Eligibility​:

Faculty, research faculty, technical staff, postdoctoral scholars, and enrolled Ph.D. candidates from research institutions or national laboratories in the U.S. and abroad are eligible to apply. Individuals must hold an active appointment and be paid by their institution. Ongoing relevant research activity in either biology or mathematics/theory, or the potential for such, is desirable. Applicants from teaching-intensive colleges, minority-serving institutions, and non-PhD-granting institutions are encouraged to apply.​

 

Application:

Applications are currently accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. The formatting of all documents should be in 11-point font, single-spaced, with minimum 0.5-inch margins.

 

The review process typically requires three to four weeks. The processing time post-review may take up to six months for international or non-resident visitors who need a visa and up to two months for domestic visitors. Please consider this timing when submitting your application.

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Please note that non-U.S. citizens will need to obtain an appropriate visa or visa waiver and the purpose and duration of their visit will be limited to what the specific type of visa allows. Most international visitors will visit the NITMB with a WB visa waiver or B-1 visa, which allows independent research or independent academic collaborations and durations of up to 3 or 6 months. In addition, it is very important for international visitors to be covered by health insurance while in the U.S. The NITMB does not provide health insurance for participants.

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Materials needed for submission:

1. Participants' curricula vitae (NSF or NIH biosketch format may be used; 5 pages maximum)

2. A Research Plan (instructions below)

3. Postdoctoral scholar or PhD candidate participants should include a letter of institutional support from a principal investigator, department chair, or supervisor

 

Research Plan:
Please describe the proposed work of  your Focused Research Group by answering the following questions. Limit of 2 pages. Embedded figures are acceptable. A single individual should submit all materials on behalf of the group. The submission must include the group’s research plan and a biosketch for each participant.

• What is the central research question that the group proposes to investigate? What methodologies does the group plan to employ to address this question?

• What are the specifics and tangible goals you aim to achieve while at the NITMB? What key deliverables do you anticipate from your Focused Research Group?

• Why is this specific group of participants essential for the project’s success?

• When would you like to visit and for how long would you like to stay?

• What financial assistance are you requesting?

 

Additional Guidance:

• Review criteria for NITMB Focused Research Group funding are: (1) research encompassing different disciplines or subdisciplines; (2) ensuring the breadth of the NITMB research portfolio in both biology and mathematics; (3) encouraging creative, bold, high-risk high-reward research; and (4) supporting the development of new mathematics.

• The NITMB does not support medical and/or clinical sciences research.

• Non-U.S. citizens may need to obtain an appropriate visa or visa waiver and the purpose and duration of their visit will be limited to what the specific type of visa allows. Most international visitors will visit the NITMB with a WB visa waiver or B-1 visa, which allows short-term independent research or independent academic collaborations.  In addition, it is very important for international visitors to be covered by health insurance while in the U.S.  NITMB does not provide health insurance for visitors.

 

Expectations: NITMB Focused Research Group Award participants should…

• Engage in cross-disciplinary research, engaging both math and biology or both theory and experiments.

• Acknowledge NITMB support in relevant publications and products by adding the text:
   

This research was supported in part by grants from the NSF (DMS-2235451) and Simons Foundation (MPS-NITMB-00005320) to the NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB).