Long program on Theory and Mathematics in Neuroscience at the National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB) in Chicago
Andrew Fink
Dear colleagues,
Brent Doiron, James Fitzgerald, Stephanie Palmer, and I are organizing a long program on Theory and Mathematics in Neuroscience at the National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB) in Chicago in Fall 2026.
For those who have not encountered it before, the NITMB is a relatively new NSF-Simons institute, jointly operated by Northwestern and the University of Chicago, whose mission is to bridge mathematics and biology across a wide range of fields.
The long program has several components that we hope will be of interest to this community. Most centrally, we are recruiting a core cohort of graduate students and postdocs to be in residence at the NITMB for six weeks, from October 5 to November 15, 2026. If you are a graduate student or post-doc doing theoretical or computational work, please apply, and if you know someone who might be interested, please pass this message on to them.
Trainees will participate in:
- a Junior Scientist Workshop,
- three conferences on the intersections of neuroscience with dynamical systems, geometry, and probability,
- dedicated conference after-sessions for trainees,
- and in-residence research projects.
Applications for the trainee cohort are now open and are due June 1:
https://www.nitmb.org/theory-and-mathematics-in-neuroscience-scientific-focus
The three conferences, on Dynamics in Neuroscience, Geometry in Neuroscience, and Probability in Neuroscience, will also include additional participants beyond the trainee cohort. Applications for those conferences will open soon. We hope that many trainees and senior researchers in the field will consider attending one or more of them.
Finally, the NITMB also has a Visitor Program for researchers who would like to spend extended time at the institute during the long program. Six visiting faculty members will be in residence for two weeks each: Mitya Chklovskii, Carina Curto, Adrienne Fairhall, David Lipshutz, Ashok Litwin-Kumar, and Jacob Zavatone-Veth. More information about the Visitor Program is available here:
https://www.nitmb.org/research/visitor-program
Please feel free to reach out with any questions, and please share this announcement with others who might be interested.
With thanks,
Andrew
--
Assistant Professor of Neurobiology
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Office: (847) 491-2809
Email: andre...@northwestern.edu
Lab webpage: https://sites.northwestern.edu/finklab/