Course Details in 2025/26 Session

Module Title	LM Advanced Mathematical Biology
School	Mathematics
Department	Mathematics
Module Code	06 31128
Module Lead	Tom Montenegro-Johnson
Level	Masters Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-46 hours Tutorial-10 hours Guided independent study-144 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	Many biological systems are not well-mixed. Randomness, networks, underlying structure, and spatial inhomogeneities drive interesting dynamical behaviours not possible in well-mixed models. This module will examine these behaviours in systems of biological and medical importance, drawing from research currently being undertaken at the University of Birmingham. Topics to be covered in the first half of the course may include, amongst others: stochasticity in birth-death processes, modelling tumour growth, emergent collective behaviour (eg bird flocking), axon modelling and neural networks, and complex networks in biology. Topics to be covered in the second half of the course may include, amongst others: random walks to continuum models, cell taxis, autocatalytic reaction-diffusion waves, invasive species, Turing patterns and animal coat markings, travelling waves in the retina, and model parameterisation theory.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Demonstrate how spatial variation can drive complex dynamics in biological systems Explain how randomness can affect the behaviour of biological systems Analyse coupled PDE systems relating to biology Describe how complex behaviour and functionality can emerge from systems of many simple, interconnected elements
Assessment	31128-03 : Raw Module Mark : Coursework (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	3 hour Written Unseen Examination (80%); In-course Assessment (20%).
Other
Reading List