Stochastic processes as scientific instruments: efficient inference based on stochastic dynamical systems

Abstract: Questions about the mechanistic operation of biological systems are naturally formulated as stochastic processes, but confronting such models with data can be challenging.  In this talk, I describe the essence of the difficulty, highlighting both the technical issues and the importance of the “plug-and-play property”.  I then illustrate some effective approaches to efficient inference based on such models.  I conclude by sketching promising new developments and describing some open problems.