Summer school: the mathematics behind biological invasions

Humans have introduced most of the alien species found worldwide. If these species manage to survive, reproduce, spread, and finally harm a new environment, they are called "invasive". Invasive species can change habitats and ecosystem processes, crowd out native species, or damage human activities, ultimately costing the global economy an estimated at $1.4 trillion per year. The dramatic progression of an invasion involves a series of complex dynamical processes, that requires sophisticated mathematical language to describe, quantify, and investigate. This course will focus on development and analysis of mathematical models that have and can be applied to these processes.
This course will focus on development and analysis mathematical models that have and can be applied to biological invasions. Subjects will be chosen from

Modelling the dynamics of biological invasions

Number of invasive species over time (dynamical systems, statistical inference)

Population growth and spread models (partial differential equations, integrodifference and integrodifferential equations, stochastic processes)

Gravity and network models (network theory)

Risk assessment for biological invasions

Hierarchical models for invasions (stochastic processes)

Quantitative trait-based risk assessment (machine learning methods)

Environmental niche modeling (machine learning methods)

Bioeconomics of biological invasions (optimal control theory, game theory)

Models for control of invasive species (optimal control theory)

Impacts of invasive species on communities, succession, and species assembly (dynamical systems, stochastic processes)

Students will learn about the invasion biology, the modelling process, and the mathematical methods and computational methods needed to solve the models. The philosophy of teaching will be to bring back the mathematical and computational results to the invasion biology so as to solve real problems and generate new scientific insight.
There will be the opportunity for students to bring a poster about their current work to the workshop. We will organize a poster session on one of the evenings where you can showcase what you are currently working on. The topics will be very mixed and do not need to relate to invasions. If you have no poster to present, that is fine too.
Registration for the summer school is now closed

Apply here