Speaker
Description
In this talk I’ll take a birds-eye view of mathematical modelling. What is it? Is a model “a theory”? Is it “just a theory”? What can it accomplish, and how can it fail? Attitudes to modelling range from considering models to be hardly useful at all (especially without data or collaboration with end users), to considering them highly valuable in and of themselves, even capable of predicting (or forecasting) the future. These polarized views affect collaboration, public engagement, careers and funding outcomes over a range of fields in mathematical and theoretical biology. In this talk, I will outline the many roles modelling plays, including some lesser-known uses of modelling, rooted in experiences during the pandemic. I will also describe some weaknesses of modelling, as I see them, such that modelling can fail to be good science, and can even do harm. I will propose that the onus is at least partly on modellers to prevent this, and I will comment on how this might be done. I will conclude by inviting debate about how to interpret and assess modelling-based research.
