University of Notre Dame
Simulation of Biocomplexity
Biology Topics Seminar: Computer Simulation of Biological Systems
Fall Semester 2009


This course is cross-listed in the College of Science Biology Department (BIOS60579) and the College of Engineering Computer Science Department (CSE40539/CSE60539). The course will cover computer-modeling techniques for simulating the behavior of biological and public health systems. The primary approach will be the individual-based modeling method (sometimes called the agent-based approach). Special focus will be given to modeling various biological systems: for example, the epidemiology of malaria, population ecology, evolutionary dynamics, microbial ecology, genetic regulatory networks, animal behavior, developmental biology, etc. Topics include methods for modeling and simulation, statistical distributions, random variate generation, animation, visualization, design of simulation experiments, verification and validation of simulations, and analysis of results. Biological Sciences students will work on collaborative projects with computer science majors. Students will be expected to learn about 1) simulation and modeling, 2) to help define biological problems for modeling and simulation, and 3) to help with verification, validation and interpretation of results. (Computer programming on course projects will be done by the computer science students.) A major objective of the course will be to compare the performance of specific biological models when simulated through individual-based versus classical approaches.

Instructors: Frank Collins (Biological Sciences) and Greg Madey (Computer Science & Engineering),
gmadey@nd.edu