Instructional School on Mathematical & Computational Biology (ISMCB-1)

The first Instructional School on Mathematical & Computational Biology (ISMCB-1) was organized by the Mohali node of the SERB supported National Network of Mathematical & Computational Biology (NNMCB) from May 15 to 29, 2014 at IISER Mohali, Punjab. The coordinator of the school was Prof. Somdatta Sinha.

This school aimed to provide the basic framework required to understand and work in the highly interdisciplinary field of Mathematical and Computational Biology. Thirty-two undergraduate and graduate students, and three college teacher participants were chosen who came from Physics, Mathematics, Biology, and Engineering disciplines. Speakers were chosen from both academia and industry.Unlike focused courses on specific methods or biological area, the format of the school aimed to enable students to get a wide overview, along with some in-depth knowledge, of few common methods.

After a few preliminary classes on Biology and Linear Algebra, to help people from different backgrounds come to a common level, there were few general overview talks on Bioinformatics and biological data. Four short courses on methods and applications of Differential Equations, Graphs Theory. Stochastic Processes, and Time Series Analysis were conducted with classroom lectures and hands-on computational labs. During the last four days there were long talks,starting from basics to an advanced level, on Neurobiology, Structural Biology, Molecular machines, Mathematical modelling of electrical activity, Machine Learning Methods, and Modeling in Pharmaceutical Research.