EMSW21-RTG: Enhanced Training and Recruitment in Mathematical Biology

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

This Research and Training Grant will use the mathematical biology program of the Mathematics Department at Duke University to enhance the recruitment of American nationals into the mathematical sciences. The goals are to attract more excellent undergraduates into mathematical biology, to provide excellent and expanded training of mathematical biologists at the graduate level, and to increase the diversity of research experiences of young post-Ph.D. mathematical biologists. The undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will be integrated into one or more of the six vertically integrated interdisciplinary research groups in the Mathematics Department: (1) Kidney physiology (Harold and Anita Layton); (2) Electrophysiology of the heart (David Schaeffer); (3) Systems biology and genomics (John Harer); (4) Image segmentation and dorsal closure (Stephanos Venakides); (5) Mathematical models of cell metabolism (Michael Reed); (6) Data driven inference and biological structure (Jonathan Mattingly). The faculty members in the six research groups have very good track records in successful mentoring of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral research projects, as well as recruiting and training women and other under-represented groups. The success of these mentoring and recruitment activities is an important priority for these faculty members and is the central goal of this Research Training Grant. To achieve the goals of the program, the undergraduates will conduct research in the summers mentored by program faculty, more graduate students will be recruited and trained in new graduate courses, and postdoctoral fellows will conduct research with program faculty. In addition, each year there will be a summer workshop that targets students at small colleges in the Southeast who may have little knowledge about graduate degrees and few opportunities to study mathematical biology. A particular goal of the program is to recruit women and other under-represented groups into the mathematical sciences. Because of the many faculty members conducting research in mathematical biology, and the proximity of the Duke Medical Center and the Duke School of the Environment, the Mathematics Department at Duke is an excellent location to study mathematical biology and to achieve the goal of attracting American nationals into the mathematical sciences.