of their projects in a culminating poster session, which will facilitate discussion of both the biology and computational approaches. The summer school will stimulate further interdisciplinary research and collaborations among engineers, mathematicians, computer scientists, and medical researchers, and will help in identifying new, challenging directions in complex biological science and bioengineering research.