There have been substantial achievements in the biosciences with remarkable impact on human life. These include the management of vaccination strategies for epidemics, the deduction of functional correlations between genetic traits and methods of combating drug-resistant diseases, the management of invasive species and biodiversity and sustainability. Progress on these could not have occurred without mathematical and statistical expertise.
However, most mathematicians know too little biology and most biologists have too few mathematical, computational and statistical skills. Multidisciplinary efforts have proved difficult to sustain for cultural, financial and institutional reasons. To realise the great potential of this interdisciplinary interaction, new institutional and funding structures are required that allow and encourage more researchers to work at the exciting interface between biological, computational, mathematical and statistical sciences.
At present no such multidisciplinary platform exists in Australia. We will support and enable the mathematical framework critical to bioscientific progress, with particular strengths represented by five Research Themes. The network will accelerate Australia's capability by supporting excellent research through training of young or early-career researchers, short-term exchange fellowships and an e-science grid allowing direct access to experimental data and model simulations. The e-resource we create will not only be available for current research but continue to ensure future development of the field.
The network organisation has a three-dimensional structure generated by Research Themes, Circles of Expertise, and Major Opportunities. The Themes represent our research strengths. The Circles, including one consisting of New and Early-Career Researchers, represent expertise and interests. The Opportunities represent major challenges that cut across the Themes. Dynamic teams will be formed to tackle each challenge, with every Circle participating in every team.
The network's participants include a Nobel Laureate and the Director of the Centre for Mathematical Biology at Oxford University. It also includes top ranked mathematicians and biologists in Australia, including a Federation Fellow, four Australian Professorial Fellows, and six medallists of the Australian Mathematical Society. We collectively hold 75 competitively funded grants (71 from ARC and 4 from NHMRC) in 2004 with a total value of $8.25M.
The MBN will be the first mathematical bioscience organisation in Australia to link researchers across institutions and disciplines, to fund and resource them specifically for collaborative research and training. The consequent potential benefits are great, not only for science but also for public health. We stand on the edge of the mathematical bioscience interface, poised to make great progress.