$10 million Simons Foundation gift supports new initiative with Institute for Adva...( The Rockefeller University and the I...)

The Rockefeller University and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., have established a joint initiative in biology supported by a $10 million gift from The Simons Foundation, it was announced today. The initiative, which builds on the complementary strengths of the Institute and the University, will involve biologists, mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists exploring quantitative and theoretical approaches to biological problems.

To develop interactions and collaborations, the Institute for Advanced Study and Rockefeller will make joint appointments, including visiting professors and graduate and postdoctoral fellows, fund early stage high-risk projects and set up an annual joint conference as well as regular seminars, workshops and lectures.

"This unique initiative, which draws on the strength of both Rockefeller and the Institute for Advanced Study, will open new doors to studying complex biological problems," says Paul Nurse, Rockefeller University's president. "By combining techniques from several different scientific disciplines, the effort will be well positioned to make breakthroughs in how we understand key processes of life and disease."

Peter Goddard, Director of the Institute for Advanced Study, says, "The Institute is pleased to join with Rockefeller University in this initiative, which will foster important and distinctive contributions to research in biology. This collaboration will enable us to expand greatly our work in this field, and will help the Institute to continue to train the next generation of life scientists."

Rockefeller University's Stanislas Leibler, head of the Laboratory of Living Matter at Rockefeller, has been appointed to a joint professorship as part of this initiative. Leibler is interested in the quantitative description of biological systems, both on cellular and population levels. He has held academic appointments at the Centre d'tudes de Saclay, France, a
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