The National Science Foundation recently awarded the University of Tennessee $16 million to fund the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis. UT won the award in a competition involving the nation's top research institutions.

Louis Gross, a professor of ecology, evolutionary biology and mathematics, served as the principal investigator for the award and will be the director of the new institute.

“This puts UT on the map as being one of the world’s centers in mathematical biology,” Gross said. “The objective of the institute is to foster research and education and outreach of areas of endeavor that are the interface between mathematics and biology."

It hopes to accomplish this by bringing in leading researchers from around the world and allocating them into "working groups" that will address specific subjects. Anywhere from 10 to 15 individuals will comprise these groups, and the center expects 20 to 30 working group sessions per year, Gross said.

In addition, four to six workshops of 30 to 40 participants will take place each year. These workshops are designed to focus on broader scientific questions for which explicit working groups have not been assigned.

“The idea is to choose the dream team for the project,” Gross said.

The institute will also offer summer research experience programs for undergraduate students, as well as tutorials. Once fully operational, 600 visitors a year are expected.

Suzanne Lenhart, who will head educational outreach and diversity, said she hopes to attract a broad spectrum to NIMBioS.

“The idea is to have diversity in many aspects…like race, gender, types of university…and include it in all of our programs if possible,” she said.

NIMBioS has collaborators in the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The institute also has partnered with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Through this collaboration, researchers will work on projects that the park’s staff members feel are important.

These include general questions of spatial control, infectious diseases, wildfire management, invasive species and certain outbreaks of disease.

Two advisory boards will exist for NIMBioS, which will be located on the fourth floor of the White Avenue Building, across from Volunteer Hall. In two years the institute will move its official headquarters to the first floor of Claxton Education.

The competition between research institutions for NIMBioS started more than a year ago. It began with a pre-proposal, proceeded with a full proposal and concluded with a site visit. UT was not formally notified of the decision until the NSF announced it last week. However, UT and NSF negotiated details of the contractual arrangement several months ago.