MA32009

Author

Philip Murray

Published

December 22, 2023

Preface

Welcome to the module MA32009 Mathematical Biology I.

My name is Philip Murray and I am the module lead.

How to contact me?

  • email: pmurray@dundee.ac.uk
  • office: G11, Fulton Building
  • Teams: PM me

Lecture notes

You can find lecture notes for the module on this page. If you would like a pdf this can be easily generated by clicking on the pdf link of the webpage. I will occasionally edit/update the notes as we proceed through lectures. If you spot any errors, typos or omissions please Raise an Issue

Reading

Mathematical Biology I, Murray (2002)

Esswential Mathemtical Biology Britton and Britton (2003)

Mathematical models in Biology Edelstein-Keshet (2005)

Python codes

I have provided Python codes for most of the figures in the notes (you can unfold code section by clicking `Code’). Note that the Python code does not appear in the pdf.

Many of you have taken the Introduction to Programming module at Level 2 and have therefore some experience using Python. I strongly encourage you to use the provided codes as a tool to play around with numerical solutions of the various models that we will be working on. The codes should run as standalone Python codes.

Note

To access Python on Uni machines:

  1. Launch Anaconda from AppsAnywhere
  2. When a folder opens, double click on Spyder.
  3. Paste a code from lecture notes into the editor on the left-hand side.
  4. Click on the green arrow to run the code.
  5. The plots should appear in the plots tab on the right-hand side.
  6. Experiment with the code. When you change a model parameter, does the solution change in an expected way?

I have also provided some examples of how to use Python as a symbolic calculator. This uses a Python library called sympy and is quite similar to Maple.

Assessment

  • Final exam (80 %)

  • 2 class tests (8.5 % each), Week 6 and 10

  • 3 quizes (1 % each), Week 2,4 and 8

Plan

Projected delivery
Week Up to Section Tutorial sheet Assessment
1 1.4 1
2 1.6 1 Quiz 1
3 2.2 2
4 2.3.7 2 Quiz 2 (Up to 2.2.1)
5 3.3 3
6 3.5 3 Test 1 (Chapters 1 and 2)
7 4.1 4
8 4 4 Quiz 3
9 4 5
10 5 5 Test 2
11 5

References

Britton, Nicholas F, and NF Britton. 2003. Essential Mathematical Biology. Vol. 453. Springer.
Edelstein-Keshet, Leah. 2005. Mathematical Models in Biology. SIAM.
Murray, J. D. 2002. Mathematical Biology i: An Introduction. Springer.