- Advanced Materials by Design: Theory and Computation
- African Diaspora and the Atlantic World Research Circle
- Agroecology
- American Indian Studies
- Bioethics
- Biomedical Engineering
- Biophotonics
- Chemical Biology
- Chemistry
- Cognitive Sciences
- Communication Technologies Research
- Comparative Political Economy
- Comparative U.S. Studies
- Computational Sciences
- Computational Systems Biology
- Computer Engineering
- Computer Sciences
- Cultural Studies in a Global Context
- Disability Studies
- Energy Sources and Policy
- Expressive Culture and Diversity in the Upper Midwest
- Food Pathogens and Toxins
- Functional Brain Imaging
- Functional Organic Materials
- Genomics
- Global Governance and International Finance
- Initiative for Studies in Technology Entrepreneurship
- Interdisciplinary Arts Residency Program
- International Environmental Affairs and Global Security
- International Public Affairs
- Land Use
- Law, Society and Justice
- Mathematical Physics - String Theory
- Middle Eastern Studies
- Molecular Biometry
- Nanophase Inorganic Materials and Devices
- Political Economy
- Poverty Studies
- Religious Studies
- Science and Technology Studies
- Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
- Structural Biology
- Symbiosis
- Translational Research - Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Very High Energy Astrophysics and Cosmology
- Visual Culture
- Vitamin D
- Women's Health Research/Biology of Sex and Gender Differences
- Zebrafish Biology
Cluster focus
This cluster works to integrate the mathematical and biological sciences to understand complex biological systems and processes. Molecular Biometry focuses on modeling and computation of complex biological processes and complements the campus’s strength in biostatistics and bioinformatics. This cluster builds on existing strengths in biology and brings together diverse disciplinary groups such as mathematics, statistics, engineering, zoology, botany, horticulture, biochemistry, oncology and bacteriology. The cluster links the physical and biological sciences, and adds cutting-edge strength to these areas. These faculty represent an answer to the shifting needs of the campus for quantitative reasoning for biologists.
Cluster accomplishments
- Cluster faculty have enriched existing courses and taught new courses related to their topic areas. They enrich student experiences by bringing research-driven emphasis and real-world applications to undergraduate and graduate courses in Statistical Methods for Biosciences and Introductory Applied Statistics for Life Sciences. A new graduate special-topics course, Mathematics of Molecular Biometry, also has been added.
- Several cluster faculty are affiliated with the Computation and Informatics in Biology and Medicine (CIBM) Graduate Training program that also serves as a hub for molecular biometry-related activities.
- Faculty have also been involved with the Department of Energy Genomes to Life Program and a Department of Energy grant to establish the BACTER (Bringing Advanced Computational Techniques to Environmental Research) Institute graduate training program.
- One cluster faculty member started a campus computational biology journal club and the contemporary biochemistry series “Computational and Theoretical Approaches to Biochemistry.” Another cluster faculty member organized a biweekly phylogeny working group to foster interest and interaction across campus.
Cluster structure
These cluster faculty have joined a loose confederation of molecular biometry faculty on campus and provide a critical mass to move forward molecular biometry undergraduate and graduate training and courses. The faculty interact via many seminars and working group information-sharing sessions. The Department of Mathematics now has two faculty members with joint appointments in biological sciences, increasing science-related interactions for all faculty in the department.
Cluster coordinator, faculty and lead dean
Cluster Coordinators
- Paul Milewski, Professor, Mathematics
- Brian Yandell, Professor, Statistics
Cluster Faculty
- Bret Larget, Associate Professor, Botany and Statistics
- Julie Mitchell, Assistant Professor, Mathematics and Biochemistry
- Gheorghe Craciun, Assistant Professor, Mathematics and Bimolecular Chemistry
Lead Dean
- Molly Jahn, Dean, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences