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Northwestern to receive $50 million to study life sciences using mathematics

New institute will be an international hub focused on fundamental questions

  • University of Chicago is key partner
  • Institute will be located in downtown Chicago
  • Discoveries in biology will spur new developments in math; new math will advance biology
  • Work to include educational outreach, bridging diversity gap

EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern University has been awarded $50 million over five years from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Simons Foundation to establish the National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB), to be based in downtown Chicago. The institute will be the first of its kind in the U.S.

Mathematics has the potential to distill biology’s complexity and predict future phenomena. NITMB researchers from across disciplines will develop and use math to investigate some of the most important fundamental questions in the life sciences. And the institute offers bidirectional opportunities: Discoveries in biology also will motivate new developments in mathematics.

The University of Chicago (UChicago) is Northwestern’s key partner in this initiative. Together, the two universities will 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 institute also will foster international collaborations at the interface of the mathematical and biological sciences, helping establish a vibrant worldwide research network for decades to come.

“We are delighted to partner with the University of Chicago on another groundbreaking interdisciplinary endeavor,” Northwestern President Michael Schill said. “Through deliberate and intentional research collaboration, we can have a greater impact on our region and society.”

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Scientific images

The National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology will achieve foundational advances that include a mathematical understanding of how living systems learn and adapt (fruit fly brain image), how collective behaviors emerge when consortia of individual cells interact (frog embryo image) and how living systems create order and regularity from less ordered origins (fruit fly eye image).

An embryo of a frog with highlighted cells emerging to form body structures unique to all vertebrate species. Credit C. LaBonne
An embryo of a frog with highlighted cells emerging to form body structures unique to all vertebrate species. Credit C. LaBonne
The brain of a young fruit fly showing a subset of its nerves in red. Credit R. Carthew
The brain of a young fruit fly showing a subset of its nerves in red. Credit R. Carthew
The developing fruit fly eye has a moving wave behind which cells self organize into a lattice pattern of photoreceptors (purple). Credit R. Carthew
The developing fruit fly eye has a moving wave behind which cells self organize into a lattice pattern of photoreceptors (purple). Credit R. Carthew
A collage of images showing magnified views of organisms including the brain of a fruit fly larva, the cells and structure of a fruit fly eye, and equations describing some of the biological processes involved. Credit: Richard Carthew/Northwestern University/U.S. National Science Foundation
A collage of images showing magnified views of organisms including the brain of a fruit fly larva, the cells and structure of a fruit fly eye, and equations describing some of the biological processes involved. Credit: Richard Carthew/Northwestern University/U.S. National Science Foundation

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