May 2024 Newsletter

Upcoming Workshops

June 6-7, 2024: Career Paths in the Mathematical Sciences

June 17-21, 2024: The Architecture of Green Energy Systems: Thy Underlying Problem and Its Challenges

June 26-28, 2024: Mathematical and Statistical Foundations of Digital Twins

July 15-19, 2024: AI+Science Summer School

August 5-9, 2024: Computational Imaging

August 19-21, 2024: The Architecture of Green Energy Systems: Next Steps

August 26-30, 2024: Challenges in Neuroimaging Data Analysis/

Accepting Applications for the Summer 2024 Long Program: The Architecture of Green Energy

The Summer 2024 Long Program (June 17 - August 23, 2024) is accepting applications. This program will focus on how mathematical modeling can help answer questions regarding the impact of green (low carbon) energy on society and the ways in which financial incentives and regulations and infrastructure changes can enhance outcomes and accelerate the transition to a green electricity system. It will identify the ways in which mathematical tools can inform and shape appropriate public and private investments and decisions and navigate the trade-offs encountered in moving to a more sustainable economy. The overall program consists of an opening workshop in June that outlines the problems of interest and provides an overview of problems that require the attention of researchers. The closing workshop will provide a forum to report on what has been learned, what are open questions, and what is next. Sandwiched between the opening and closing workshop is an eight-week research program that researchers at all levels are encouraged to apply to. The purpose of this program is to produce ideas and research in the green energy space that addresses issues raised in the opening workshop and relevant topics for the architecture of green energy systems in general.

Reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other national and international scientific advisory bodies are spurring governments to make announcements about net zero commitments. The transition to economies with zero carbon will require substantial investment and deployment of new technologies for providing, transporting, storing and consuming green energy. It will also require institutional changes to manage an orderly and just green energy transition. This transition is happening very slowly due to technical, socio-economic, and political constraints. There is also uncertainty and complexity due to the wide range of actors shaping the energy transition and the interdependencies across sectors, infrastructures, and countries. Energy providers have been slow to increase renewable energy capacity and infrastructure at the rates required to keep global temperature rise in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement, for a range of reasons including their institutional incentives, and the changing policy and international environment. There is also increasing evidence that some of the policies and decisions that have already been made have imposed a greater burden on vulnerable and marginalized parts of society. In short, recent research across a range of disciplines has helped to understand the role and relationships across different institutions, drivers, and systems in failing to deliver the pace of change required in the energy system in a just manner and what can be done to speed it up. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the formal application of mathematics in this setting of complex systems with multiple sources of uncertainty and variability. This program is intended to initiate the development of a core body of research that will aim to provide a systematic framework or set of frameworks for analyzing some of these problems. It will bring together leading researchers who have demonstrated an interest and willingness to work at the boundary of different disciplines, but for whom face-to-face encounters are difficult to arrange due to disciplinary diversity and separation.

Applications for visits of 9 business days or less are still being accepted as well and you can apply below; contact the organizers directly for further information about the program. The deadline is 3 weeks prior to your anticipated arrival date.

This Long Program is organized by Laura Diaz Anadon (University of Cambridge), Michael C. Ferris (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Dennice F. Gayme (Johns Hopkins University), and Andy Philpott (University of Auckland).

Apply here for The Architecture of Green Energy

Accepting Applications for the Fall 2024 Long Program: Statistical Methods and Mathematical Analysis for Quantum Information Science

The Fall 2024 Long Program (September 16 - December 13, 2024) is accepting applications. Quantum information science is a rapidly developing and broad field of research. It has made significant progress over the last decade, including the development of many promising applications such as efficient quantum computational algorithms, secure quantum communication protocols, and ultra-sensitive quantum sensors (to name just a few). Besides practical applications, quantum information science also sheds light on fundamental physics questions, including efficient descriptions of many-body systems, entanglement characterization of topological quantum systems, and quantum information scrambling of many-body systems. Novel mathematical tools and statistical models play a crucial role in investigating quantum systems. However, there are still many important open questions in quantum information science, which urgently need novel mathematical tools and statistical models. The aim of this program is to bring experts with different backgrounds of mathematics, control, statistics, physics, material, and computer science together, to spur transformational change in quantum information science.

This Long Program is organized by Aashish Clerk (University of Chicago), Liang Jiang (University of Chicago), Mazyar Mirrahimi (Inria Paris), and Pierre Rouchon (Mines Paris-PSL).

Apply here for Statistical Methods and Mathematical Analysis for Quantum Information Science

Accepting Applications for the Spring 2025 Long Program: Uncertainty Quantification and AI for Complex Systems

The Spring 2025 Long Program (March 3 - May 23, 2025) is accepting applications. The field of Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) has broad applications in science and engineering and provides a computational framework for quantifying input and response uncertainties, making model-based predictions and their inferences. As science and technology advance, UQ problems become more complex and diverse, requiring many concepts and tools from mathematics, statistics, machine learning, optimization, and advanced computing techniques. The fast development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has benefited many fields, including UQ. Specifically, new AI and machine learning algorithms are applied to solve larger-scale and more complicated UQ problems. UQ, together with the advancements in AI and machine learning, has the potential to drive new scientific discoveries and enable engineers to design more robust and reliable systems.

This long program will focus on the newest development of UQ methodologies and how they can improve AI systems and provide solutions to modeling complex systems. It will also give an outlook on future UQ directions and challenges. Through all the activities proposed, the program will bring together interested parties, researchers, practitioners, and students from different areas of UQ, promote communication, and further break down the barriers between disciplines. The program also has a significant mentoring component, which connects researchers and students at different career stages.

This Long Program is organized by Mihai Anitescu (Argonne National Laboratory and University of Chicago), Xinwei Deng (Virginia Tech), Robert B. Gramacy (Virginia Tech), Fred Hickernell (Illinois Institute of Technology), Roshan Joseph (Georgia Tech), Lulu Kang (University of Massachusetts-Amherst), and C. Devon Lin (Queen's University), and Guang Lin (Purdue University).

Apply here for Uncertainty Quantification and AI for Complex Systems

OPPORTUNITY: NSF PRIMES

IMSI encourages qualified researchers in the mathematical sciences to submit a proposal to the NSF PRIMES program. The NSF Division of Mathematical Sciences’ Partnerships for Research Innovation in the Mathematical Sciences (PRIMES) program aims to enhance partnerships between minority-serving institutions and DMS-supported Mathematical Sciences Research Institutes, including IMSI. The activity seeks to boost the participation of members of groups underrepresented in the mathematical sciences by enabling their increased involvement in research programs at the institutes. IMSI encourages those interested to apply for a PRIMES grant for participation in the Uncertainty Quantification and AI for Complex Systems Long Program or in a proposed Interdisciplinary Research Cluster scheduled for January-June 2025. The deadline for PRIMES proposals is August 21, 2024..

2024 BRING MATH - Undergraduate Career Workshop

The Bridges for the Next Generation: Mathematical Science Research and Our Future (BRING MATH) will be held October 3-4, 2024 at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, IL (suburban Chicago). BRING MATH is a two-day conference for undergraduates interested in the mathematical sciences. It is a collaboration between IMSI and the Mathematics and Computer Science Division at Argonne. The purpose of the conference is multifold: 1) BRING MATH will expose students and faculty to research in the mathematical sciences at Argonne, and to help them understand its real world applications. 2) It is intended to increase student interest in the mathematical sciences and broaden their access to opportunities to pursue that interest. 3) It is intended to help diversify the mathematical science community. 4) It will educate students about summer opportunities available to them. 5) It will help students learn about career opportunities in the mathematical sciences and how to pursue them. This event is open to undergraduates at U.S. colleges and universities, and to faculty who wish to accompany a group of students from their institution to this event. Students from groups that are historically underrepresented in the mathematical sciences are strongly encouraged to apply. IMSI is able to offer financial support to cover travel and lodging for participants whose applications are accepted. Housing will be provided at a hotel near Argonne.The deadline for faculty and student applications is June 28, 2024.

Apply here for BRING MATH

IMSI Seeks Proposals for Scientific Activity

IMSI is currently seeking proposals for long programs, workshops, interdisciplinary research clusters, and other scientific activity with a deadline of September 15, 2024. Information about how to submit proposals can be found on the proposal overview page and the resources linked therein. There are currently openings for long programs in 2026-27, and openings for workshops in the fall of 2025 and beyond. IMSI holds two proposal cycles per year, with deadlines of March 15 and September 15.

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IMSI acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation
(Grant No. DMS-1929348)

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