Focused Research Group "Stochastic Models for Intracellular Reaction Networks"

This project will systematically develop stochastic models for chemical reaction networks, beginning with classical Markov chain models and developing new models that take into account the stepwise development of reactions involving RNA and DNA molecules.

Specific issues to be addressed include scaling limits based on the wide range of time and other quantitative scales in the system, model reduction through scaling limit approximations and other approaches, the implications of the combinatorial restrictions the reaction structure places on the system, sensitivity analysis for the parameters of the stochastic models, and statistical methods for model validation based on data that is frequently obtained through indirect and/or aggregated measurements.

The project will also provide a fertile training ground for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. There is a high demand for well-trained mathematical scientists with the interest and expertise necessary to contribute to the solution of problems arising in cell and molecular biology.