Mathematical Modeling in Biology and Life Sciences - Peking University

As modern life science research becomes ever more quantitative, the need for mathematical modeling becomes ever more important. A deeper and mechanistic understanding of complicated biological processes can only come from the understanding of complex interactions at many different scales, for instance, the molecular, the cellular, individual organisms and population levels. In this course, through case studies, we will examine some simplified and idealized mathematical models and their underlying mathematical framework so that we learn how to construct simplified representations of complex biological processes and phenomena. We will learn how to analyze these models both qualitatively and quantitatively and interpret the results in a biological fashion by providing predictions and hypotheses that experimentalists may verify.