The Research Group of Biomathematics
Biomathematics - the Mathematics of Life
The mathematician owns a wonderful tool created by the efforts of many ingenious people, accumulated through the centuries.
He has the key that can open a way to the many mysteries of the Universe and obtain, by a few symbols,
a synthesis that covers and connects many and diverse results of different sciences."
— Vito Volterra —
The Research Group of Biomathematics at the University of Helsinki focuses on mathematical modelling of biological processes, mostly in ecology and in evolution. A focal area of our research is adaptive dynamics, a mathematical theory of biological evolution as driven by ecological interactions. We put large emphasis on mechanistic modelling, i.e., on deriving models from the underlying biological processes themselves rather than using equations that reflect reality only on a phenomenological level. The analysis of the models connects to pure research in, for instance, the theory of (infinite dimensional) dynamical systems and such research has also been carried out in the group. The group is embedded in a network of international research groups and has been part of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Analysis and Dynamics for its duration (2008-2019).