NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2011

2011 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金

• 批准号: 1103689
• 负责人: James VanDyken
• 金额: $ 18.9万
• 依托单位: VanDyken James D
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-07-01 至 2014-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1103689&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2011, Intersections of Biology and Mathematical and Physical Sciences. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow whose plan involves innovation at the intersection of biology with physics, applied mathematics, and population biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to James VanDyken is "Adaptation in large metapopulations." The host institution for this research is Harvard University; and the sponsoring scientists are Drs. Michael Desai and Michael Whitlock (of the University of British Columbia).The spread of beneficial mutations (i.e., adaptations) is central to creating the patterns of biodiversity observed in nature. Yet the empirical study of adaptation has far outpaced its theoretical study, leaving much about the underlying process unclear. In particular, most theoretical studies of adaptation make two assumptions that will often be violated in nature: 1) populations are not geographically structured and 2) beneficial mutations are rare, such that a given beneficial mutation will sweep to fixation before another one arises. The first assumption is violated for most species, while the second is violated for species with large populations, such as microbes. The greater mutational diversity maintained in large populations, and the spatial structuring of these populations, may radically alter the way in which populations explore the adaptive landscape, leading to different predictions about the rate, direction, endpoint, and geographic and genetic patterns of adaptation. This research determines how population size and population structure interact to influence the amount of variation available to natural selection, and how this in turn influences the rate and outcome of adaptation. Training objectives include the development of theory using methods from physics and applied mathematics, including stochastic differential equations and branching processes, and tests this theory using experimental metapopulations of budding yeast.Broader impacts include creating a collaboration between scientists in different institutions, countries, and scientific fields, facilitating a fruitful sharing of ideas across boundaries that would not otherwise be possible. Community outreach includes activities to promote scientific literacy and public understanding of evolution, at the K-12 level.

该行动为2011财年生物学，生物学与数学和物理科学的交集提供了NSF博士后研究奖学金。 奖学金支持该研究员的主机实验室的研究和培训计划，该计划涉及在生物学，物理学，应用数学和人群生物学的交集中进行创新。 詹姆斯·范迪肯（James Vandyken）奖学金的研究和培训计划的标题是“大型群体中的改编”。这项研究的主持机构是哈佛大学；赞助科学家是Drs。迈克尔·德赛（Michael Desai）和迈克尔·惠特洛克（Michael Whitlock）（不列颠哥伦比亚大学）。有益突变的传播（即改编）对于创造自然观察到的生物多样性模式至关重要。 然而，对适应的实证研究已经超过了其理论研究，因此关于基本过程的许多内容尚不清楚。 特别是，大多数适应性的理论研究在本质上经常会违反两个假设：1）种群不是地理结构化的，而2）有益突变很少见，因此给定的有益突变会在另一个人出现之前扫荡固定。 对于大多数物种而言，第一个假设是违反的，而第二种假设则违反了人群庞大的物种，例如微生物。在大量人群中维持的更大的突变多样性以及这些人群的空间结构可能会从根本上改变人群探索适应性景观的方式，从而导致对适应的速率，方向，端点以及地理和遗传模式的不同预测。这项研究确定了人口规模和种群结构如何相互作用以影响自然选择可用的变异量，以及这又如何影响适应的速度和结果。 培训目标包括使用物理学和应用数学方法的方法开发理论，包括随机微分方程和分支过程，并使用萌芽酵母的实验性化测试来测试该理论。Broader的影响包括在不同机构，国家，国家和科学领域之间建立科学家之间的合作，促进了跨越跨越界限的思想，这可能是可能的，否则可能会跨越界限。 社区外展活动包括在K-12级别促进科学素养和公众对进化的理解的活动。