DIMACS Reconnect '06 Conference:
Reconnecting Teaching Faculty to the Mathematical Sciences Research Enterprise
In Summer 2006, DIMACS will hold one Satellite "Reconnect Conference":
Satellite Program: Morgan State University
Topic: Simple and Complex Discrete-time Population Models in Ecology and Epidemiology
Principal Speaker: Abdul-Aziz Yakubu, Howard University (ayakubu@Howard.edu)
Dates: July 9 - July 15, 2006 (Sunday evening through Saturday afternoon)
About the Topic:
The study of population dynamics raises questions involving the four basic demographic processes: immigration, emigration, birth and death. The inclusion of population structure, spatial heterogeneity or mating systems, is dictated by the specifics of each question being asked. Mathematical models are a useful tool and a model's details and level of complexity depend on the nature of the questions being asked. The overall abstract structure of a mathematical model can be simple, but the consequences for the population dynamics can be rich and have captured the imagination of many generations of scientists and mathematicians.
In some biological populations, such as most animal and plant species, population growth is a discrete-process, and discrete-time models are more appropriate in studying their population dynamics. However, simple discrete-time population models are capable of generating complex dynamics
such as period-doubling bifurcations enroute to chaos, multiple attractors with fractal basin boundaries, strange or chaotic attractors, and so on.
This workshop will use population models in ecology and epidemiology to motivate discrete-dynamical system concepts. The following topics will be covered during the workshop.
About the Reconnect Conference:
This conference exposes faculty teaching undergraduates to the mathematical sciences research enterprise by introducing them to a current research topic relevant to the classroom through a series of lectures by a leading expert and involving them in writing materials useful in the classroom. Participants have the possibility of following up by preparing these materials for publication in the DIMACS Educational Modules Series.
This workshop offers the opportunity for junior faculty as well as mid-level and senior faculty to advance to research questions in a new area of the mathematical sciences. Participants will also acquire materials and gain ideas for seminar presentations and for undergraduate research
projects.
This conference is also aimed at reconnecting faculty to the mathematical sciences enterprise by involving them in a leading research center, which is a consortium of Princeton University, Rutgers University, AT&T Labs, Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies, NEC Research and Telcordia Technologies. There will be opportunities to follow up after the conference by getting connected to DIMACS researchers and other DIMACS programs throughout the year.
About the Principal Speaker:
The principal speaker is Abdul-Aziz Yakubu. Yakubu is a Professor of Mathematics at Howard University and his scientific interests range through of nonlinear systems that arise in the diverse fields of ecology, population dynamics, epidemiology and demography. He is interested in a wide variety of equations that define dynamical systems, including difference equations, recursive formulas, matrix equations, ordinary and partial differential equations, and delay equations. His work focuses on asymptotic dynamics, i.e., stability analysis, bifurcation analysis, oscillations, periodic solutions (forced or unforced), aperiodic dynamics, and chaos.
He has been an instructor and principal lecturer in a number of similar programs, including DIMACS reconnect summer workshops in 2002 and 2004, the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute at Cornell and at Los Alamos National Laboratory 1999-2003. Yakubu has received several awards for
teaching excellence.
Conference Organizers:
Asamoah Nkwanta, Morgan State University, (nkwanta@jewel.morgan.edu)
Fred S. Roberts, Rutgers University (froberts@dimacs.rutgers.edu)
Funds for Lodging, Meals and Travel: It is anticipated that lodging and meals will be provided through NSF funding. Limited funds are expected to be available for travel awards.
Who should apply? Preference will be given to faculty whose primary job is undergraduate teaching. Two-year college faculty are welcome to apply. Faculty from groups under-represented in mathematics and computer science are encouraged to apply. Much of the material to be covered can be incorporated into undergraduate courses in modeling, calculus, analysis, and dynamical systems. We expect participants to have a solid grounding in analysis. Application deadline: March 1, 2006. Applications will be reviewed as they are received. Late applications will be considered if space is available.
To receive more information, visit our web site at
http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/reconnect/. Or, contact the Reconnect Program Coordinator, at
reconnect@dimacs.rutgers.edu, or telephone at (732) 445-4304.
Reconnect Program Administrator
DIMACS / CoRE Building / 4th Floor
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
96 Frelinghuysen Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854-8018 USA
DIMACS was founded as a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center and a joint Project of Rutgers, Princeton University, AT&T Labs, Bell Labs, NEC Laboratories America and Telcordia Technologies. Affiliate Members: Avaya Labs, Georgia Institute of Technology, HP Labs, IBM Research, Microsoft Research, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Stevens Institute
of Technology.
