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Mathematical Modeling of Biological Systems, Volume II pp 369–377Cite as

Teaching Mathematical Biology in a Summer School for Undergraduates

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Part of the Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology book series (MSSET)

Summary

For the past four years, the University of Alberta has hosted a summer school on mathematical biology, aimed at undergraduate students who have completed 2–3 years of study in mathematics or a similar quantitative science. The aim of this summer school is to introduce the students to mathematical modelling and analysis applied to real biological systems. In the span of 10 days, students attend lectures and exercise sessions, learn how to set up mathematical models, and use analytical and computational tools to relate them to biological data. They experience the modelling process by working on a research project. In this chapter, we explain our teaching philosophy, share some unique features of our summer school, and exemplify key course components

Keywords

  • Education
  • undergraduate
  • modelling

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References

  1. Barlow, N.D., Moller, H., Beggs, J.R.: A model for the effect of Sphecophaga vesparum as a biological control agent of the common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) in New Zealand. Journal of Applied Ecology, 33, 31–34 (1996).

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  2. de Vries, G., Hillen, T., Lewis, M., Müller, J., Schönfisch, B.: A Course in Mathematical Biology: Quantitative Modelling with Mathematical and Computational Methods. SIAM, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Philadelphia, PA (2006).

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  3. Centre for Mathematical Biology (University of Alberta). http://www.math.ualberta.ca/∼ mathbio/summerworkshop/.

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  4. World Health Organization. www.who.int.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2G1, Canada

    Gerda de Vries & Thomas Hillen

Authors
  1. Gerda de Vries
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  2. Thomas Hillen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Information Services and High Performance Computing, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany

    Andreas Deutsch

  2. Departamento de Matemáticas, Universidad de Alcalá, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain

    Rafael Bravo de la Parra

  3. Department of Theoretical Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CD Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Rob J. de Boer

  4. Mathematisch Instituut, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 6, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Odo Diekmann

  5. Mathematical Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg University, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden

    Peter Jagers

  6. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Helsinki, Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2b, 00014 Helsinki, Finland

    Eva Kisdi

  7. Fakultät für Gesundheitswissenschaften, Universität Bielefeld, Universitätsstr. 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany

    Mirjam Kretzschmar

  8. Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Videnska 1083, 142 20 Prague 4, Czech Republic

    Petr Lansky

  9. Section Theoretical Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Evolutionary and Ecological Sciences, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden, Kaiserstraat 63, 2311 GP Leiden, The Netherlands

    Hans Metz

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© 2008 Birkhäuser Boston

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Vries, G.d., Hillen, T. (2008). Teaching Mathematical Biology in a Summer School for Undergraduates. In: , et al. Mathematical Modeling of Biological Systems, Volume II. Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology. Birkhäuser Boston. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-8176-4556-4_32

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