On Friday, November 3, the NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology held its inaugural kickoff workshop at the Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center on Northwestern’s downtown Chicago medical school campus. More than 150 curious mathematicians and scientists, including many students and visitors from the NSF, filled the auditorium. Each of the theme leaders organized a 45 minute session of short talks to highlight the research opportunities. They also led brainstorming sessions that generated pages of ideas, requests, suggestions from the day’s participants. The workshop started before 9am, and it continued into the evening with a reception, and the informal opportunity to mingle with old and new friends.