mathematical biology is an interdisciplinary field that uses mathematics to understand biological processes. this area of study seeks to model, analyze, interpret, and predict various biological phenomena by means of both novel and existing mathematical techniques. its scope of application ranges from the microscopic level, such as cellular processes and genetic networks, to the macroscopic level, including the dynamics of organisms, populations, ecosystems, and evolutionary biology. by formulating mathematical models, mathematicians can describe biological systems, predict their behavior under different conditions, and gain insights into their underlying mechanisms. these models can take the form of ordinary and partial differential equations, stochastic processes, statistical models, and computational simulations, allowing for a quantitative understanding of complex biological interactions.specific areas of interest in the department include the following diverse topics: evolutionary biology and ecology, modeling of cancer, virus dynamics/epidemiology, collective and spatiotemporal dynamics of bacterial colonies/biofilms, soft and living matter, epigenetic cell memory, genetic networks,  stochastic biochemical reaction networks, models and simulations of bimolecular conformational changes and molecular recognition with application to drug design,  computational studies of cell shapes and movements, biological pattern formation, and developmental biology. the studies of complex social phenomena also belong under the scope of mathematical life sciences, and include modeling of evolution of language, learning, categorization, and human behavior in general.