Mathematical Modeling of Virus Spread in Epidemiology
Find a scientific paper in an area that interests you. Write a summary of the paper. The paper must contain a mathematical model involving either an integral or differential equation. It cannot contain only a statistical or graphical analysis
Step 1: Find a scientific paper in an area that you find interesting (examples: chemistry, sociology, etc.). Any discipline from the sciences and social sciences is fine with one exception -- the paper cannot be a mathematics paper.
One way to find such an article is to search for "Mathematically modelling (something I'm interested in)" such as "Mathematically modelling the spread of a virus". You can do this by searching any of the following:
https://library.utoronto.ca/ U of T's library database
https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/article-databases a list of subject-specific databases through U of T
https://scholar.google.com/Links to an external site. (Also good for looking up the bibliographical information by clicking on "cite" below the search result for your paper.)
How do you read one of these papers? Advise on how to read journal articles Download Advise on how to read journal articles.
This is enough to get you started. For more detailed information, you are welcome to look at this set of instructions from 2022 Download this set of instructions from 2022. All of it still applies except for the information about ACT E, which we will not be doing this year, and the fact that there is no groupwork component for the ACTs this year.
The paper must contain a mathematical model involving either an integral or a differential equation. It cannot contain only a statistical or graphical analysis.
Step 2: Write a rough copy of your description of the journal article and bring a (hardcopy or electronic) on Feb 1 or Feb 2 to your tutorial. This write-up will be a summary of the paper in two paragraphs, as follows.
- The first paragraph is an introductory paragraph that answers the questions:
Which discipline and domain is the paper about? Examples: Organic chemistry and protein folding, Sociology and the spread of rumours through a social network, Economics and the
What specific problem is the paper trying to solve? Alternatively, what specific phenomena and/or contributing factors are being observed - The second paragraph discusses the use of mathematics to analyze and/or describe the data that was collected.
Is an integral or differential equation being used? (Do not go into detail. Simply state whether they use one or the other)
What do each of the variables represent?
Include the units each variable is measured in.
Briefly explain what the integral or differential equation is meant to model.
What conclusions did the paper arrive at, based on this mathematical model? You should be able to explain this using terms from the domain of the paper, not math terms. (Example: "The population started to decline after 2 years", not "The population function reached its maximum")
What impact will the conclusions of the paper have on the discipline. (Example: "Since we know that a lack of sunlight has a negative impact on the population of lab rats, we can study further to see if ssimilar effects can be observed with humans who live in various geographic locations and look for ways to help people who lack sun exposure in winter.")
Find a scientific paper in an area that interests you. Write a summary of the paper. The paper must contain a mathematical model involving either an integral or differential equation. It cannot contain only a statistical or graphical analysis
Step 1: Find a scientific paper in an area that you find interesting (examples: chemistry, sociology, etc.). Any discipline from the sciences and social sciences is fine with one exception -- the paper cannot be a mathematics paper.
One way to find such an article is to search for "Mathematically modelling (something I'm interested in)" such as "Mathematically modelling the spread of a virus". You can do this by searching any of the following:
https://library.utoronto.ca/ U of T's library database
https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/article-databases a list of subject-specific databases through U of T
https://scholar.google.com/Links to an external site. (Also good for looking up the bibliographical information by clicking on "cite" below the search result for your paper.)
How do you read one of these papers? Advise on how to read journal articles Download Advise on how to read journal articles.
This is enough to get you started. For more detailed information, you are welcome to look at this set of instructions from 2022 Download this set of instructions from 2022. All of it still applies except for the information about ACT E, which we will not be doing this year, and the fact that there is no groupwork component for the ACTs this year.
The paper must contain a mathematical model involving either an integral or a differential equation. It cannot contain only a statistical or graphical analysis.
Step 2: Write a rough copy of your description of the journal article and bring a (hardcopy or electronic) on Feb 1 or Feb 2 to your tutorial. This write-up will be a summary of the paper in two paragraphs, as follows.
- The first paragraph is an introductory paragraph that answers the questions:
Which discipline and domain is the paper about? Examples: Organic chemistry and protein folding, Sociology and the spread of rumours through a social network, Economics and the
What specific problem is the paper trying to solve? Alternatively, what specific phenomena and/or contributing factors are being observed - The second paragraph discusses the use of mathematics to analyze and/or describe the data that was collected.
Is an integral or differential equation being used? (Do not go into detail. Simply state whether they use one or the other)
What do each of the variables represent?
Include the units each variable is measured in.
Briefly explain what the integral or differential equation is meant to model.
What conclusions did the paper arrive at, based on this mathematical model? You should be able to explain this using terms from the domain of the paper, not math terms. (Example: "The population started to decline after 2 years", not "The population function reached its maximum")
What impact will the conclusions of the paper have on the discipline. (Example: "Since we know that a lack of sunlight has a negative impact on the population of lab rats, we can study further to see if ssimilar effects can be observed with humans who live in various geographic locations and look for ways to help people who lack sun exposure in winter.")