The BIOMATH2015-S International conference was organised and hosted by the SARChI Chair M³B² and the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics from 13 to 17 July 2015. The background of this conference can be traced back to the meeting involving the International Steering Committee and participants of the BIOMATH2012. It was decided to extend the BIOMATH experience by occasionally organizing satellite conferences outside of Bulgaria. This first ever satellite, multidisciplinary BIOMATH conference attracted 40 participants from 6 countries and 9 South African institutions of higher education.  

Prof Burton, Vice-Principal Research and Postgraduate Studies, gave the opening address with Prof Beschkov speaking on behalf of the Bulgarian Academy of Science (BAS). The conference included a wide range of invited keynote speakers and paper contributions. The keynote speakers, who are among the best-reputed experts in their fields, were Professors Venco Beschkov (Institute of Chemical Engineering, BAS, Bulgaria), Samuel Bowong (University of Douala, Cameroon), Yves Dumont (CIRAD, France), Hristo Kojouharov (University of Texas at Arlington, USA) and Alun Lloyd (North Carolina State University, USA).

As a theme of this meeting emphasis was placed on providing access and scientific support to young scientists and researchers. Specifically in developing and applying mathematical and computational tools to study phenomena in the broad fields of life sciences. The ‘young scientist’ theme was accentuated with a dinner prepared by students from the University of Pretoria, Department of Consumer Science. This was reinforced when Mr Yibeltal Terefe (University of Pretoria) presented his PhD oral defense at the end of the conference.

Presentations were multidisciplinary in nature and included applications of mathematics in areas such as biology, ecology, medicine, bioengineering and environmental sciences. A wide range of research work on vector born disease was presented. Some particular examples include Prof Beschkov (with a background in Chemical Engineering) speaking on Microbial processes in immoblised cell system; Ms Manyuchi (with an Engineering background) presenting her work on Bionutrient removal using acti-zymes; Dr Hoareau from the Genetics Department who spoke about Parameter estimation in population genetics and Dr Ngonghala (Havard Medical School) presenting his work on Ecological drivers of poverty and economic growth. Six of the presented papers were projects initiated during the 2^nd Joint University of South Africa (Unisa)-University of Pretoria (UP) workshop organized by the DST/NRF SARChI Chair M³B² in March 2015.

All presenters will have an opportunity to submit their work to four reputable journals including the ISI listed Mathematics and Computers in Simulation.

The organisers of the BIOMATH2015 Satellite International conference are very grateful to the sponsors: DST/NRF SARChI Chair M³B² and the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Pretoria. Thanks are also addressed to the International Steering Committee of BIOMATH (Bulgaria) for giving us the opportunity to share the BIOMATH experience.

For further information see: http://www.up.ac.za/biomath2015-s