(Press-News.org) Building a mathematics-based understanding of biology at all scales of life — from individual cells to interactions between species — is the goal of a new $50 million institute supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation in partnership with the Simons Foundation. The two organizations are each providing $25 million to launch the National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB). The institute will bring together experts across the mathematical and biological sciences to explore research challenges related to a broad range of topics and industries, such as the environment, biomedicine and biotechnology.
The institute will be led by Northwestern University in collaboration with the University of Chicago and will conduct interdisciplinary research for at least five years. The overarching aim is to uncover the fundamental principles governing life through the creation of new mathematical theories, data-informed models and computational and statistical tools. The institute will target promising and challenging areas of exploration: how organisms learn and adapt to change, how the functioning of genes and molecular signals produce a fully formed individual from a single cell, how the behavior of living things is generated by neuron-level activity in the brain, and more.
"Breakthroughs in the mathematical sciences have allowed humanity to understand and do things previously thought to be impossible, like safely traveling to the moon or accurately predicting storms," says NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "The National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology is a bold effort to further grow the unique power of mathematics and biology to help address some of society's greatest challenges, like sustainable agriculture, preventing pandemics and mitigating the effects of climate change."
"As Eugene Wigner famously said, the 'unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics' can advance science like nothing else," says Simons Foundation President David Spergel. "Accordingly, this new institute holds the possibility of transforming our understanding of biology through mathematics. We are pleased to partner with NSF in supporting an effort that will be led by two great institutions and will not only produce great science, but help train a generation of researchers to be bilingual in mathematics and biology."
Modern advances in the biological sciences have given rise to veritable oceans of available data describing organisms whale-sized to microscopic at all stages of life. That growing body of data presents opportunities for new mathematical approaches for analyzing complex biological data and the development of mathematical models capable of finding as yet unseen aspects of biological phenomena and principles. The institute will serve as a collaborative nexus between mathematical and biological scientists at institutions in several states, including minority-serving institutions and emerging research institutions. Led by NITMB, those institutions will create a national-level community of researchers through joint research projects and other collaborative activities that create new data and novel approaches to biological questions.
Educational outreach and workforce development are also key components of the new institute, which will provide training and mentorship for over 300 undergraduate and graduate students and over 100 early career postdoctoral researchers. The institute will conduct extensive educational outreach activities with local middle school students through a collaboration which pairs grade-school students with graduate student mentors for a full year of hands-on learning and projects. The institute will also train local middle and high school teachers in how to incorporate new mathematical and biological advances into their classroom lessons.
The National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology is supported by NSF through its Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate and Biological Sciences Directorate.
END
New $50 million institute aims to use the power of math to model, predict biological processes
The National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology will bring together mathematical and biological scientists to make new advances in challenging and potentially high-reward research areas
2023-09-14
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Preventing ground collapse through new AI-based monitoring
2023-09-14
As severe urban overcrowding is trending worldwide many underground development projects are being carried out in metropolitan centers worldwide. South Korea has experienced problems such as aging underground facilities and inaccurate information management due to rapid urban development since the 1970s and 1980s. Accident prevention has become a major challenge since accidents in underground spaces have occurred due to various causes.
The Korean government is undertaking projects to digitize underground facilities and ground information and establish a 3D underground space information database to prevent ...
Nation’s first dual degree in medicine and AI aims to prepare the next generation of health care providers
2023-09-14
The Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) and the University College at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) are officially launching the first known program in the United States to combine medicine and artificial intelligence. A Doctor of Medicine (MD) from UT Health San Antonio and a Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (MSAI) from UTSA will form a five-year MD/MS program enabling physicians trained in San Antonio to uniquely lead in the practical use of artificial intelligence to improve diagnostic and treatment ...
Worse results and more drop-outs when teaching is in English
2023-09-14
Using English as the language of instruction in higher education has a marked negative impact on learning outcomes when it is not the students’ first language, according to a new study from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. When 2,000 Swedish students were divided up into English-language and Swedish-language versions of an introductory course in programming, those students who were taught in English obtained much worse results, and more dropped out of the course prematurely.
English is increasingly used as a global language of instruction in higher education, known as English Medium Instruction or ...
Lack of maternal care affects development, microbiome and health of wild bees
2023-09-14
TORONTO, Sept. 14, 2023 – Most wild bees are solitary, but one tiny species of carpenter bees fastidiously cares for and raises their offspring, an act that translates into huge benefits to the developing bee’s microbiome, development and health, found York University researchers.
Not unlike the positive affect human mothers can have on their offspring, the maternal care of these carpenter bees (Ceratina calcarata) staves off an overabundance of harmful fungi, bacteria, viruses and parasites in the earliest stage of development.
Without maternal care the pathogen load of these ...
Pollination by more than one bee species improves cherry harvest
2023-09-14
To obtain the biggest cherry harvest, trees should be pollinated by both honey bees and mason bees. A new study led by a researcher at the University of Gothenburg shows yet another benefit of biodiversity.
Like many other fruit trees, most sweet cherry cultivars depend on cross-pollination to produce their fruit. This means that there need to be several different cultivars of sweet cherry trees in an orchard for the bees to transport pollen from one to another.
“Sweet cherry trees are usually planted in alternate rows of different cultivars. In some cases, you can put different cultivars in the same row, but ...
New foresight report identifies urgent policy actions needed to put SDGs back on track
2023-09-14
Ahead of the UN’s SDG Summit (18-19 September), Earth4All, an international team of economists and scientists, and the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), unveil groundbreaking research showing that policymakers can ensure the implementation of SDGs by 2050. The report ‘SDGs for All: Strategic scenarios’ equips policymakers with practical solutions designed to accelerate SDG implementation and to respond to the planetary emergency. It concludes that policymakers can step up the implementation of the SDGs by 2030 and beyond ...
The fourth wave of the US overdose crisis: fentanyl and stimulants
2023-09-14
New research published in the scientific journal Addiction has found that the proportion of US overdose deaths involving both fentanyl and stimulants has increased more than 50-fold since 2010, from 0.6% (235 deaths) in 2010 to 32.3% (34,429 deaths) in 2021. By 2021, stimulants (such as cocaine and methamphetamine) had become the most common drug class found in fentanyl-involved overdoses in every US state. This rise in fentanyl/stimulant fatalities constitutes the ‘fourth wave’ in the US’s ...
Overdose deaths from fentanyl laced stimulants have risen 50-fold since 2010
2023-09-14
New UCLA-led research has found that the proportion of US overdose deaths involving both fentanyl and stimulants has increased more than 50-fold since 2010, from 0.6% (235 deaths) in 2010 to 32.3% (34,429 deaths) in 2021.
By 2021, stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine had become the most common drug class found in fentanyl-involved overdoses in every US state. This rise in fentanyl/stimulant fatalities constitutes the ‘fourth wave’ in the US’s long-running opioid overdose crisis –the death toll of which continues to rise precipitously.
“We’re now seeing ...
Most Ohio students who earn manufacturing-related credentials work in other industries
2023-09-14
Most students who complete manufacturing-related credentials in Ohio do not end up employed in manufacturing in the state, highlighting a challenge that faces policymakers as they push to create more U.S. manufacturing jobs, according to a new RAND Corporation report.
Among those who earned a manufacturing-related credential from a public postsecondary institute in Ohio from 2006 to 2019, fewer than 40% worked in manufacturing in the state within one year after completing their education.
Wages are not a likely contributor to the trend. Students who enter other fields after completing a manufacturing-related credential earn less than their peers who pursued ...
CityU achieves major breakthrough in highly efficient electrocatalyst for clean energy
2023-09-14
A research team led by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has achieved a groundbreaking advancement in nanomaterials by successfully developing a highly efficient electrocatalyst which can enhance the generation of hydrogen significantly through electrochemical water splitting.
This major breakthrough has great application potential for the clean energy industry.
Professor Zhang Hua, Herman Hu Chair Professor of Nanomaterials at CityU, and his team have developed an electrocatalyst by using the transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanosheets with unconventional crystal phases as supports. The electrocatalyst exhibits superior activity and excellent ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Scientists unlock secrets behind flowering of the king of fruits
Texas A&M researchers illuminate the mysteries of icy ocean worlds
Prosthetic material could help reduce infections from intravenous catheters
Can the heart heal itself? New study says it can
Microscopic discovery in cancer cells could have a big impact
Rice researchers take ‘significant leap forward’ with quantum simulation of molecular electron transfer
Breakthrough new material brings affordable, sustainable future within grasp
How everyday activities inside your home can generate energy
Inequality weakens local governance and public satisfaction, study finds
Uncovering key molecular factors behind malaria’s deadliest strain
UC Davis researchers help decode the cause of aggressive breast cancer in women of color
Researchers discovered replication hubs for human norovirus
SNU researchers develop the world’s most sensitive flexible strain sensor
Tiny, wireless antennas use light to monitor cellular communication
Neutrality has played a pivotal, but under-examined, role in international relations, new research shows
Study reveals right whales live 130 years — or more
Researchers reveal how human eyelashes promote water drainage
Pollinators most vulnerable to rising global temperatures are flies, study shows
DFG to fund eight new research units
Modern AI systems have achieved Turing's vision, but not exactly how he hoped
Quantum walk computing unlocks new potential in quantum science and technology
Construction materials and household items are a part of a long-term carbon sink called the “technosphere”
First demonstration of quantum teleportation over busy Internet cables
Disparities and gaps in breast cancer screening for women ages 40 to 49
US tobacco 21 policies and potential mortality reductions by state
AI-driven approach reveals hidden hazards of chemical mixtures in rivers
Older age linked to increased complications after breast reconstruction
ESA and NASA satellites deliver first joint picture of Greenland Ice Sheet melting
Early detection model for pancreatic necrosis improves patient outcomes
Poor vascular health accelerates brain ageing
[Press-News.org] New $50 million institute aims to use the power of math to model, predict biological processesThe National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology will bring together mathematical and biological scientists to make new advances in challenging and potentially high-reward research areas