Generalised and instance-specific modelling for biological systems

Biological, ecological and environmental systems are difficult to model. Due to the complexity of the relevant entities their behaviour is hard to capture. Moreover, due to the evolutionary behaviour of the biological entities and assumption-dependent non-linearities, models are valid in only a limited condition range and time frame. This paper introduces the concepts of generalised and instance-specific models, and their relevance for biological, ecological and environmental systems. For each concept, a modelling approach from the field of AI is introduced. The concepts are illustrated in two modelling applications in the waste water domain, one for opportunistic modelling and one for resource allocation.