lunch&LEARN: Bridging the gap between the math taught in first-year courses and the math used in life sciences research

For more than two decades leading professional organizations have called for a reform of the mathematics education of biology and life sciences students. Reflecting the growing importance of mathematics in life sciences research, such reform should bridge the gap between the mathematics students learn and the mathematics used in research.

In this talk, Steve Bennoun, UCLA, will present how the study of modeling and dynamical systems can be used to create a first-year course that introduces mathematical concepts used in life sciences research in a contextualized way.

Students first learn to write models for important biological systems such as hormone levels, epidemiological models, and predator-prey models.

Taking a geometrical approach, students learn how to determine the long-term behaviors of models by studying phase plane trajectories and the stability of equilibrium points.

This enables the study of the concept of “biological switch” or how a cell can start or stop the production of a protein. This is followed by the important notion of qualitative change in a biological systems, or bifurcation.

Students learn in particular about Hopf bifurcations or how a system can start or stop oscillating. The second part of the course moves somewhat away from the geometrical approach and focuses on how to determine the stability of equilibrium points using the linearization of a model, motivating the study of the necessary notions from linear algebra by studying discrete-time models.

This talk will end with a discussion focusing on research by Sanders et al. (2021) suggesting that such a course supports students success and can reduce equity gaps.

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lunch&LEARN sessions are intended for anyone who teaches at EPFL. 
This session is hybrid and can be attended in person or followed via zoom.
Most sessions are recorded and can be found on the Center LEARN's YouTube channel.
To get in touch with the team, to suggest a session, or to make inquiries, please send an email to [email protected]