EMS-ESMTB Summer School “Mathematical Biology of Tissue Mechanics”

Monday 25 through Friday 29 July 2016
Lorentz Center@Oort - Leiden

Organizers:
Andreas Deutsch, Roeland Merks and Vitaly Volpert


Scientific Topic:
This summer school will bring together 40 young researchers in the quantitative life sciences and teach them a range of mathematical approaches to analyse and model the biomechanics of tissues and the collective behaviour of cells. The workshop has been organized jointly with the European Mathematical Society (EMS) and the European Society for Mathematical and Theoretical Biology (ESMTB), and fits into a series of annual workshops on mathematical biology organized with the EMS (http://www.esmtb.org/schools).  The workshop is co-funded by the EMS, ESMTB, the Lorentz Center, and NDNS+


Workshop Format:
The school will focus on hands-on group work, with participants focusing on one out of five biological problems. The mornings will start with plenary lectures that will showcase exemplary stories that have combined mathematical modeling and experimental biology, as well as discuss a number of mathematical methods in-depth. The lectures will cover a range of topics, including, but not limited to: vertex-based models, cellular automata models, cellular Potts modeling, partial-differential equations, and hybrid individual-based and continuum approaches. 

Projects:
TEAM A: Spatial effects in the pathogenesis of blood cancers, including leukemia
- Mentors: Vitaly Volpert and Anass Bouchnita, CNRS Lyon, France 
- Mathematical methods: Hybrid, cell-based models based on Lagrangian dynamics

TEAM B: Modelling pigment cell interactions in zebrafish skin patterns
- Mentors: Roeland Merks, CWI and U Leiden, The Netherlands
- Mathematical Methods: modelling of tissues using the cellular Potts model, vertex-based models and using cellular automata.

TEAM C: Modeling of cell-cell signaling in discrete cell lattices with reaction-diffusion systems
- Mentors: Andreas Deutsch and Walter de Back, TU Dresden, Germany
- Mathematical Methods: Cell-cell signaling in discrete cell lattices, reaction-diffusion systems

Team D. Zebrafish epiboly and formation of compartments in 3D tissues: coupling mechanical behavior and gene regulation
- Mentors: Dr. Nadine Peyriéras and Dr. René Doursat, BioEmergences, CNRS USR3695, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Mathematical Methods: Modeling cross-talk between biomechanics and gene regulation

Lorentz Center Facilities:
The venue Lorentz Center@Oort, located at the Faculty of Science campus of Leiden University, the Netherlands. The Lorentz Center provides each participant with office space and wireless internet access.  Lorentz Center also provides various practical services for the participants, such as arranging accommodations at the nearby hotel Van der Valk Hotel Leiden at a special rate (€ 84 including breakfast and taxes), visa assistance and bike rental. For further information, please refer to our website: www.lorentzcenter.nl. 

Costs and Refunds:
Lorentz Center does not charge registration fees. In addition, Lorentz Center hosts a welcome reception and a workshop dinner, both free of charge. Some budget is available for travel refunds and hotel accommodation. Please apply for this upon registration.


Application:
Motivated applications, including a poster abstract, can be submitted until the deadline of April 30th, 2016, via the workshop webpage at: http://www.lorentzcenter.nl/lc/web/2016/803/info.php3?wsid=803&venue=Oort. Decisions will be announced by May 17th, 2016.


For further information, please do not hesitate to contact the coordinator of all practical matters of this Lorentz Center workshop, Ms. Tara Seeger, seeger@lorentzcenter.nl.