About
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 to 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 Foundations MP-TMPS-00005320.
Our Mission
The mission of the NITMB is to create a nationwide collaborative research community that will generate new mathematical results and uncover the “rules of life” through theories, data-informed mathematical models, and computational and statistical tools. The NITMB leverages close collaborations between experimentalists and theorists to synergize discovery. The fundamental research done by NITMB will stimulate advances in areas as diverse as the environment, medicine, and technology development. NITMB members and visitors share space in downtown Chicago that is readily accessible to collaborators across the U.S. and the world.
Our Strategy
NITMB uses an interlocking set of strategies and initiatives that help develop a diverse workforce while ensuring broad impacts on the mathematical and biological research communities.
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Targeted research bringing together mathematicians and biologists to collaborate and train the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists.
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Scientific long programs, workshops, and conferences enhancing collaboration between mathematics and biology.
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An innovative research program organized around five interrelated themes, selected because they reflect key capabilities of biological systems and interconnect with open mathematical problems.
Realizing our vision requires combining biological experimentation and new theories grounded in mathematics. Research supported by NITMB is structured so that theorists and experimentalists collaborate on experimental design and data analysis, as well as modeling. NITMB research also supports the development of new mathematics inspired by biology. Internal research projects support NITMB researchers and bring together faculty from participating institutions. A National Pilot Projects Program funds high-risk projects, each with a one-year funding period. The program's aim is to recruit new mathematical scientists and biologists into collaborating on seed projects. NITMB has an innovative research program organized around five interrelated themes, selected because they reflect key capabilities of biological systems and interconnect with open mathematical problems. These themes establish bridges across subdisciplines of biological and mathematical sciences, ensuring that research in one domain will support advances in the others. The themes also reflect our cross-disciplinary organizational structure, insuring that our training and community-building activities foster deep interactions across disciplines.
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MEDIA CONTACT
Megan Fellman, Media Relations
Global Marketing and Communications