Modeling Living Systems: Applications

This introductory course will build on the mathematical tools covered throughout the bachelor’s program—and particularly in the “Modeling Living Systems: Theory” course (a fourth-semester elective)—to provide an overview of the various approaches and techniques used in modeling living systems. All major families of mathematical models will be covered: static models (optimization problems, game theory) as well as dynamic models (extensions of the systems studied in S4, introduction to stochastic processes). Examples of applications for these models will be diverse, covering numerous biological systems as well as different levels of organization (metabolic, epidemiological, and metacommunity models, among others). Particular attention will be given to epistemological aspects (the contributions of modeling to the development of theories in the life sciences) and practical aspects (identifiability, calibration, and parametric sensitivity on the one hand, and numerical implementation and simulations on the other). Finally, the course will provide students with an opportunity to become familiar with research topics involving modeling that are being developed in the Montpellier area.

Modeling Living Systems: Theory (S4)

- Apply concepts and tools from mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computer science to address problems in the life sciences.
- Validate a model by comparing its predictions with experimental results and assess the limits of its validity.
- Analyze fundamental mechanisms at the microscopic scale, model macroscopic phenomena, and relate a macroscopic phenomenon to microscopic processes.