Speakers
Description
Collective behaviour in biological systems often manifests through large-scale, observable patterns. These macroscopic phenomena, however, typically arise from interactions and dynamics of numerous particles occurring at much smaller spatial and temporal scales. Mathematical modelling provides a rigorous framework for elucidating how microscopic interactions within complex, heterogeneous biological systems give rise to coordinated behaviour on the population level, offering insights into fundamental biological processes ranging from cell migration to tissue organization.
This mini-symposium highlights recent advances in mathematical modelling approaches that explicitly incorporate detailed microscopic descriptions. Such approaches account, for example, for dynamic particle size \cite{doumic2025}, cell-cell adhesion mediated by molecular bonds \cite{zhigun2024}, or phenotypic heterogeneity \cite{thiessen2025, loy2025} within populations. By retaining these mechanistic features, the resulting models capture how individual-level properties shape collective dynamics. Within this multiscale perspective, one can study phase transitions and other qualitative changes on the population-level \cite{degond2015} in a mathematically rigorous yet biologically grounded way. By bringing together researchers from different countries and at different stages of their academic careers, this mini-symposium aims to showcase recent advancements in multiscale modelling of collective phenomena.
Bibliography
@article{doumic2025,
author = {Doumic, Marie and Hecht, Sophie and Hoffmann, Marc and Peurichard, Diane},
title = {Scaling limits for a population model with growth, division and cross-diffusion},
journal = {Mathematical Models and Methods in Applied Sciences},
volume = {35},
number = {12},
pages = {2611-2660},
year = {2025},
publisher = {World Scientific}
}
@article{zhigun2024,
title={Modelling non-local cell-cell adhesion: a multiscale approach},
author={Zhigun, Anna and Rajendran, Mabel Lizzy},
journal={Journal of Mathematical Biology},
volume={88},
number={5},
pages={55},
year={2024},
publisher={Springer}
}
@article{thiessen2025,
title={Go-or-grow models in biology: a monster on a leash},
author={Thiessen, Ryan and Conte, Martina and Stepien, Tracy L and Hillen, Thomas},
journal={Journal of Mathematical Biology},
volume={91},
number={5},
pages={58},
year={2025},
publisher={Springer}
}
@incollection{loy2025,
title={Modelling Cell Migration in Cancer Spread as a Response to Multi-Cue Heterogeneous Environments: A Kinetic Approach},
author={Loy, Nadia and Conte, Martina},
booktitle={Modelling and Computational Approaches for Multi-Scale Phenomena in Cancer Research: From Cancer Evolution to Cancer Treatment},
pages={121--147},
year={2025},
publisher={World Scientific}
}
@article{degond2015,
title = {Phase Transitions, Hysteresis, and Hyperbolicity for Self-Organized Alignment Dynamics},
volume = {216},
issn = {1432-0673},
number = {1},
journal = {Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis},
author = {Degond, Pierre and Frouvelle, Amic and Liu, Jian-Guo},
year = {2015},
pages = {63--115},
publisher = {Springer},
}
