Many traditional ecological models ignore age, size and other physiological variations in populations for simplicity. However, there is a wide range of organisms that undergo major changes over their lifetime and this can have significant implications on their resource use, mortality and fertility. Age and size variation can also be important in modeling cellular populations that undergo cycles of differentiation, as well as disease infections with different stages of infectivity and recovery, and those that involve age-specific contact rates within the population.

These days more and more researchers are appreciating the importance of incorporating age, size or other physiological structure into various population models. It is known that over-simplifying some models can sometimes lead to qualitatively different dynamics, especially when a population is undergoing changes due to external forces. Furthermore, the use of unstructured population models can mean that the model cannot be fit to the complete, detailed data that may have been collected about the population under study. The slow uptake of incorporating structure in models may have been due to the difficulties in analyzing and numerical simulating such models, which are often in the form of individual-based models or systems of partial differential equations. However recent developments in the field has made the use of structured population models more accessible to researchers. Additionally, advances in scientific computing and statistical inference methods has made it easier to fit more complex models to structured datasets.

This workshop will bring together researchers working on the field of structured population ecology with expertise in one or more of the following three focuses of the workshop:

1. Mathematical analysis of structured population models
2. Perspectives from ecology
3. Computational methods and statistical inference

The aims of this workshop are (1) to bring together experts from different aspects of structured population modeling so that we may all learn from each other, (2) to encourage  interdisciplinary collaborations between the participants, and (3) to expose students and postdoctoral fellows to the different facets of structured population modeling and mathematical ecology in general, so that that they may gain a wider understanding of the important applications of mathematics. We also hope that this workshop will encourage the organization of future events like this.

For more information including a list of speakers please visit the main page.

Apply to participate / Apply for funding

To participate in this workshop and to apply for funding, please fill in the form at this link.