In epidemiology and ecology, models are typically developed along one of two directions: directly from available data, incorporating as much empirical records as possible, or conceptually as dynamical systems, incorporating data via estimation of parameters. The means of investigation for these model classes are quite distinct, and an important methodological problem is the reconciliation of a priori method-independent issues when they are described in different terms.

The two main objectives of this workshop are to i. start the interactions for the Thematic Year, by breaking community/network barriers between the practitioners of different modeling techniques and approaches, and ii. follow up on activities held at the CRM on related topics in the recent past (on Statistical Methods, in March 2007 and March 2010). A non-exclusive emphasis has been put on zoonotic diseases, given the concentrated expertise at Université de Montréal, through the Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, and the significance and novelty of the problems they entail.

The sessions of this three-day workshop will group the different technical approaches in modeling: dynamical systems with parameter estimation including variability, empirical models (some based on geographical information systems) of zoonotic diseases, and methodological issues in surveillance and data incorporation in epidemiological models.