---------------------------------------------------- Subject: SMB Digest v09i10 SMB Digest March 9, 2009 Volume 09 Issue 10 ISSN 1086-6566 Editor: Ray Mejía ray(at)smb(dot)org Note: Information about the Society for Mathematical Biology, including an application for membership, may be found in the SMB Home Page, http://www.smb.org/ . Access the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, the official journal of SMB, at http://www.springer.com/11538 . Inquiries about membership or BMB fulfillment should be sent to membership(at)smb(dot)org . Issue's Topics: Midwest Conference on Mathematical Methods for Images and Surfaces Pacific Northwest Conference: Comprehensive Mathematical Modeling Faculty Workshops: NIMBioS, University of Tennessee Knoxville Special Session: Chaotic Dynamics, Control & Applications ... International Conference: CHAOS2009, Conference Poster & Information ECCOMAS Thematic Conference: VipIMAGE 2009, deadline approaching Nonlinearity's Open Problems Articles - free to read NIH Challenge Grants New PhD Program: Systems Modeling & Analysis, Virginia Commonwealth PhD Position: Event-history-analysis in Quantitative Genetics PhD Studentships: Bioinformatics & Computational Biomedicine Postdoc: Quantitative Biology, Georgia Tech Postdoctoral Researcher: ZBSA, University of Freiburg SMBnet Reminders ---------------------------------------------------- From: Duan Chen Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 11:16:30 -0500 Subject: Midwest Conference on Mathematical Methods for Images and Surfaces ANNOUNCEMENT April 18-19, 2009 Midwest Conference on Mathematical Methods for Images and Surfaces http://www.math.msu.edu/MCMM REGISTRATION COSTS: $100 for faculty, $30 for graduate students and postdocs. (Registration includes meals on Saturday and Sunday, and admission to lectures and posters). LOCAL SUPPORT APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 15, 2009. Limited local support grants are available for graduate students, postdocs and junior faculty members. Each grant offers registration fee reimbursement and shared hotel accommodation. (No travel grants available now.) APPLICATION CONTACT: Duan Chen chenduan@math.msu.edu POSTERS ARE WELCOME. ---------------------------------------------------- From: "Wollkind, David J" Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 16:27:58 -0800 Subject: Pacific Northwest Conference: Comprehensive Mathematical Modeling Pacific Northwest Conference on Comprehensive Mathematical Modeling in the Natural and Engineering Sciences Organized in the Spirit of L. A. Segel June 3-6, 2009 Washington State University Invited speakers: Rebecca Bendick, University of Montana; Brian Dennis, University of Idaho; Lisa Fauci, Tulane University; Eric Ferm, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory; Alexander Golovin, Northwestern University; Louis Gross, University of Tennessee; Richard Jacob, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Leonid Kalachev, University of Montana; Leah Keshet & Rachel Kuske, University of British Columbia; Jodi Mead, Boise State University; Charlotte Omoto, Washington State University; Robert Van Kirk, Humboldt State University; Joan Wu, Washington State University; and Mei Zhu, Pacific Lutheran University. Description: This interdisciplinary conference will provide a focal point for the interaction of participants from various backgrounds interested in experimentally-driven theoretical modeling of natural and engineering scientific phenomena in the spirit of the late applied mathematician Lee A. Segel. In addition to the 15 invited speakers there will be sessions for contributed papers. Young scientists (junior faculty members, post-doctoral fellows, recent Ph.D. recipients, and graduate students) are especially encouraged to attend this NSF-funded conference and stipends are available to cover their travel and board expenses. Further information: Potential participants in this conference should apply by sending an e-mail that includes a title and abstract of their prospective contributed paper to either of the conference organizers David J. Wollkind (dwollkind@wsu.edu) or Robert H. Dillon (dillon@math.wsu.edu). The deadline for application is May 1, 2009. Conference participants will be housed in the WSU White Hall Honors Complex where all the talks will also be given. ---------------------------------------------------- From: "Duncan, Sarah Isabelle (Sarah Duncan)" Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 10:18:53 -0400 Subject: Faculty Workshops: NIMBioS, University of Tennessee Knoxville NIMBioS is co-sponsoring, along with HHMI and BioQuest, a faculty workshop called NUMB3RS COUNT! This workshop addresses the gap between mathematics and its application in biological problem solving. Please join us as we work in small groups to explore mathematical modeling and visualization with data on May 29-31, 2009. Application Deadline: April 13, 2009 http://www.bioquest.org/NumbersCount/utk_2009/ NIMBioS, SCALE-IT, and BioQuest are co-sponsoring an Undergraduate Biology Curriculum Workshop for faculty called Integrating Bioinformatics and Molecular Visualization into the Undergraduate Biology Curriculum. This workshop will focus on strategies for including these approaches in the development of interdisciplinary modules for undergraduate teaching. Participants can explore the use of sequence data, investigate resources for molecular visualization, and protein structural analysis. The emphasis will be on creating teaching units that apply biological problem solving strategies to real problems in medicine, epidemiology, forensics, agriculture, and conservation. Come join us June 22-26, 2009. Application deadline: March 15, 2009 http://bioquest.org/scaleit/ ---------------------------------------------------- From: ""Miguel A. F. Sanjuán\"" Date: Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:10:59 +0100 Subject: Special Session: Chaotic Dynamics, Control & Applications ... Dear Colleagues; It is my pleasure to invite you to participate in the Special Session: "Chaotic Dynamics, Control and Applications in Complex Systems", which I am organizing at the ICCSA 2009, The 3rd International Conference on Complex Systems and Applications, University of Le Havre, Le Havre, Normandy, France, June 29 - July 02, 2009 (http://litis.univ-lehavre.fr/~bertelle/iccsa2009/iccsa2009.html), where you can find further information. Further information on the special session: Abstract: The main goal of this special session is to join together physicists, mathematicians and other scientists interested in new developments of chaotic dynamics in its broader sense, the different available methods of controlling chaos and their applications in complex systems arising in many fields of engineering and sciences, and in particular to life sciences such as the analysis of the dynamics of neurons and genetic regulation networks. The topics included, but not limited to, in this session are: * New developments of chaotic dynamics * Novel methods of controlling chaotic and complex dynamics * Hamiltonian and dissipative chaotic systems * Fractal structures in phase space * Chaotic dynamics of neuronal and genetic models * Control and synchronization in neuronal and genetic networks If you are interested to participate in this special session on "Chaotic Dynamics, Control and Applications in Complex Systems", you should contact me and send me a one page abstract by April 27, 2009, besides formal registration at the home page of the conference (http://litis.univ-lehavre.fr/~bertelle/iccsa2009/iccsa2009.html). Please distribute among colleagues you might estimate they could be interested in this meeting. DEADLINE OF ABSTRACTS: APRIL 27, 2009. ---------------------------------------------------- From: Secretariat CHAOS2009 Conference Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 13:58:48 +0200 Subject: International Conference: CHAOS2009, Conference Poster & Information 2nd Chaotic Modeling and Simulation International Conference (CHAOS2009) Conference Poster and Information Please find below information regarding the forthcoming Chaotic Modeling and Simulation International Conference (CHAOS2009, June 1-5, 2009, Chania, Crete, Greece). Sincerely CHAOS2009 Secretariat secretariat@chaos2009.net www.chaos2009.net ---------------------------------------------------- From: "João Manuel R. S. Tavares" Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 19:38:30 -0000 Subject: ECCOMAS Thematic Conference: VipIMAGE 2009, deadline approaching International ECCOMAS Thematic Conference VipIMAGE 2009 - II ECCOMAS THEMATIC CONFERENCE ON COMPUTATIONAL VISION AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING 14-16th October 2009, FEUP, Porto, Portugal www.fe.up.pt/~vipimage DEADLINE APPROACHING Important dates - Submission of extended abstracts: March 15, 2009 - Lectures and Final Papers: June 15, 2009 We are looking forward to see you in Porto next October. ---------------------------------------------------- From: Lara Finan Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 16:40:32 +0000 Subject: Nonlinearity's Open Problems Articles - free to read To celebrate Nonlinearity's 20th anniversary, a series of Open Problems articles was published in issues throughout 2008. These short, commissioned articles present personal selections of interesting and/or important problems and challenges, large and small, from leaders in the field. We took great pleasure in inviting these articles and our hope is that they will contribute to setting the agenda for future research. You can read these articles for free online until the end of 2009 at http://herald.iop.org/NONOPcom/m36/avh/link/2390 Additionally, you can buy your personal copy of the Reprint Collection containing all 30 Open Problems for just GBP £15/USD $28.50 per copy (including postage and packaging) via the online order form. Go to http://herald.iop.org/NONOPorder/m36/avh/link/2391 I hope you enjoy reading these articles as much as we have. ---------------------------------------------------- From: "Murcia, Ellie (NIH/OD) [E]" Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 10:39:52 -0500 Resent-From: Raymond Mejia Subject: NIH Challenge Grants Office of Strategic Coordination Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health New Information: NIH Challenge Grants http://dpcpsi.nih.gov/osc/challengegrants/ NIH has received new funds for Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010 as part of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), Pub. L. No. 111-5. The NIH has designated at least $200 million in FYs 2009 - 2010 for a new initiative called the NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research . This new program will support research on topic areas that address specific scientific and health research challenges in biomedical and behavioral research that would benefit from significant 2-year jumpstart funds. The Office of Strategic Coordination (OSC) within the Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives has posted on its HomePage Specific Challenge Topics for the NIH Common Fund. Many of these topics are relevant to ongoing programs within the NIH Roadmap. The Challenge Topics were developed by the OSC in conjunction with the NIH Institutes/Centers (ICs) participating in each topic. Be sure to review this information for the complete list of topics and participating Institutes/Centers for the Common Fund programs. See the above provided URL. For questions about Specific Challenge Topics, see the NIH IC contact person for each topic posted on the OSC HomePage. For general information on OSC's implementation of NIH Challenge Grants, contact: Brenda K. Weis, Ph.D. Program Operations Lead Office of Strategic Coordination (OSC) Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) National Institutes of Health 301-435-5840 weis@od.nih.gov A complete listing of Challenge Topics for all participating NIH ICs can be accessed at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/challenge_award/Omnibus.pdf. The application due date is April 27, 2009. ---------------------------------------------------- From: Rebecca Segal Date: Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:51:43 -0500 Subject: New PhD Program: Systems Modeling & Analysis, Virginia Commonwealth A new Ph.D program at Virginia Commonwealth University has just been approved in the area of Systems Modeling and Analysis. This is an interdisciplinary program combining elements of Statistics, Operations Research and Mathematical Biology. The program is currently accepting applications. Please see the website for additional details. http://www.sysm.vcu.edu/ Student support is available. Questions should be directed to Dr. Jason Merrick through email: jrmerric@vcu.edu ---------------------------------------------------- From: Rodrigo S. Labouriau Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 04:02:11 +0100 Subject: PhD Position: Event-history-analysis in Quantitative Genetics PhD position in event-history-analysis applied in quantitative genetics at the Aarhus University A PhD studentship is available for the project "event-history-analysis applied in quantitative genetics" at the research group for Bioinformatics, Genetics and Statistics at the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, Aarhus University, Denmark. The project aims to develop mathematical and statistical methods for modelling incompletely observed traits (censored or truncated) and events of low frequency in large-scale quantitative genetic studies. The general idea is to explore the close mathematical connection between modern methods of event-history-analysis and nested case-control techniques to develop a range of statistical tools relevant to applications in quantitative genetics. Further details at http://gbi.agrsci.dk/~rsl/PhDEventHistoryQGenetics or write to Rodrigo (dot) Labouriau (at) agrsci (dot) dk . The deadline for applications is April 15th (noon). ---------------------------------------------------- From: BRonagh Carey Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:48:25 +0000 Subject: PhD Studentships: Bioinformatics & Computational Biomedicine Are you interested in interdisciplinary research in mathematics, computing and biology? New high-throughput technologies in biology have opened up exciting opportunities for numerate scientists to work in advanced areas of biological research. Our programme takes students from a variety of backgrounds (statistics, engineering, mathematics, computer science, biology, chemistry, physics) and gives them a structured training during their PhD, tailored to their needs. Each project is jointly run by two supervisors, one with a background in modelling or computational analysis and one with an experimental research programme. The student is integrated into the research teams of both research groups. Applications are invited from EU students for 4-year PhD positions under the graduate education programme (GREP) of the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET). Most studentships commence Oct 2009. Projects currently available: * Infection: Comparative genomics of pathogenic yeast * Networks:  Biological patterns in networks of protein and gene interactions * Signalling: Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Cell Signalling * Cancer: Alternative Transcript Expression in Malignant Melanoma * Infection: Functional genomics of mycobacteria-macrophage interactions in cattle * Plant Systems Biology: The cis-regulatory code underlying plant development * Health and disease: The Transcriptomic Phenotype of Human Adipose Tissue * Statistics:  Epigenetic/transcriptional integration from next generation sequencing * Statistics: detecting alternate splice variants using next generation sequencing * Modelling evolution: Modelling the evolution of protein interactions and motifs * Thrombosis/signaling: Discovery of oligopeptides modulating platelet signalling * Virology/signaling: Short linear protein motifs in HIV signalling in host cells * Computational chemistry:  Structurally constrained peptides as peptide mimetics * Subcellular location: Determinants of protein localization in mammalian cells * Systems Biology: Spatiotemporal code of signal specificity and pathway crosstalk * Systems Biology: Design principles of regulatory and metabolic networks Application procedure and further details: http://bioinformatics.ucd.ie/PhD 10 of these studentships are funded by IRCSET. They fund student stipend (euro 16,000), fees, some lab consumables (up to 5,000 per year), and travel budget to allow the student to get work experience abroad and industrial work experience in a company in Ireland or abroad. 4 studentships are funded by SFI (Science Foundation Ireland). Contact Details: (bioinfo@ucd.ie) Closing date: 30th March 2009 ---------------------------------------------------- From: Joshua S. Weitz Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 11:34:36 -0500 (EST) Subject: Postdoc: Quantitative Biology, Georgia Tech Quantitative Biology Postdoc @ Georgia Tech A postdoctoral position in quantitative biology is available under the direction of Prof. Joshua Weitz (Biology, Georgia Tech). The postdoc will join an interdisciplinary research group of biologists, physicists, and computational scientists. The postdoc will collaborate on research focusing on viral dynamics and evolution, at the molecular and ecological scales, as well as have the opportunity to develop new projects at the interface of integrative biology, bioinformatics & dynamical systems. The position, starting in August 2009, provides competitive salaries and benefits and will be based in the School of Biology. The initial appointment is for one year, with renewal up to three years subject to satisfactory progress and mutual agreement. The start date is flexible. REQUIREMENTS: (1) PhD in computational biology, physics, mathematics, microbiology, ecology or related area; (2) Demonstrated research excellence; (3) Strong quantitative skills; (4) Strong oral and written communication skills. Ideal candidates from the biological sciences should have experience with scientific programming. Ideal candidates from the physical/mathematical sciences should have prior exposure to research in the biological sciences. However, outstanding applicants looking to broaden their field of interest will also be considered. TO APPLY: Applications should be emailed to and consist of (1) a cover letter describing your interest in the position, (2) the names and contact information for three references, (3) a curriculum vita (including publications). Applications will be reviewed starting from March 15, 2009, and continue until the position is filled. ABOUT THE GROUP: The Weitz group is supported by grants from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the James F. McDonnell Foundation, DARPA, and the National Science Foundation. For more information, consult the Weitz group website: http://ecotheory.biology.gatech.edu or contact Joshua Weitz: jsweitz (at) gatech.edu. ---------------------------------------------------- From: Christian Fleck Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 14:43:08 +0100 Subject: Postdoctoral Researcher: ZBSA, University of Freiburg Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Biological Systems Analysis (ZBSA), University of Freiburg, Germany Trichome patterning in Arabidopsis Thaliana Trichomes are shoot epidermal hairs found in most plants. The functions ascribed to trichomes range from protecting the plant against insect herbivores to reducing transpiration. They are regularly distributed over the epidermis. This makes them an ideal candidate for the study of spatial control of specific cell types in plants, since these structures arise by an orchestrated interplay of many different components. In this joint project together with an experimental group in Cologne we try to understand the initiation of the trichome pattern using detailed information about the molecular interactions. To this end we mainly employ non-linear partial differential equations or, in a discrete formulation, systems of coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations. Due to the complexity of the equations one has in most cases to revert to numerical methods. In this collaboration we have a very intense interaction between theory and experiment. We are looking for someone who wishes to work theoretically but in close collaboration with biologists. Profile Candidates ideally fulfill the following criteria: - Ph.D. in theoretical biology, mathematics, physics or a related discipline - Experiences in systems biology and joint projects with experimental groups Direct requests for information or applications: Dr. Christian Fleck Center for Biological Systems Analysis University of Freiburg Habsburgerstrasse 49 79104 Freiburg, Germany Tel: ++49-(0)761-203-97198 Email: Christian.Fleck@fdm.uni-freiburg.de Web. http://www.fdm.uni-freiburg.de/~cfleck/ Applications should include a motivation letter, a curriculum vitae, list of publications, and the names and addresses of two persons that can be approached to obtain further information. ---------------------------------------------------- Subject: SMBnet Reminders To subscribe to the SMB Digest please point your browser at http://list.auckland.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/math-smbnet and complete the subscription information. Alternatively, if you prefer to simply receive notice when the next issue is available, send mail to LISTSERV@listserv.biu.ac.il with "subscribe SMBnet Your Name" in the body of the mail (omit the quotes and include your name). After you subscribe, you will receive a greeting with additional information. Submissions to appear in the SMB Digest may be sent to SMBnet(at)smb(dot)org . Items of interest to the mathematical biology community may be submitted for inclusion in the SMBnet archive. See instructions at: http://smb.org/publications/SMBnet/pubs/fyi . The SMB Digest is also available on the SMB Home Page at http://smb.org/publications/SMBnet/digest/ The contents of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part with attribution. End of SMB Digest **************************************************** ----------------------------------------------------