9629868 Kollman Characterization of biological systems has reached an unparalleled level of detail. To organize this detail and arrive at a better fundamental understanding of life processes, it is imperative that powerful conceptual tools from mathematics and the physical sciences be applied to the frontier problems in biology. Modeling of biological systems is evolving into an important partner of experimental work. All facets of biology, environmental, organismic, cellular and molecular biology are becoming more accessible to chemical, physical and mathematical approaches. This area of opportunity was highlighted in the report of a conference supported by the National Science Foundation held in 1990 entitled "Mathematics and Biology, the Interface, Challenges and Opportunities." (MBICO) This grant will support a workshop that will build on the findings of MBICO in order to critically evaluate its findings and to suggest which areas in these critical interdisciplinary areas should be the focus of further research. This workshop will bring together approximately thirty scientists, with expertise ranging from the molecular to the cellular to the organism to the population biology level, all of whom have an interest in applications of mathematical/computational approaches to biological systems. The goal of the workshop is to identify the important research areas where theoretical/computational studies can be of most use in giving insight and in aiding related experimental work. ***
