National Collaboratories Applying Information Technology for Scientific Research (1993) / Chapter Skim
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D TRAINING COMPUTATIONAL AND MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGISTS
D TRAINING COMPUTATIONAL AND MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGISTS
Pages 97-106
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From page 97... ...
The pattern of distribution of these individuals among and within different institutions appears to be related to their academic training. For example, mathematicians and computer scientists who have primarily followed an interest in the biological sciences generally work as biologists and find themselves in nonacademic research positions in industry, government or private research institutes, or quasi-academic research centers (e.g., supercomputer centers)
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From page 98... ...
Academicians tend to reside within traditional departmental units, whereas in industrial settings and research institutes, there is a wider range in the mixtures of disciplines in working groups. The following lists of specialties within computer science, mathematics, and biology are those in which there is substantial research activity today and where there is likely to remain some research focus in the future.
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From page 99... ...
Biologists Biologists working on computational problems come from a plethora of backgrounds: computer science, mathematics, statistics, engineering, physics, and chemistry as well as biological disciplines. The biological sciences are themselves diverse, and different areas of biology draw upon very different quantitative skills.
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From page 100... ...
Computer science is a new discipline that is rapidly maturing. As the field develops, a tradition of interdisciplinary work will evolve much as it has for mathematics, especially statistics.
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From page 101... ...
Given the many opportunities available to an undergraduate with computer science or mathematical training, it is essential that graduate student support be provided to entice these students to forego the immediate gratification of lucrative employment for the longer-term prospects of graduate training and research careers in biology. To this end the continued and renewed support of training grants or traineeships (for example, in the research groups described above)
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From page 102... ...
Undergraduate In most institutions it is very common for the top biology students, especially those interested in eventual graduate study, to participate in undergraduate research projects, especially in their junior and senior years. This opportunity should not be confined to biology students, but should be expanded wherever possible to include interested students from mathematics and computer sciences whenever possible.
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From page 103... ...
Biological Sciences In order to produce biological scientists who will be qualified to do modern research, we strongly recommend that the science curricula require four years of mathematics and/or computer science. Representative courses might include programming, theory of algorithms, probability and statistics, linear algebra, calculus, discrete mathematics, and numerical analysis.
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From page 104... ...
For a course on computation in genetics, this material might include basic computer science concepts, e.g., files, databases, algorithms and their use, graphics, and statistics. The benefits of such a course could also be made available to more senior investigators.
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From page 105... ...
Some disciplines within the biological sciences do have equivalent or even over-balanced representation by women. Increasing the level of course work in mathematics and computer science may be threatening to some of these women.
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