Meeting: Working Group
Mathematical Models, Microbes & Evolutionary Diversification
| Date | 17-Jul-2009 ~ 18-Jul-2009 |
| Project | Mathematical models, microbes & evolutionary diversification |
| Summary | As a part of its 125th anniversary, Science published a special issue containing 125 questions facing the scientific community over the coming decades. Motivation for the proposed working group is based on one of these highlighted problems: What determines species diversity? The working group will bring together mathematicians and life scientists to enhance our understanding of this major question in evolutionary biology. Species diversity can be generated by external factors, such as interactions between organisms, or by internal factors, such as variation in metabolic pathways or complexity within the cell. The proposed working group will use an interdisciplinary approach to studying internally- and externally-generated diversity with the goal of understanding some of the mechanisms that underlie diversification. Our working group emerges from a recent international workshop entitled Mathematical Models and Experimental Microbial Systems: Tools for Studying Evolution at the University of Bath, which brought together experts in mathematics, theoretical evolutionary ecology and microbial experimental evolution. A number of exciting problems have been identified by a core group of scientists from the workshop and thus there is great momentum currently in place to establish a set of new models that will lead to a significant progress towards a general understanding of evolutionary diversification. |
