Annual Report 2011
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AnnuAl RepoRt 2 0 11 Apoptosis imAges by DR. RolAnD eils the pictures in this report illustrate the process of ‘apoptosis,’ programmed cell death, imaged through the technique of fluorescence microscopy. they come to us from the laboratory of Dr. Roland eils of the university of Heidelberg and the german Cancer Research Centre. Dr. eils’ work combines mathematical modeling with experiments in molecular cell biology to yield a detailed, quantitative understanding of basic cellular mechanisms. His knowledge in the fields of physics, mathematics and biology enables scientific results not likely attainable through a traditional approach. such an integration of expertise comprises the relatively new field of systems biology, an illustration of this report’s emphasis on cross-disciplinary activities. the simons Foundation is grateful to Dr. eils for sharing these remarkable images with us. The mission of the Simons Foundation is to advance the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences. TAble oF Contents 14 EnabliNg reseArCh 06 NeTworks 16 Simons simplex Collection 17 SSC@iAN EncourAgiNg 18 Projects using SSC 04 CoNNectioNs 19 Simons Variation in individuals Project 08 Collaboration grants 20 SFARI: recent Advances 09 Math + X grants letter From 10 Simons Center for The President and Geometry and Physics The ChAirmAN 11 Life sciences at stony brook 12 Support for systems biology 36 FouNdatioN Facts 28 38 Financials 40 Directors 41 Simons Foundation staff PromoTiNg Exchanges 42 Grants to institutions 22 30 Mathematical sciences Research institute 31 Simons science series buildiNg digital 32 Simons summer resourCes Research Program 33 Math for America 24 Science lives 34 Math encounters 26 SFARI gene 2.0 35 World science Festival 27 SFARI.org 16 Simons simplex Collection 17 SSC@iAN 18 Projects using SSC 19 Simons Variation in individuals Project 20 SFARI: recent Advances letteR from tHe pResiDent 04 AnD tHe CHAiRmAn simonsfoundation.org Collaborative partnerships, networks and communities build upon each other and enable us to work together toward our common goals. Such interactions are the theme of our 2011 Annual Report. marilyn hawrys simons, Ph.d., and James h. simons, Ph.d. “Here I am: my brain is open,” were the words Additionally, the foundation supports learning Paul Erdős used when arriving at the home of a communities such as Math for America’s teaching mathematical collaborator. Famous for his prolific corps, Stony Brook University’s Simons Fellows, and research and itinerant lifestyle, Erdős was a the Museum of Mathematics’ Math Encounters series. consummate collaborator. So fruitful were his many In these forums young people, teachers and seasoned research relationships that in his lifetime he wrote or researchers come together to share their knowledge coauthored over 1,475 academic papers, “many of them and, most importantly, their curiosity and joy in monumental, and all of them substantial,” according pursuing mathematics and science. to one biographer. Erdős is quoted elsewhere as wittily summing up his peripatetic lifestyle with the phrase, Expanding this outreach further, we are delighted “another roof, another proof.” to contribute to outstanding efforts that provide the general public with access to high-quality As Paul Erdős clearly illustrates, the synergy of educational programing. The doors to the Museum collaboration is powerful. Its potential for stimulating of Mathematics will soon open, and it will be the first research through partnerships within fields and museum of its kind in the United States. The World even across them is significant. It is often the case Science Festival, which brings laypeople together with that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, eminent scientific scholars, continues to grow and even when those parts are widely diverse. At the foster the natural curiosity we all harbor for a more Simons Foundation a core element of our strategy is fundamental understanding of the world around us. to nurture this type of synergy through grant making that encourages interconnections. Collaborative partnerships, networks and communities build upon each other and enable us to The mission of the Simons Foundation is to support work together toward our common goals. Paul Erdős advanced research in mathematics and the basic understood the power of such interactions, and by sciences. To date, we have focused on the fields traveling from place to place, he managed to work of mathematics, theoretical physics, computer with 511 coauthors. Still, he must have felt constrained science, quantitative biology and the biology of living at a time before the internet took hold. He autism. In this report, you will read about those recounted his mother saying to him, “Even you, Paul, of our new initiatives that give researchers the can be in only one place at one time.” Erdős continued opportunity to work together. Examples include a his peregrinations throughout his lifetime, remaining Collaboration Grants program in mathematics which inspired and optimistic about his next meetings. allows researchers to meet face to face, sponsored Pondering his mortality, Erdős reportedly mused, workshops and symposia which bring scientists “Maybe, once I’ve left, I’ll be able to be in many places together around a particular question, and grants at the same time. Maybe then I’ll be able to collaborate for interdepartmental studies which combine with Archimedes and Euclid.” advances and insights from different fields. Beyond these direct support programs to individuals and institutions, the foundation also supports research networks by investing in resources for investigators. Infrastructure such as data collections, online tools and online archives help build dynamic research networks. Sharing information and communicating interactively, these communities disseminate knowledge and deepen understanding. 07 ENCOURAGING CONNECTIONS Topology of cell death shown here, two hela cells, derived from cervical cancer, have been triggered for cell death by an extracellular soluble Cd95 death ligand. As soon as the Cd95 death receptor is stimulated, cells start the process of apoptosis. Typically cells die within a few hours depending on the strength of cell death induction. As the cells die, they become rounder, while still keeping membrane contacts on the substrate. 08 CollAboration Grants simonsfoundation.org/ mathematics- “ Being face to face, you discover mathematics physical-sciences you never would have via email or phone.” the current classification of varieties, one of Readdy’s first papers (written with purna says, “is like the taxonomic division of her husband, mathematician Richard vertebrates into categories like fish, reptiles ehrenborg) analyzed ball-throwing and mammals, but still being able to sequences for a one-handed juggler, and distinguish mammals as different as whales she brings that same exuberance to her and bats.” this largely undifferentiated study of the face structure of polytopes. majority, called ‘varieties of general type,’ triangles, squares and other two- are of great interest — for example in string dimensional polytopes are trivial; face theory. yet their structure and complexity structures of three-dimensional polytopes Collaboration grant recipients Purnaprajna bangere have resisted the efforts of algebraic were fully characterized by ernst steinitz and margaret readdy. geometers to categorize or understand in 1900. but four-dimensional polytopes them properly. are “completely open,” Readdy says. “We really don’t know anything.” in the fall of 2010, 141 mathematicians With F.J. gallego and miguel gonzález of from san Diego to staten island the universidad Complutense de madrid, solution spaces to real-world problems were awarded the foundation’s first purna has discovered new and esoteric frequently take the form of polytopes. round of Collaboration grants for species among surfaces of general type, How do physicists understand particle mathematicians. these grants boost and has mapped their population densities. interactions? How might an entrepreneur the number of face-to-face the process has yielded fascinatingly maximize profit for a given venture collaborations among researchers. counterintuitive results: even relatively within a range of different market such encounters are vital to a productive primitive families of surfaces of general constraints? the topic often generates “mathematical marketplace.” type exhibit nearly all the complexities interesting angles on theoretical problems of related but more advanced species. from other fields, as well. purnaprajna bangere of the university the collaborators also recently proved a of Kansas works with collaborators as theorem regarding geometric properties “being face to face, you discover far away as spain and his native india. of the string-theory structure known as the mathematics you never would have via purna, an algebraic geometer, compares Calabi–yau threefold, solving a conjecture email or phone,” Readdy says. At a recent himself to a zoologist, stalking diverse that stood for 14 years. talk she gave at Cornell, she recounts, and exotic species known as varieties. “the room was packed with people from Varieties are solution sets for systems of Combinatorialist margaret Readdy of the different areas of math, because they polynomial equations, and a great deal of university of Kentucky, whose work brings know i’ll talk about something new and work in algebraic geometry has focused together algebra, geometry,