Our Mission

The mission of QBio at Yale is to understand how biological systems compute, and how the structure, organization, and behavior of living systems emerge from such problem-solving. The decision-making algorithms of biological systems have been molded by evolution over billions of years: this leads to function that is robust in the face of noisy components and unpredictable inputs. Using analytic tools from disciplines such as physics, mathematics, engineering and computer science together with quantitative experiments, we aim to decode these algorithms and understand how they operate over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales: from molecular, through cells and tissues, to organisms, populations and ecosystems. Our research goal is to gain insight into the logic of life, and to uncover new principles by which living matter – both natural and engineered – self organize. Our educational goal is to preserve, advance, and transmit knowledge of these insights through inspired teaching and training of undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral scientists.