News

• NITMB MathBio Convergence Conference | Registration Open
• Call for Proposals: External Project Grants | Due March 31, 2025
• NITMB Members Awarded Sloan Fellowships
• Biological Systems that Learn Recap
• New Developments in the Theory and Methodology of Graph Neural Networks | April 29 - 30, 2025
• Krešimir Josić Spotlight



Upcoming Events

• Mathematics of the Origin of Life and Self-Organized Complexity | May 19 - 23, 2025
• Modeling and Theory in Population Biology | June 2 - 6, 2025
• NITMB Seminar Series
• Science + Tea at NITMB | Fridays at 3pm

Opportunities

• Workshop Proposals
• Visiting Scholars Program
• Long Program Proposals

Registration, Abstract Submission and

Travel Award Applications now 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.

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Call for Proposals: External Project Grants

Funding Period 9/1/25 - 8/31/27

Applications Due March 31st, 2025

The NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology requests proposals for research projects concordant with its scientific mission based at institutional partners external to Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.

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Two NSF-Simons NITMB Members Awarded Prestigious Sloan Research Fellowships

NITMB members Niall Mangan and Jeremy Hoskins have been awarded prestigious 2025 Sloan Research Fellowships. Sloan Research Fellowships are one of the most competitive awards available to early-career researchers. The fellowships will allow Mangan and Hoskins to further their innovative research.

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Expanding the NITMB community and driving collaboration at the Biological Systems that Learn workshop



Discover how attending the Biological Systems that Learn workshop is impacting workshop participants, the future of their research, and their engagement with the NITMB community.

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Studying collective behavior in bacteria and humans: A conversation with Krešimir Josić

Meet Krešimir Josić, John and Rebecca Moores Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Houston!

Learn About Krešimir Josić

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

Mathematics of the Origin of Life and Self-Organized Complexity

May 19-23, 2025

Explore the origin of life through a mathematical perspective, viewing life as a generic emergent phenomenon.

Theorists and experimentalists interested in emergent complexity, specifically in the contexts of the origin of life, self-organization, and self-assembly, are invited to join us for this week-long workshop. The program will center on themes including mathematics of the origin of life, frontiers in self-assembly, and mathematical descriptions of emergent complexity.

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Modeling and Theory in Population Biology

June 2-6, 2025

Build a community of theoretical population biologists that spans biological subdisciplines, and uncover promising new directions where modeling and theory can make a difference in studying new types of biological data obtained at the level of populations.

This workshop aims to crystallize central ideas common across mathematical modeling and theory in population biology; to disseminate mathematical innovations from one biological subdiscipline to another; to promote mathematical studies at intersections among biological subdisciplines, and to deepen interactions among scientists working on similar problems but separated by disciplinary structures within biology, or between biology and mathematical sciences.

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Join us for the next entries in the NITMB Seminar Series! The NITMB Seminar Series brings together a mix of mathematicians and biologist to foster discussion and collaboration between the two fields. Seminars take place on Fridays from 10am - 11am at the NITMB in the John Hancock Center in downtown Chicago. There will be both an in-person and virtual component.

March 7 - Luis Bettencourt, Professor, Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago

April 11 - Elizabeth Jerison, assistant professor, Physics, University of Chicago

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

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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 week-long, focused program in a specific area of current research at the intersection of biological and mathematical sciences. NITMB workshops typically have only a few formal talks, with the bulk of the time allocated for 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