Mathematical and theoretical biology and medicine is a diverse field in which interdisciplinary collaboration is essential for progress. The field ranges from experimental research linked to mathematical modelling to the development of more abstract mathematical frameworks and theories in which observations about the real world can be interpreted and with which new hypotheses for testing can be generated. More recently, much attention has also been paid to the development of efficient algorithms for complex computations and visualisation, notably in molecular biology and genetics.
The field of mathematical and theoretical biology and medicine has of course profound connections to many current problems of great relevance to society. The medical, industrial and social interests in its development are indeed indisputable. Insights and predictions from mathematical modelling are used increasingly in decision support in medicine (e.g. immunology and spread of infectious diseases, cancer research, cardio-vascular research, neurological research, optimisation of medical treatments, imaging), environmental and nature management, climate problems, agriculture and management of natural resources. Fast developments in areas such as biotechnology (e.g. genome projects, genetic modification) continue to add new focal points of activity to the field.
The European Conference on Modelling and Computing in Biology and Medicine (ECMTB) has as its goal to foster interdisciplinary collaboration between mathematicians and bioscientists and to act as the main forum for the exchange of recent research results and new research directions to the widest possible community in theoretical biology and medicine in Europe and beyond.
Since its foundation in 1991 the European Society for Mathematical and Theoretical
Biology (ESMTB) has been gaining an increasing role in the international scientific
community.
The society is a member of the European Mathematical Society (EMS) and of the
International Committee for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ICIAM). European
scientists play now an internationally recognised leading and guiding role in
many parts of the field. Mainly due to the attention paid in promoting and developing
interdisciplinary connections between the bio-medical world and researchers
(especially young researchers) in mathematics, physics and computer science,
the Society has achieved the role of world leader in some fields of mathematical
biology and the number of its members is rapidly increasing (85 in 1998, 145
in 1999, and 205 in 2000).
Previous ESMTB conferences that aimed at covering a large part of the field
were organised in
Alpe d'Huez, France (199l)
Lyon, France (1993)
Heidelberg, Germany (1996)
Amsterdam, Holland (1999)
Evidence of the increasing interest in the field is given in the following picture
which shows the numbers of participants attending the previous conferences.
Notably the two last conferences, sponsored by the European Community, were
an unprecedented success, both with regards to the number of participants and
to the breadth and depth of the scientific research presented. The success of
those conferences brought with them a doubling of the membership of the European
Society and the formation of a new and enthusiastic board.