Tutorial Workshop on Parameter Estimation for Biological Models
NC State University, July 25-28, 2018

Co-organizers: Franz Hamilton, Alun Lloyd and Mette Olufsen.

Confirmed speakers include Tom Banks (NC State), Tyrus Berry (George Mason University), Marisa Eisenberg (University of Michigan), Dirk Husmeier (University of Glasgow, UK), Brian Reich (NC State) and Ralph Smith (NC State).

New!: Draft program for workshop.

This workshop is aimed at graduate students (and others) who have an interest in confronting mathematical models with biological data. Tutorials will cover estimation of model parameters and associated uncertainties, parameter identifiability, and uncertainty quantification. Lectures will be accompanied by hands-on computer exercises. A poster session will allow participants to present their work and discuss with workshop presenters and other participants.

Pre-requisites: Some participants from previous workshops asked about help in preparing for the workshop’s practicals. Different speakers’ practicals may use different packages, but MATLAB will be the choice for several practicals. So it would be helpful to have some experience in MATLAB, particularly in simulating differential equation models. Here are some slides and code that may be helpful if you don’t have prior experience with ODEs in MATLAB.

Individuals wishing to participate should complete the online google form. Applications for funding are now closed, but applications to participate will continue to be accepted as space allows.

Outline Program:
Day 1 (Wednesday, July 25th): Least squares and Identifiability
Day 2 (Thursday, July 26th): Sensitivity Analysis and Uncertainty Propagation
Day 3 (Friday, July 27th): Bayesian Approaches to Parameter Estimation and Model Selection
Day 4 (Saturday, July 28th; morning only): Kalman Filtering

Information on previous workshops: July 2016 and August 2014.

Suggested local hotels: The closest hotels to campus are the Doubletree Hilton and the Aloft Raleigh. Both are only a short walk from the workshop venue. More reasonably priced options are available, but are further from campus. One option is the Ramada Raleigh on Blue Ridge Road, near the university’s vet school. (A campus bus would run from the Ramada to main campus on Wednesday through Friday, but some other arrangement would be needed for Saturday, but we could help with that.)