 My name is Antonio Cialani. I am a statistical physicist who has been bewitched by biology. What fascinates me is that behind the great diversity of life forms, there is a remarkable universality. Indeed, all organs, from bacteria to humans, have to face the same challenges, understand the other world, and thus make appropriate decisions. The efficiency in performing these tasks makes all the difference between life and death. A wonderful example is how animals search for food, or for mates, by using visual, mechanical, or chemical cues. I think that animal behavior, from individuals to societies, is an exciting subject for research, which will greatly benefit from the integration of different disciplines, from physics, chemistry, and biology, to computer science and economics. The quantitative life sciences section at ICTP is the perfect place to pursue this integration. My name is Matteo Marcilli. I'm a theoretical physicist and I'm interested in understanding collective behavior in all kind of systems, from bacteria to ecologies, and economies, and financial markets. Currently, we are two staff scientists, and we do research with past students, PhD students, and postdoctoral fellows. We also supervise and collaborate with visiting scientists from developing countries. In our section, there are two main activities that we carry out every year. One is aimed at younger researchers, especially from developing countries, and it's a winter school in quantitative systems biology. The second activity is a spring college in physics of complex systems, targeted to master students and early PhD students. We think of ourselves as a bridge from a theoretical physicist and a life scientist.