Modelling, estimation and control of biotechnological systems

Mathematical modelling and subsequent mathematical analysis has for decades been the common and firm ground for fruitful cooperation between the various technical sciences, the major breakthroughs in one field often being the impetus of research in the other. Being a relatively new field, biotechnology and systems biology has not yet had the need for very advanced mathematical modelling and analysis, but the rapid development of production techniques as well as more refined experimental methods calls for more elaborate mathematics than typically comprised in the biotechnological environments themselves. From a strict mathematical point of view, the areas of biotechnology and systems biology are, to a large extent, using mathematical modelling and estimation based on both "imprecise definitions and inadequate methods". This is only a natural consequence of the fact that the fields have been driven so far by scientists with a background in chemistry and biology, but now the need for more advanced mathematical modelling and theory has become evident. This is in particular the case when the description of the systems in question is changed from a purely biological level to a description of the overall system dynamics and quantitative considerations. This also calls for the development of entirely new mathematical tools, leaving the hope that biotechnology and mathematics can develop the same synergy in the future that physics and mathematics has done for decades.

The goal of this project is to have barrier-breaking workshops and knowledge-exchanging activities with the biotechnological and biological environments both nationally and internationally, attract master- and Ph.D.-students to this interdisciplinary field and in this way establish a common ground for future research.