The Simons Center for Systems Biology

The Simons Center for Systems Biology at the Institute for Advanced Study conducts research at the interface of biology and the physical sciences. Initiated within the School of Natural Sciences in 2005 by Professor Arnold J. Levine, the Center strives to be a meeting point for researchers interested in quantitative approaches to biology. In addition to faculty, the Center hosts Members and Visitors who come to the Institute for periods ranging from weeks to several years. Regular seminars and conferences also allow short-term visitors to come to the Center.

At present, the faculty of the Center include Professor Emeritus Arnold Levine and Professors Stanislas Leibler and Misha Tsodyks.

Applications for future memberships are invited from people with experience in physics, computer science, statistics, mathematics or biology. In addition to memberships, there are opportunities for short-term visits and sabbaticals.

General information about memberships and how to apply can be found here. Applications in biology can be submitted at any time to audrey@ias.edu.

Special Year on Modeling Fly Vision

During the 2026-2027 academic year, the Simons Center for Systems Biology in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study will have a special program on Modeling Fly Vision co-organized by Misha Tsodyks (IAS) and Sebastian Seung (Princeton University).

New kinds of brain maps are driving a renaissance of visual neuroscience, starting with the fruit fly Drosophila. The fly connectome yielded as a corollary the first wiring diagram for an entire visual system. Transcriptomics is identifying the ion channels and synaptic receptors in fly visual neurons. Using such detailed information, it is now possible to model the fly visual system with unprecedented realism. Our program will address the perception of motion, color, polarization, form, and objects, as well as complex visually guided behaviors such as navigation and courtship. The program promises to have historic impact by helping to refound theoretical and computational neuroscience on the bedrock of twenty-first century brain maps.

Senior participants include Axel Borst (MPG), Dimitri Chklovskii (Flatiron), Carina Curto (Brown), and Dezhe Jin (Penn State). The program will benefit from interactions with experimental research on fly neural circuits and connectomics at Princeton and other universities in the New York metropolitan area.

We invite applications for membership in the special year program from researchers at all career levels.

Post-doctoral membership is for one year with the possibility of extension. Postdocs receive full stipend support and are free to select their own research topics.

Sabbatical membership can be from one term to the entire academic year, and is for researchers with faculty or equivalent independent positions. Partial stipend support may be available, depending on the amount of support being provided by the member’s home institution, or by an outside fellowship.

The deadline for applications is rolling. We will begin reviewing applications on January 15, 2026 and continue until the positions are filled.

Applicants should submit:

a CV that includes a list of publications,
and a research statement explaining interest in the topic of the special year.
Post-doctoral applicants should also request three letters of recommendation.

All materials should be emailed to Audrey Smerkanich at audrey@ias.edu. The subject line of the email should state “Special Year on Modeling Fly Vision.”

The Simons Center for Systems Biology

Special Year on Modeling Fly Vision

General Information

Current Members and Visitors

Administration

Resources for Current Members