Modelling of biological systems

lgbio2060  2017-2018  Louvain-la-Neuve

Modelling of biological systems
5 credits
30.0 h + 30.0 h
Q1
Teacher(s)
Lefèvre Philippe;
Language
English
Prerequisites
Students need to master the common core skills described in the civil Engineering Bachelor's programme
Main themes
Vision and other sensory systems, the oculomotor and other motor systems and their mathematical modeling.
Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

1

With respect to the AA referring system defined for the Master in Biomedical Engineering, the course contributes to the development, mastery and assessment of the following skills :

  • AA1.1, AA1.2, AA1.3
  • AA2.2
  • AA3.1, AA3.2
  • AA4.3
  • AA5.3, AA5.5, AA5.6
  • AA6.3

More precisely, at the end of this course, students will be able to:

Disciplinary Learning Outcomes

  • Understand basic knowledge about biological systems in order to model them.
  • Understand and be able to model different types of biological systems by using appropriate modeling tools.
  • Choose appropriate models and argue about these choices depending on the modeling application.
  • Make a critical analysis about the relevance and interest of mathematical models of biological systems in their capacity to predict new experimental results and inspire original experimental protocols.
  • Use softwares and computers to implement and simulate mathematical models of biological systems.

Transversal Learning Outcomes

  • Make a critical analysis of the scientific literature devoted to the development of original mathematical models of biological systems.
  • Make a concise and critical presentation of a scientific article related to mathematical models of biological systems.
 

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
In the field of modeling of sensory and motor physiological systems, this course will present how a mathematical model is built in the biomedical field, starting from the laws of nature. It will describe how its elaboration is always closely linked to experiment work aiming at obtaining data on which the model will be based. The model will be presented as a tool that allows explaining basic mechanisms of biological systems and making predictions of the responses of the system in new experimental conditions. The different steps of the model development will be presented: initial observations, hypotheses, model testing and validation. Different types of models will be described and illustrated, for instance: deterministic versus stochastic, static versus dynamic or chaotic, parametric versus non-parametric, lumped versus distributed. These notions will be illustrated by mathematical models in the biomedical field as for instance physiological models (Hodgkin-Huxley), compartment models or population models.
Teaching methods
The course is made of lectures given by the teachers as well as practical exercises based on the critical analysis and presentation of scientific publications dedicated to mathematical models of biological systems. 
Evaluation methods
Students will be individually evaluated (written and/or oral examination) on the learning outcomes detailed above.
Online resources
Moodle
http://moodleucl.uclouvain.be/course/view.php?id=8449
Bibliography
Les documents du cours sont disponibles sur Moodle.
Faculty or entity
GBIO


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Aims
Master [120] in Electro-mechanical Engineering
ELME2M
5
Master [120] in Biomedical Engineering
GBIO2M
5
Master [120] in Mathematical Engineering
MAP2M
5
Master [120] in Computer Science and Engineering
INFO2M
5
Master [120] in Statistics: Biostatistics
BSTA2M
5