BIOS-IN5010 – Computational physiology

Course content

This course provides a thorough introduction to mathematical models of electrophysiologic and mechanical processes in the heart. Particular focus is on developing models extending from protein function through to continuum electroconduction and tissue mechanics. The course also introduces relevant numerical methods and software tools for solving ordinary and partial differential equations. The foundation principles of both the models and the numerical approaches are often used in other physiological disciplines, particularly neuroscience, muscle mechanics, and fluid dynamics. For this reason the course is usually relevant to students broadly engaged in multiscale modelling of physiology. The course includes a mandatory assignment in the form of a small research project, which is conducted in collaboration with the University of California, San Diego.

Learning outcome

Through this course you will:

  • gain a fundamental understanding of cardiac physiology
  • understand the derivation and common implementation strategies for describing chemical, physical and biological processes with mathematics
  • be introduced to both the principles and practice of relevant numerical methods and computational tools for modeling cardiac physiology.

Admission to the course

Admission to BIOS-IN5010 is a twostep process.

  1. Students admitted to a master’s program at UiO must?register for the exam for this course?and register as a student at UiO in Studentweb and pay the semester fee before the deadline February 1st.

Nordic citizens and applicants residing in the Nordic countries may?apply to take this course as a single course student before the deadline December 15th

and register for the exam for this course?and register as a student at UiO in Studentweb and pay the semester fee before the deadline February 1st.

  1. All applicants also have to apply for admission at Simula:?www.simula.no/sscp/application?before the deadline February 14th.

As part of your application, you will be asked to upload the following documents:

  • A current résumé or CV

  • A cover letter

  • A letter of support from a mentor or advisor

  • Your university transcripts

Students will be notified once the admission process is completed in early March.

20 students can be admitted to BIOS-IN5010 and BIOS-IN9010. The program is designed for early PhD and late MSc students.

The courses BIOS-IN5010 and BIOS-IN9010 have joint admission. Applicants are ranked by the following criteria:

1) Academic performance

2) Relevance of study plan/research to the course subject matter

3) Recommendation from advisor (specifying how the course work will be helpful to the research)

4) Cover letter of student (specific reasons why this course will be relevant and interesting to them)

PhD students are generally given preference over MSc students. However, the highest priority is accorded to applicants from the three partner institutions (UiO, Simula, UC San Diego), followed by those from Norwegian institutions seeking academic credits.

Interested students are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with the course content and requirements, before preparing their application. This information can be found here:?https://www.simula.no/education/courses/simula-summer-school-computational-physiology.