News

• Summer Undergraduate Research Program | Applications Due January 26, 2026
• NITMB on the Road
• Focused Research Group Awards
• Guowei Wei Affiliate Member Bio



Upcoming Events

• NITMB Seminar Series
• Expanding the Palette of Mathematics in Biology | January 20 - 22, 2026
• Modularity of Biological Systems | April 13 - 17, 2026 | Applications Open
• Evolutionary Games: Mathematical Theory and Biological Insights | May 11 - 15, 2026 | Applications open

Opportunities

• Workshop Proposals | Next round of proposals due February 15, 2026
• Visitor Program
• Long Program Proposals

Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Applications Due January 26, 2026

Applications for NITMB's 2026 Summer Undergraduate Research Program are open now! Our program offers summer fellowships to undergraduates to engage in research at the interface between mathematics and biology. Students majoring in mathematics, biology, statistics, computer science, or related fields are invited to participate in hands-on laboratory or computational research that applies quantitative concepts and methodology to understanding mechanisms in biology. Selected students will be matched with an NITMB faculty mentor.

Learn More

NITMB on the Road

NITMB and University of Chicago faculty member Arvind Murugan answering questions for those curious about the institute at the Cell-Bio Meeting in Philadelphia.

The NITMB has taken it on the road! With the goal of broadening our reach throughout the country and the world, we are traveling to major conferences to introduce ourselves and invite researchers at the mathematics-biology intersection to engage with our community.

This past November, NITMB was at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego, California and ABRCMS in San Antonio, Texas; in December, at the Cell-Bio meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and in January, 2026 we will be at the Joint Math Meeting (JMM) in Washington, DC.

Left: Ethan Baxter (PhD Candidate, Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University) presenting his poster at the Society for Neuroscience Conference in San Diego. 

Center: Na'Koshia Banks (Program Coordinator, NITMB) and Paula Trautvetter (Senior Program Coordinator for Communications & Scholars, NITMB) representing NITMB at the Society for Neuroscience Conference in San Diego.

Right: Julie Des Jardins (Associate Director, Engagement & Community, NITMB) representing NITMB at the ABRCMS Conference in San Antonio. 

NITMB faculty and staff will continue to spread the word to researchers at the Biophysical Society meeting in San Francisco in February, 2026; COSYNE (Lisbon, Portugal), and the American Society for Molecular Biology and Biochemistry meeting (Washington, DC) in March, 2026; the Genetics Society of America (Pacific Grove, CA) in June, 2026; and the SIAM/Life Science meeting (Cleveland, Ohio), Society of Mathematical Biology meeting (Graz, Austria), and the International Conference of Mathematicians (ICM) (Philadelphia) next July. We will also host a satellite conference of ICM in August of 2026.

Are you part of a research team that works on a project at intersections of mathematical and biological fields?

We're excited to announce NITMB's Focused Research Group Awards! These awards:

• Support the in-person gathering of small teams (e.g., 3-6 people) for independent research
• Provides office space and meeting rooms at NITMB in downtown Chicago
• Covers non-local travel, lodging, and meals for stays up to 9 days. Teams may apply to return to continue their collaborations.
• Open to researchers in pure and applied mathematics, basic biological sciences, and related fields

We welcome mathematicians in areas of mathematics not traditionally used in biological contexts or who wish to learn more about opportunities for mathematics in the biological sciences. We also welcome biologists who wish to learn how to employ specific mathematical and computational approaches in their research.

Learn More and Apply

Developing mathematical tools to drive biological discovery

Meet Guowei Wei, MSU Foundation Professor of Mathematics, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology at Michigan State University!

Meet Guowei Wei

If you'd like to be featured in a future newsletter, please contact NITMB's Digital Media Specialist, Ben Stemen (stemenb@uchicago.edu)

January NITMB Seminars

Join us virtually or in-person at NITMB for the next entries in the NITMB Seminar Series! Seminars will resume January 16th, 2026.

The NITMB Seminar Series brings together a mix of mathematicians and biologist to foster discussion and collaboration between the two fields. Seminars take place on Fridays from 10am - 11am at the NITMB in the John Hancock Center in downtown Chicago.

Learn More

Expanding the Palette of Mathematics in Biology

January 20 - 22, 2026

Explore biological questions in new theoretical ways and give rise to new mathematical problems!

This workshop will bring together mathematicians working on areas not traditionally associated with "mathematical biology" and biologists interested in exploring their biological questions in new theoretical ways. The goal is to identify specific biological questions that could be viewed from different mathematical lenses, and to foster mutual interaction between the two groups.

Learn More

Applications Open:

Evolutionary Games: Mathematical Theory and Biological Insights

May 11 - 15, 2026

Join us for an exploration of how evolutionary game theory (EGT) helps us understand competition, cooperation, and behavior across biological, social, and artificial systems!

This workshop will bring together an interdisciplinary community of EGT researchers to chart new directions for theory and applications. A primary aim of the workshop is to stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration and expand the methodological scope of EGT to frequency-dependent problems across scales.

Learn More

Next round of proposals due February 15th, 2026

We invite researchers to propose a Scientific Workshop to be hosted in downtown Chicago at NITMB.

Workshops at NITMB:

• Tackle timely and pivotal research questions at the intersection of mathematics and biology
• Receive full administrative and financial support from NITMB, including lodging, travel, and local support for all non-local participants
• Generally, convene for 2 to 5 days and host 20-75 participants
• Include discussions, brainstorming, and small group launches of new research projects

Propose a Workshop

Are you faculty, research faculty, technical staff, a postdoctoral scholar, or an enrolled PhD candidate engaged in research in biological or mathematical fields?

Consider the Visitor Program of the NITMB, which provides:

• Opportunities for researchers outside the host institutions of Northwestern University and the University of Chicago to engage deeply with NITMB
• Funding for non-local researchers to come from their home institutions to NITMB in downtown Chicago
• Full access to NITMB’s science programs and facilities



Apply Now

Consider proposing a long program to be hosted in downtown Chicago by the NITMB!

Long Programs at NITMB:

• Consist of 4-10 weeks of concentrated activity in a specific area of current research interest at the intersections of biological and mathematical fields
• Receive full administrative and financial support of NITMB, including lodging, travel, and local support for all non-local participants
• Include multiple 2-5 day workshops, each hosting 25-75 participants
• Offer an opportunity to be in residence at NITMB to conduct research, collaborate with NITMB faculty and fellows, train students, and engage with affiliated visitors

Propose a Long Program