The workshop, "Partial Differential Equation Models of Biological Processes", is being held at the National Center for Theoretical Sciences at Taiwan, December 13-17, 2010. The focus of the workshop is on modeling and analysis of partial differential equation models from Cell Biology, Physiology and Population Dynamics. The last ten years witnessed tremendous growth in the area of mathematical biology, and emerging questions from biology and medicine have brought new and exciting mathematical questions. Cell Biology, Physiology and Population Dynamics are three of the areas where partial differential equation modeling and analysis can play a crucial role. A major goal of the workshop is to facilitate the initiation of collaborative research projects between mathematical biologists and traditional hard-core analysts in partial differential equations as these two groups typically attend specialized conferences.
By hosting this workshop, communication will be encouraged and facilitated between researchers not only in different mathematical fields, but also across international borders. The workshop provides an opportunity for developing new contacts and for expanding the range of existing collaborations between mathematicians and biologists based in the United States and Asia. Additionally, the grant brings a group of young mathematical researchers from U.S. institutions, providing a venue for graduate students to speak about their own research, as well as to participate in the workshop activities. Introducing young researchers to a broader international community is very important, both to expose them to new research opportunities and to facilitate the scientific interactions between the younger generation of U.S. mathematicians and their international peers and international senior researchers.
This grant supported 13 researchers from US Institutions to participate the ``Workshop on PDE Models of Biological Process", which was held from Dec. 13 to Dec. 17, 2010 at the National Tsing-Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan. The Workshop focused on two areas where PDE modeling and analysis play important roles: Cell Biology and Physiology, Population Dynamics. Understanding how cells work is fundamental to all biological sciences, and a fundamental problem in population dynamics is to explain the enormous diversity of species. This workshop focueses on the mathematical modeling and analysis of PDE models from these areas. There are over 60 participants who attended the full scientific program. The participants came from 9 countries and regions, including Austria, Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and United States. There are 11 plenary speakers, 10 invited speakers, and 16 contributed speakers. Among the participants supported by the grant, 11 are graduate students or junior researchers, 3 female participants, 2 Hispanic participants and 1 African American participant. The grant in particualr provided an excellent opportunity for the junior researchers from USA to interact with internationally renowed scholars and to meet with peers from other countries. A special issue of 11 articles, with contributors from the workshop, has been published as Volume 17, Number 8, ``Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems, Series B", 2012.
