about
The Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center (MCMSC) establishes a forum that brings together a community of quantitative scientists and mathematicians from all corners of the university whose research and scholarship interests are driven by “intellectual fusion.” Center researchers approach to research and scholarship is “solution-” rather than “discipline-“ focused.
Research Areas
The MCMSC members have a history of stimulating synergistic cross-disciplinary activities, and initiating biological, environmental and sociological research that involves a significant use of quantitative methods—mathematics, modeling, statistics and simulations.
- Public Health
- Infectious Diseases
- Social Dynamics
- Human-Environmental Interactions
- Theoretical Biology
- Applied Mathematics
- Statistics and Simulations
Vision
The Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center (MCMSC) vision includes: bridging the gap between the biological, environmental, and social sciences and the mathematical sciences; promotion and support of cross-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary research that relies on state of the art computational, modeling and quantitative approaches; and the training of a new generation of computational mathematical, and theoretical scientists whose research is driven by the application of computational, mathematical, modeling and simulation approaches to the solution of problems that will improve the human condition.
Diversity, Mentorship and Training
The MCMSC will emphasize the training of a new generation of mathematical scientists from diverse backgrounds whose knowledge base allows them to contribute to the solution of problems at the interface of the biological, environmental, and social sciences. The MCMSC will house our nationally recognized institutes MTBI/SUMS (http://mtbi.asu.edu/) that provide research and mentorship experiences to students from high school to the postdoctoral level. The establishment of MCMSC will play a catalyzing effect on the newly established graduate and undergraduate degree cross-disciplinary programs in applied mathematics in the life and social sciences both administered by the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. MCMSC will maintain a cadre of internationally recognized or rising scholars in its portfolio of regular short- and long-term visitors. This group will provide continuity and add vitality to the Center’s research effort and enhance opportunities for research collaborations.
Goals
The goals of the Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center (MCMSC) include the establishment of flexible research and training cross-disciplinary programs driven by global and dynamic perspectives; the facilitation of research efforts at the interface of the biological, environmental and social sciences through its support for the development of computational, modeling and theoretical frameworks that help integrate knowledge over multiple temporal, spatial and organizational scales: the expansion, re-adaptation or innovation of applied mathematics and computational tool kits and the fostering of a culture that makes systematic use of (the Fermi/Ulam/Pasta) computer experiment in order to meet the challenges that must be faced in efforts to improve the human condition; the promotion, support and encouragement of teams of faculty (across departments, schools and colleges) that do not hold a reductionist view of the world that is, researchers who know that lower level interactions often result in emergent system properties and that progress can also be made by identifying emergent phenomena and developing approaches to study systems at the scale where it takes place; and the support of newly created degree programs in applied mathematics in the life and social sciences which are administered in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change.