Conference: Research Collaboration Workshop in the Science of Data and Mathematics

This grant supports travel for 40 US participants to the Research Collaboration in the Science of Data and Mathematics, to be held at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, in the week of August 4-8, 2025. The proposed five-day workshop consists primarily of time spent in small, focused working groups led by prominent field leaders to address pre-defined open research problems.

This format promotes intensive collaboration on key challenges, encourages the free exchange of scientific ideas, and strengthens the research skills of participants. The workshop is open to all researchers. In addition to research collaboration, the workshop will provide essential networking and mentorship opportunities that are particularly valuable for researchers at early career stages.

The organizing committee has carefully selected six pairs of group leaders to guide research groups focused on challenging topics in mathematical data science. These topics include advanced modeling tools such as optimal transport, randomized algorithms, diffusion generative models, and manifold inference. The resulting research is expected to advance computational mathematics significantly, particularly in areas such as (randomized) linear algebra, differential geometry, and statistical learning.

Some research groups will also address critical applications in areas like image processing, and single-cell biology. The results of the workshop will be published in a peer-reviewed volume by Springer. The project results will also be disseminated via a follow-up workshop in conjunction with major conferences including the SIAM Annual Meeting, Joint Mathematical Meeting, etc. For more information about the workshop, please visit https://datascience.unc.edu/wisdm-2025/

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.