News

• NITMB Affiliate Membership | Applications Open
• Welcome 2026 Summer Undergraduate Research Program students
• NITMB-supported research on microbial interdependence
• Extreme Events in Biological Function workshop recordings
• Tahra Eissa Affiliate Member spotlight



Upcoming Events

• NITMB MathBio Ideathon | August 10 - 12, 2026 | Local Applications Still Being Accepted
• Spin Glass Theory and High-Dimensional Landscapes in Biology | Local Applications Still Being Accepted
• Biological Function in Space and Time: From Forces and Cues to Emerging Decision-making in Fates, States, and Shapes | Local Applications Still Being Accepted
• NITMB Scientific Focus: Theory and Mathematics in Neuroscience | October 5 - November 15, 2026
• Image-Based Scientific Machine Learning for for Theories of Biological Dynamics Across Scales | February 1 - March 12, 2027 | Applications Accepted on a Rolling Basis

Opportunities

• Focused Research Group Awards
• Workshop Proposals
• Visitor Program
• Long Program Proposals

Applications Open: NITMB Affiliate Membership

Are you a faculty member member or researcher who works at the interface of mathematics and biology?



Consider NITMB's Affiliate Member Program!

• Participate in the NITMB community, including convening programs, seminars, and engage deeply with NITMB scholars
• Access NITMB's facilities in the John Hancock Center in downtown Chicago
• Receive travel award (for non-local members) to and from NITMB

Learn More

Welcome 2026 Summer Undergraduate Research Program students!

We're excited to welcome 15 undergraduate students to NITMB this summer as part of the 2026 cohort of the Summer Undergraduate Research Program. The undergraduates will engage in research at the interface between mathematics and biology while participating in hands-on laboratory or computational research. Over the course of the summer, they will practice applying quantitative concepts and methodology to understanding mechanisms in biology.

We can't wait to see all that this year's students accomplish!

NITMB-supported research explores how environments encourage interdependence in microbial communities

NITMB faculty member Sergei Maslov (Professor and Bliss Faculty Scholar, Bioengineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) and colleagues published a paper highlighting how environments can encourage interdependence in microbial communities.

The research, supported in part by NITMB, explores the critical role of higher-order interactions and resource dependencies in maintaining the diversity and stability of microbial ecosystems dominated by auxotrophs.

Learn More

Uncovering how the brain makes decisions with computational methods

Meet Tahra Eissa, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine!

Meet Tahra Eissa

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

Local Applications Still Being Accepted:

NITMB MathBio Ideathon

August 10 - 12, 2026

Engage in focused discussion and create collaborative research projects at the interface between biology and mathematics, theory, and computation!

Participants will contribute their vision concerning unsolved problems in their respective fields, organize into teams to address the most promising collaborative approaches, and summarize research plans they think are most likely to be successful.

Learn More

Local Applications Still Being Accepted:

Spin Glass Theory and High-Dimensional Landscapes in Biology

August 24 - 28, 2026

Cultivate a shared language and foster concrete collaborations based on the theoretical foundation of spin glasses to produce paradigm-shifting advances!

By uniting mathematicians, physicists, and biologists, this workshop seeks to seed a new, interdisciplinary field capable of tackling previously intractable problems in evolution, neuroscience, and immunology.

Learn More

Local Applications Still Being Accepted:

Biological Function in Space and Time: From Forces and Cues to Emerging Decision-making in Fates, States, and Shapes

September 14 - 18, 2026

Explore how biological systems leverage dynamics and spatial extension to achieve functions, transforming physical cues into decisions!

The goal of this workshop is to bring together experimental biologists, specialists in data analysis and theorists to identify current challenges, establish collaborations, and discuss strategies to advance our understanding of how biological systems maintain and organize function across space and time.

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NITMB Scientific Focus: Theory and Mathematics in Neuroscience

October 5 - November 15, 2026

Join us for a six-week long program comprising a junior scientist workshop, a trio of focused conferences, and a collection of collaborative projects at NITMB!

Together, these coordinated events are intended to bring emerging and established investigators into sustained conversation around three branches of mathematics that increasingly shape modern neuroscience: dynamics, geometry, and probability.

Learn More

Applications Accepted on a Rolling Basis:

Image-Based Scientific Machine Learning for Theories of Biological Dynamics Across Scales

February 1 - March 12, 2027

Accelerate the development of image-based scientific machine learning for biological dynamics!

Such approaches will enable "learning the laws" of biology directly from experimental images and movies, yielding new insight into how complex forms and behaviors emerge and evolve from the scales of sub-cellular structures to whole organs. We aim to (rapidly) bring together physicists, computer scientists, mathematicians and biologists to build on the current momentum in this evolving field.

Learn More

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

Consider applying for an NITMB Focused Research Group Award!

• Supports 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

Learn More

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