This project, funded by the Human Frontiers Science Program, is a large collaborative enterprise between our lab, and labs in Sweden, Germany and Japan (see http://pacosy.informatik.uni-leipzig.de/opt-in-nature). In this project we are trying to understand how ants, bees and slime moulds solve dynamic problems. What are the similarities between the different biological systems? What are their differences?

The objective of our project are:
(a) To use optimization problems from computer science to understand and classify the dynamic optimization problems solved by slime moulds, ants and bees.
(b) To understand solution construction mechanisms in biological systems.
(c) To study how different mechanisms are combined in the same context and how the same mechanism is reused in different contexts to fulfill optimization criteria.
(d) To build a theoretical and mathematical framework that unifies our understanding of the capabilities and mechanisms involved in biological problem solving across different systems.
(e) To use this framework and direct interactions between biologists and computer scientists to develop biologically-inspired algorithms for computing applications.

Ultimately, the aims of this project go beyond the development of computer algorithms and we aim to use our diverse backgrounds to come to a general understanding of problem solving in Nature. Our project should revolutionize the way we think about how optimization processes are constructed and embedded into self-organized systems in general.