News

Call for Proposals: External Project Grants | Due March 31, 2025
New Internal Research Projects
Emerging Directions Workshop | Feb. 17 - 21, 2025
Oni Basu Member Bio
Orlando Arguello-Miranda Spotlight
Andrea Liu Spotlight

Upcoming Events

New Developments in the Theory and Methodology of Graph Neural Networks | April 29 - 30, 2025
Mathematics of the Origin of Life and Self-Organized Complexity | May 19 - 23, 2025
NITMB MathBio Convergence Conference | August 11 - 14, 2025
NITMB Seminar Series
Science + Tea at NITMB | Fridays at 3pm

Opportunities

Workshop Proposals
Visiting Scholars Program
Long Program Proposals

Call for Proposals: External Project Grants

Funding Period 9/1/25 - 8/31/27

Applications Due March 31st, 2025

The NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology requests proposals for research projects concordant with its scientific mission based at institutional partners external to Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.

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New Internal Research Projects Announced

The NSF-Simons NITMB is proud to share the titles, abstracts, and teams of new internal research projects aimed at fulfilling NITMB's scientific mission.

Explore new NITMB-Supported Research

Upcoming Workshop - Emerging Directions Workshop

February 17 - 21, 2025

Experience NITMB, discover available opportunities, and contribute to discussions that will establish the directions NITMB will pursue in 2025 and beyond.

Held annually in the winter, the Emerging Directions Workshop is discussion-based and thematically very broad. Open problems in biology are presented by leading researchers, who share their high-level perspective. These invited speakers are also chosen because they can productively and enthusiastically engage with the many questions and comments from the diverse workshop audience that includes junior researchers and curious mathematicians.

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Exploring complexity in biological systems

Meet NITMB member Oni Basu, associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago!

Learn About Oni Basu

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

Studying cell division to benefit humanity

Meet Orlando Arguello-Miranda, assistant pfoessor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at North Carolina State University!

Learn About Orlando Arguello-Miranda

Want to nominate a researcher for an NITMB spotlight? Contact NITMB's Digital Media Specialist, Ben Stemen (stemenb@uchicago.edu)

Many more is different

Meet Andrea Liu, Hepburn Professor of Physics at the University of Pennsylvania!

Learn About Andrea Liu

Want to nominate a researcher for an NITMB spotlight? Contact NITMB's Digital Media Specialist, Ben Stemen (stemenb@uchicago.edu)

New Developments in the Theory and Methodology of Graph Neural Networks

April 29 - 30, 2025

Join us for a two-day workshop seeking to produce a collaborative white paper that synthesizes discussions, highlights key open questions, and outlines promising research directions in the theory and applications of Graph Neural Networks (GNNs)!

This workshop brings together researchers from statistics, computer science and computational biology to explore the theoretical and practical aspects of GNNs. This workshop will feature a series of focused deep-dive sessions, each dedicated to a core topic. These sessions will integrate expert talks with interactive discussions and structured brainstorming activities, led by small groups of participants, to foster collaboration and innovative thinking.

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Mathematics of the Origin of Life and Self-Organized Complexity

May 19-23, 2025

Explore the origin of life through a mathematical perspective, viewing life as a generic emergent phenomenon.

Theorists and experimentalists interested in emergent complexity, specifically in the contexts of the origin of life, self-organization, and self-assembly, are invited to join us for this week-long workshop. The program will center on themes including mathematics of the origin of life, frontiers in self-assembly, and mathematical descriptions of emergent complexity.

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August 11 - 14, 2025

Join us for the NITMB MathBio Convergence Conference, an international forum for the presentation and discussion of research at the frontier between biology and mathematics! We'll explore challenging problems in biology that are inspiring new mathematics, statistics, theory and computation, as well as mathematics that is generating important insights in biology.

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Join us for the next entries in the NITMB Seminar Series! 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. There will be both an in-person and virtual component.

February 7 - Sara Solla, professor of Neuroscience and of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University.

February 14 - Nisha Chandramoorthy, assistant professor, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago

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Join us every Friday at 3pm for a weekly social event at the NITMB office. Cookies, Cuppa, and Chalk. Come science-alize (science + socialize)!

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We invite the proposals for scientific workshops to be held at the NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology. A Scientific Workshop is a week-long, focused program in a specific area of current research at the intersection of biological and mathematical sciences. NITMB workshops typically have only a few formal talks, with the bulk of the time allocated for discussions, brainstorming, informal chalk talks, and initiating research projects within smaller groups. Scientific workshops receive full administrative and financial support from the Institute.

Propose a Workshop

Participants in the Visiting Scholars program will be appointed for an extended period to visit and work in the NITMB headquarters and participate in the vibrant intellectual life of the NITMB, including workshops, seminars, tutorials, and research-in-progress meetings. NITMB Visiting Scholars will be granted a shared office and, upon request, may also be affiliated with one or more of the NITMB's research groups.

Apply Now

Long Programs offer the opportunity for faculty, postdocs, and students to be in residence at the NITMB. Those in residence conduct research, collaborate with NITMB faculty and NITMB fellows, provide training opportunities for students, and engage with additional visitors. Long Programs address one or more of our five research themes over the course of 4-10 weeks. Long programs receive administrative and financial support from the Institute, allowing organizers to focus on the scientific aspects of the activities.

Propose a Long Program

The NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB) aims to integrate the disciplines of mathematics and biology in order to transform the practice of biological research and inspire new mathematical discoveries.

NITMB is a partnership between Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. It is funded by the National Science Foundation DMS-2235451 and the Simons Foundation MP-TMPS-00005320.