Biosystems research

What is the secret of biology and how does it differ fundamentally from other matter? Such age old questions are currently being attacked by different disciplines, from a range of different perspectives, using a combination of tools. More and more, scientists and engineers from all disciplines are asking systems-level questions and developing the language for systems thinking and the tools to analyse and model them. Researchers are forming cross-disciplinary collaborations to tackle a range of complex biological networks. This is an exciting age, in which important insights are made for the first time about the organisation, adaptability, robustness and functionality of complex systems in nature.

The group is one of the School of Computing's research groups. Details of group membership and collaborators can be found on the people page. Each week the group holds a reading group every Monday at 4:00pm in the School of Computing Boardroom (EC Stoner 8.01). The Biosystems group is always interested in new students, and welcomes informal enquiries. For more information on studentships, jobs, or contact please see the Vacancies and Contacts page.

Current Activities

• Neuroscience
  • Learning and memory in biological neural networks
  • Biologically plausible neural network models
  • The C. elegans locomotion nervous system
• Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Modelling visual attention
  • Modelling neuronal populations
• Molecular evolution, bioinformatics & evolutionary strategies
  • Evolutionary strategies
  • Modelling gene regulation networks
  • Compositional structures in non-coding DNA
  • Bayesian networks for bioinformatics

Biosystems research is based in the School of Computing, and collaborates closely across departments and faculties, including Biological Sciences, Medicine, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mathematics and Engineering departments. Its goal is to bridge between computational and biological sciences, from the foundational study of biological systems, through computational biology, to the application of insights from such research to foundations of computation, complexity and bioinspired applications.

Owner: Dr Chris Needham| Last updated: Thursday 18 Oct 2007