News

• NITMB Affiliate Membership | Applications Open
• Welcoming Summer Undergraduate Research Program Participants
• NITMB MathBio Convergence Conference | Registration Open
• Mathematical Modeling, Computational Methods, and Biological Fluid Dynamics: Research and Training | July 21 - 25, 2025
• Andrew Jones Affiliate Member Bio



Upcoming Events

• Microbial Communities: Energetics and Dynamics Across Space and Time | October 27 - 31, 2025
• Machine Learning of Cytoskeletal Machines (Cell Migration and Mitosis) | November 3 - 5, 2025
• Science + Tea at NITMB | Fridays at 3pm

Opportunities

• Workshop Proposals
• Visiting Scholars Program
• Long Program Proposals

Applications Due September 1st, 2025

We are accepting applications for NITMB's Affiliate Membership program! Affiliate Members are faculty external to Northwestern University and the University of Chicago who want to become regular and active participants in NITMB research, convening programs, and training. NITMB Affiliate Members gain access to the NITMB space, opportunities to shape programs, priority review of program applications, and more.

Apply Now

Welcome 2025 Summer Undergraduate Research Program Participants!

NITMB is excited to welcome the second annual cohort of the Institute's Summer Undergraduate Research Program! Under the mentorship of NITMB faculty, 12 students from institutions across the country will contribute to cutting-edge research at the interface between mathematics and biology.

Learn More

Registration Open!

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.

Learn More

Driving Discovery and Innovation Through Biofilms: A Conversation with Andrew Jones

Meet NITMB Affiliate Member Andrew Jones, assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke University!

Meet Andrew Jones

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

Microbial Communities: Energetics and Dynamics Across Space and Time

October 27-31, 2025

Explore energy balances and quantitative measurement of metabolic fluxes in microbial communities, thermodynamic and physiological constraints at the communities and species levels, and spatial and temporal dynamics of species and metabolites!

This workshop aims to develop an integrated theoretical and experimental framework that accounts for the energetics of microbial communities and their spatiotemporal dynamics. In each area, the workshop will examine the experimental challenges and explore possible theoretical approaches that can be applied.

Learn More

Machine Learning of Cytoskeletal Machines (Cell Migration and Mitosis)

November 3-5, 2025

Discover opportunities to use machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches in the study of cytoskeleton and mechanochemical machines driving cell movements and division!

This workshop will convene data scientists, experimental biologists, mathematical modelers and biophysicists using or interested in starting to use machine learning to study cytoskeletal dynamics, cell migration and mitosis. The workshop is structured to help participants identify the most promising opportunities for developing and using ML tools to answer biological questions.

Learn More

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

Learn More

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 focused program in a specific area of current research at the intersection of biological and mathematical sciences. NITMB workshops range from 2 to 5 days and typically have only a few formal talks, with the bulk of the time allocated for tutorials, 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