Support

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…"

QUBES is supported by the National Science Foundation under grants 1446258, 1446269, and 1446284

The BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium (BQCC) is a community of scientists, educators, and learners of all ages who are interested in supporting biology education that reflects realistic scientific practices.

BioQUEST and QUBES have partnered to collaborate on the development and implementation of the QUBES Project. QUBES has partnered with BioQUEST to support an annual professional development workshop for biology educators.

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of scientists founded in 1915 to promote ecological science by improving communication among ecologists; raise the public’s level of awareness of the importance of ecological science; increase the resources available for the conduct of ecological science; and ensure the appropriate use of ecological science in environmental decision making by enhancing communication between the ecological community and policy-makers.

The Ecological Society of American has partnered with QUBES to promote the use and awareness of ecology-related educational materials. Their repeated Faculty Mentoring Networks have helped faculty to implement selected Teaching Issues in Ecology & Evolution (TIEE) modules in their introductory biology or ecology courses, with a focus on providing students with the quantitative skillset needed to scale up to large ecological datasets.

NIMBioS brings together researchers from around the world to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries to investigate solutions to basic and applied programs in the life sciences. NIMBioS outreach initiatives focus on the enhancement of education at the interface between mathematics and biology and promote cross-disciplinary approaches to science at all education levels.

NIMBioS has partnered with QUBES to run the Unpacking the Black Box working group and collaborate around assessment of the QUBES project.

The Network for Integrating Bioinformatics into Life Sciences Education (NIBLSE; pronounced "nibbles") is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Coordination Network for Undergraduate Biology Education (RCN-UBE). NIBLSE was formed in 2014. The long-term goal of NIBLSE is to establish bioinformatics as an essential component of undergraduate life sciences education by creating a permanent network of investigators to articulate a shared vision of the extent to which, and how best to, integrate bioinformatics into life sciences curricula.

NIBLSE and QUBES have partnered to establish a “developmental incubator” to nurture promising learning resources that would benefit from further refinement or customization for use in diverse teaching contexts. The NIBLSE Page on QUBESHub provides collaborative workspaces for groups to refine and share bioinformatics curriculum.

The Science Case Network, a newly established Research Coordination Network for Undergraduate Biology Education, centers on expanding the use of and knowledge about two effective teaching approaches: case studies and problem based learning (PBL). The Science Case Network seeks to connect case study and PBL innovators, researchers, and user groups to further the understanding of the effectiveness of these methods. Case studies and PBL have been shown to help undergraduates develop superior skills in question formulation and data analysis while they learn as much content as with traditional methods. Using these approaches, students collaboratively analyze a scenario that presents a biological issue within a realistic setting. Students then conduct investigations and report findings.

Science CaseNet and QUBES have partnered to collaborate on the development and implementation of the QUBES Project. Science CaseNet and QUBES were two presenters of the 2016 National Academies Special Topics Summer Institute on Quantitative Biology, leading to the formation of 17 new faculty working groups.

The National Institute for STEM Evaluation and Research (NISER) provides quality evaluation services to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) research and education sectors, including academic communities, not-for-profit organizations, and government entities.

NISER has partnered with QUBES to act as an external evaluator and collaborate on research around the impacts of QUBES resources and services. 

The Diverse and Integrative STEM Continua Using Socio-environmental Systems In and Out of Neighborhoods (DISCUSSION) Network is a driver for social innovation that positively impacts broadening participation in STEM. The DISCUSSION Network is a collaboration between North Carolina Central University and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) representing a networked improvement community located within the Piedmont Region of North Carolina. In close partnership with community colleges and civic organizations, the project will reach families and students that lead to broader participation of underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

The Building DISCUSSION project has partnered with QUBES to share program information, build community, and share project results.

The Modeling Hub aims to facilitate the integration of mathematical modeling in classrooms, by providing resources for both students and educators. We also want to foster a community where teachers from pre-kindergarten onward can share these resources. The Hub offers a free repository of lesson plans, worksheets, and more. Users can also connect to a network of educators for faculty development, discussion, and mentorship. The funding of this site by COMAP, NCTM, and SIAM, creates the opportunity for network members to meet up in person at conferences hosted by these organizations.

The Math Modeling Hub has partnered with QUBES to promote the use of modeling across the curriculum. They share modeling resources and encourage their adaptation by participants. They also run Faculty Mentoring Networks to support the use of modeling in instruction.

The focus of BIO SIGMAA is on the pedagogy of mathematical and computational biology at the undergraduate level. This includes the support of curriculum development, faculty development, and undergraduate research in those fields. The purpose of BIO SIGMAA is to support those activities that will enhance the exchange of ideas and access to educational opportunities among undergraduates and undergraduate faculty in the fields of mathematical and computational biology.

BIO SIGMAA and QUBES share complementary goals around the pedagogy of mathematical and computational biology at the undergraduate level.

The Botanical Society of America (BSA) promotes botany, the field of basic science dealing with the study and inquiry into all aspects of plants and their interactions within the biosphere.

BSA has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their education materials and meetings.

Data Nuggets contain activities that bring real scientific data into the classroom, guiding students through the entire process of science while building their quantitative abilities.

Data Nuggets and QUBES have partnered to raise awareness of the Data Nuggets material within the QUBES community, use the QUBESHub collaborative tools to promote conversations about, and collaborations around, the Data Nuggets teaching materials, and establish a Data Nuggets Faculty Mentoring Network to work intensively with a group of faculty as they customize and implement Data Nuggets resources.

BioInteractive provides free multimedia resources, including apps, animations, videos, interactives and virtual labs, supplemented by teacher guides and classroom activities. Recently, BioInteractive has developed quantitative and data-centric resources, including statistics, data manipulation, and graph generation and interpretation activities. Explore videos of scientific stories with interviews and discussions with actual scientists, or the Holiday lectures by active research scientists.

HHMI BioInteractive has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their free science education resources with undergraduate faculty. They have also run multiple Faculty Mentoring Networks where participants are focused on learning how to promote the application of quantitative processes to biological questions within their introductory biology classrooms and implement active learning strategies within their courses.

The mission of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is to enable understanding and forecasting of the impacts of climate change, land use change and invasive species on continental-scale ecology – by providing infrastructure and consistent methodologies to support research and education in these areas.

NEON and QUBES have partnered to raise awareness of NEON educational materials, use the QUBESHub collaborative tools to promote conversations about, and collaborations around, NEON materials, and run NEON Faculty Mentoring Networks to work intensively with a group of faculty as they customize and implement NEON resources.

Biodiversity Literacy in Undergraduate Education (BLUE) is a curriculum project that is focused on bringing collections data into undergraduate classrooms and using it to teach data skills.

BLUE has partnered with QUBES to share their resources and build a community around their project.

InTeGrate is a 5-year, NSF-funded STEP Center grant, running from 2012 through 2016. The STEP (STEM Talent Expansion Program) Center program enables "a group of faculty representing a cross section of institutions of higher education to identify a national challenge or opportunity in undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and to propose a comprehensive and coordinated set of activities that will be carried out to address that challenge or opportunity within a national context."

InTeGrate and QUBES have partnered to raise awareness of the InTeGrate teaching materials within the QUBES community, use the QUBESHub collaborative tools to promote conversations about, and collaborations around the InTeGrate teaching materials. The InTeGrate Faculty Mentoring Networks have helped faculty teach for a sustainable future in their undergraduate biology classrooms.

The mission of iDigBio is to develop a national infrastructure that supports the vision of the National Resource for Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC) by overseeing implementation of standards and best practices for digitization; building and deploying a customized cloud computing environment for collections; recruiting and training personnel, including underserved groups; engaging the research community, collections community, citizen scientists, and the general public through outreach activities; and planning for long-term sustainability of the national digitization effort.

iDigBio has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their education materials and meetings.

SimBio produces software that uses sophisticated interactive simulations to teach biology in an inquiry-driven learning style. We also conduct grant-funded research to understand how to make educational software more effective. Our products allow students to conduct simulated experiments similar to those performed by practicing scientists, in fields of biology where live experiments are impractical or impossible.

SimBio has partnered with QUBES to facilitate collaboration on the development of tools to make Biology courses more active. The SimBio Faculty Mentoring Network is focused on using SimBio’s SimUText Ecology™ as a platform to incorporate more active learning into ecology classrooms.

NABT recognizes that the true focal point for learning on critical issues is the classroom, and our members enhance the learning experience for millions of students each year. Since its establishment in 1938, the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) has been the recognized "leader in life science education." Thousands of educators have joined NABT to share experiences and expertise with colleagues from around the globe; keep up with trends and developments in the field; and grow professionally.

NABT has recruited participants for QUBES Faculty Mentoring Networks from within their membership and provided workshop sessions for the networks at their annual meeting.

Evo-Ed has developed case studies that track the evolution of traits from their origination in DNA mutation, to the production of different proteins, to the fixation of alternate macroscopic phenotypes in reproductively isolated populations.

Evo-Ed has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their case studies that trace the evolution of traits.

ESTEEM is a collection of resources for teaching quantitative skills in biology, operating under "The Three E's": Excel, Exploratory, and Experiential.

ESTEEM and QUBES have partnered to increase the use of accessible quantitative materials in the life sciences.

The mission of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.

ASM has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their education materials and meetings.

The Analyzing Images to learn Mathematics & Statistics (AIMS) project includes examples of how image analysis can be used to capture student's interest and teach quantitative skills in an engaging way.

AIMS and QUBES partnered to run the AIMS Faculty Mentoring Network that provided participants with a basic introduction to image analysis and using image analysis and interesting biological contexts to motivate student learning of mathematics and statistics.

Avida-ED is an award-winning educational application that helps students design and perform experiments to test hypotheses about evolutionary mechanisms using evolving digital organisms.

Avida-Ed has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of the education-related uses of their software. They have a working group on QUBES Hub.

DryadLab is a collection of free, openly-licensed, high-quality, hands-on, educational modules for students to engage in scientific inquiry using real data. DryadLab modules can be easily integrated into existing advanced secondary, undergraduate, and early graduate courses, and can be adapted to meet the specific needs of your course.

DryadLab and QUBES have partnered to raise awareness of the DryadLab teaching materials within the QUBES community, use the QUBESHub collaborative tools to promote conversations about, and collaborations around the DryadLab teaching materials. The DryadLab Faculty Mentoring Network helped participants to develop a plan for integrating data-rich, interactive modules into their biology classes.

Authentic Research Experience in Microbiology (AREM) is a modular approach to integrating genomics research into the general biology or microbiology curriculum. AREM investigates the microbiome of New York City across its boroughs, its streets and parks and across time.

AREM has partnered with QUBES to foster faculty communication and collaboration around microbial genomics research in urban environments.

The National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) brings together the science of the natural world with the science of human behavior and decision-making to find solutions to complex environmental problems. We convene science teams to work on broad issues of national and international relevance, such as water resources management, land management, agriculture, species protection, among other areas of study. By supporting interdisciplinary science teams and researchers with diverse skills, data, and perspectives, SESYNC seeks to lead in-depth research and scholarship that will inform decisions and accelerate scientific discovery. SESYNC is funded by an award to the University of Maryland from the National Science Foundation.

SESYNC has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their education materials. In the SESYNC Faculty Mentoring Network faculty participants adapted and implemented existing interdisciplinary curriculum modules that focus on socio-environmental issues. The educational modules highlighted in this FMN were selected from several online collections.

EREN is a National Science Foundation’s Research Coordination Networks (in Undergraduate Biology Education) five year project. The impetus behind this project was the growing focus on research among faculty from primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs) along with the recognition that many of the most pressing questions in ecology and environmental science are best addressed using multiple sites and coordinated data collection. We argue that greater collaboration among PUIs will allow these data to make more meaningful scientific contributions. Short-term projects can be linked to similar or related work at other institutions, thus extending questions across space rather than time.

EREN has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their network, sustain their project, and disseminate their results and resources.

The Numb3r5 Count! Project focuses on biological problem solving. It offers faculty workshops and supports open resources developed as a part of the project. Quantitative reasoning is like many other skills. It requires practice and an appreciation for the utility of mathematical tools and strategies. Faculty and students in biology must grapple with mathematical models, tools, and insights as they engage in the study of biological science.

Numbers Count has partnered to QUBES to help maintain access to their educational resources.

The Society for Mathematical Biology promotes the development and dissemination of research at the interface between the mathematical and biological sciences through its meetings, awards, and publications. The Society serves a diverse community of researchers and educators in academia, industry, and in government agencies throughout the world.

The Society for Mathematical Biology has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their educational resources and meetings.

MathBench Biology Modules introduce students (and anyone else who's interested) to the mathematical underpinnings of what they learn in introductory biology courses.
But unlike a textbook, the modules are not full of equations and proofs. Instead, we try to bring math to life using intuitive approaches, everyday situations, and even humor.
The modules contain hundreds of interactive activities, games, and questions. They range from the relatively simple (what to do with division) to the relatively abstruse (discrete diffusion models).

MathBench has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their teaching modules and coordinate Faculty Mentoring Networks using their materials.

Founded in 1937, The Wildlife Society's mission is “To inspire, empower, and enable wildlife professionals to sustain wildlife populations and habitats through science-based management and conservation.” The Wildlife Society enhances our members’ networking and learning opportunities, professional and career development, and provides numerous ways for them to get more involved in creating a better future for wildlife and their habitats.

The Wildlife Society has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their educational resources.

The Intercollegiate Biomathematics Alliance (IBA) is a consortium created to promote research and education in biomathematics. The IBA strives to bring together institutions both academic and non-academic to build a collaborative academic community in the pursuit of advancing biomathematics, ecology, and related areas for the researchers, educators of the mathematical and biological sciences, and active scholars. In doing so, the IBA provide a wide range of expertise, resources, and opportunities that are only available when we work together as a community.

The Intercollegiate Biomathematics Alliance has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their community, resources, and annual meetings.

The Mathematics and Climate Research Network (MCRN) uses web-based tools to engage mathematicians in climate research. MCRN members collaborate remotely in Research Focus Groups to study the cryosphere, conceptual model validation, data assimilation, the electric grid, food systems, nonsmooth systems, paleoclimate, resilience, tipping points, and more.

The Mathematic Climate Research Network has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their community, and educational resources.

The NWBC is creating a series of learning outcomes and customizable modules that can be incorporated into any first-year or introductory biology sequence that reflects the NWBC's commitment to scientific literacy for majors and non-majors alike. The NWBC is especially interested in developing course descriptions to facilitate curriculum design and student transition, especially from the 2-year to 4-year institutions. The NWBC also fosters professional development, provides support, promotes dissemination, and facilitates curricular reforms at our institutions.

The Northwest Biosciences Consortium has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their Research Coordination Network, coordinate their activities, and disseminate their products.

Beagle Investigations Return with Darwinian Data (BIRDD) is a rich collection of primary scientific data and supporting materials about the Galapagos Islands and Darwin's finches. BIRDD is a problem space providing a collection of introductory materials and data resources designed to support students as they reason about the evolutionary relationships between the species.

The BIRDD project has partnered with QUBES to explore opportunities to integrate data and curricular resources in an environment that makes it easy to run tools to work with them.

The Biology Students Math Attitudes and Anxiety Program is a resource for educators who are looking to implement non-invasive techniques to change student attitudes and reduce anxiety towards math.

BioMAAP has partnered with QUBES to raise awareness of their resources, and engage a community of educators around addressing math anxiety.

This network focuses on promoting quantitative education through expanding the adoption of data-centric resources and facilitating large-scale collaboration on approaches to classroom implementation. We aim to apply the open educational resources (OER) life cycle framework to strengthen the implementation and adaptation phases of these resources.

DIG and QUBES have partnered to run FMNs. The first also partnered with ESA and TIEE, resulting in a special issue of TIEE. DIG's FMN products are hosted on QUBES and available for adaptation.

Genome Solver began in 2012 with the goal to create a community of undergraduate educators interested in the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) as a means to teach the fundamentals of bioinformatics. Since then, Genome Solver instructors have provided training to more than 250 faculty members from approximately 125 institutions in a 1- or 2-day workshop. Although no additional workshops are being scheduled as of 2018, the current workshop materials will be available here on QUBES as slide decks, transcripts, and narrated videos. Genome Solver is funded by the National Science Foundation (DUE 1123016 and DUE 1505102).

Genome Solver has partnered with QUBES to disseminate their educational resources, build a community of users, and share project outcomes.

This group is a community formed to talk about undergraduate research. This group was started by an AALAC workshop at Bryn Mawr on Strategic Optimization: Focusing Undergraduate Research to Maximize Scholarship in Applied Mathematics.

The MURAL project and QUBES share complementary goals around expanding the use of computational tools to advance science and science education.

This summit is a conference of key project personnel, coming together to meet and exchange information about successful strategies used to advance biology and biology education across America. Projects funded through RCN-UBE contribute both to the discipline of biology and to the education of undergraduate biology students; they bring together faculty who would not normally but who communicate and interact in a variety of newly established networks.

The RCN-UBE Summit used their QUBES group to support their face-to-face meeting.

SIMIODE, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Cornwall, New York in the United States, was founded by DR Brian Winkel, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, United States Military Academy, West Point NY USA in 2013. For faculty members and students that want to focus on compelling applications, modeling, motivation for studying differential equations, and instructional technologies and make investigation of realistic scenarios possible, SIMIODE provides a comprehensive and cohesive community approach to studying differential equations. SIMIODE offers resources: instructional text, PowerPoint presentations, modeling scenarios, video, data, discussion areas, and space for projects, in two areas – student and teacher centers.

SIMIODE uses the QUBES project to reach new audiences and broaden the impacts of their project work.

Visual Classrooms is a cloud based active learning platform that promotes collaborative learning and engages students in team based critical and creative thinking.

Visual Classrooms uses their group space on QUBES to share information about their materials and recruit collaborators.