subsection_Introducing_models_what_are__.tex

\subsection{Introducing models: what are models \& models are important}

Modelling and simulation are tools to better understand the world around us [Lander2010, Tyson2015, Stanford Encyclopedia]. Computational, theoretical, and philosophically-inclined biologists agree on this. And it is becoming increasingly clear that modelling and simulation are indispensable for advancing biology [REF]. One only needs to think of the myriad of pattern analysis algorithms in the various omics disciplines; the statistical and evolutionary models used in phylogenetics and phylogenomics; the strong tradition of mathematical models in behaviour, ecology, and evolution; and the dynamic models in systems and synthetic biology. This increasing relevance of models and simulations is reflected in the development of user-friendly software that assist the non-expert, e.g. [REF Netlogo, Copasi, Cytoscape, CompuCell, and MatCont for Matlab], and the initiatives for formal languages and standardized guidelines to describe models (SBML, CellML, BioPAX) [REFS] and simulations (SED-ML, MIRIAM) [REFS].