ILAS Seminar-E2 :Computer simulations in Biology
| Numbering Code | U-LAS70 10002 SE50 | Year/Term | 2022 ・ First semester | |
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| Number of Credits | 2 | Course Type | seminar | |
| Target Year | Mainly 1st year students | Target Student | For all majors | |
| Language | English | Day/Period | Wed.5 | |
| Instructor name | BRANDANI，Giovanni・Bruno (Graduate School of Science Program-Specific Senior Lecturer) | |||
| Outline and Purpose of the Course | Computer simulations play an important role in the process of scientific discovery, complementing theory and experiments. In this seminar course, the students will learn how to code computer simulations in Python to investigate problems of great biological interest. For example, we will study how populations of prey and predators change over time in a given ecological system, understand how bacteria search for food around their environment, and predict the spread of epidemics. The course is structured as a series of tutorials (as Jupyter notebooks) where students implement a model for a given biological system and apply it to learn more about the topic. In the final project, students will further investigate a topic, and present their results for the final evaluation. | |||
| Course Goals |
To be able to program computer simulations using the Python programming language. To understand how models are routinely used to in biology. To learn about the process of scientific discovery: how to ask your own questions and design your own "computer experiments" to give an answer. |
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| Schedule and Contents |
Schedule (may be subject to change, some topics are covered in multiple classes): - Introduction to the course - Introduction to programming in Python - Chemical kinetics - Predator-prey population dynamics - Epidemiology - Final project (Total:14 classes and 1 feedback) |
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| Evaluation Methods and Policy | Class attendance and active participation (50%), final project and oral presentation (50%) | |||
| Course Requirements | Course open to all students. In order to practice with coding, each student should work on a laptop during classes. | |||
| Study outside of Class (preparation and review) | If conditions permit it, in one or more occasions students will be divided into small groups to work together on a project. | |||
| Textbooks | Textbooks/References | Handouts will be provided. | ||
