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About Us

A Message from the Director

Welcome to the Center for Collaborative Studies in Mathematical Biology and the Intercollegiate Biomathematics Alliance (IBA) family. Our members enjoy consistent support for research and education collaborations, a broad range of course offerings thanks to our unique cross-institutional curriculum initiative, and graduate research studies beyond institutional boundaries. Our Graduate Certificate Program, Undergraduate Research Grants, Undergraduate Research Experience Workshops, publication and travel support, undergraduate research competition, the prestigious IBA Fellowship Awards, two research journals, and most importantly, the traditional faculty versus students soccer matches, are just a few of the exciting activities we sponsor. While you are here, explore our website for detailed information on all of our activies or better yet, just give us a call.

Olcay Akman, Director

Our Vision Statement

Our vision is to be a diverse multi-institutional consortium that sponsors synergistic activities of biomathematics researchers, educators, and students in order to promote educational and research opportunities.

Our Mission

Our mission is to provide a platform expanding access to a diverse network of scholars and resources at the interface of biology, mathematics, and computational science to enhance research and education opportunities for researchers, educators and students.

IBA’s Collaborative Research Philosophy

The Board of Directors of the IBA encourages and supports collaboration in scholarly activities among its members in the pursuit of producing high-quality research in mathematical biology and related fields. The Board of Directors endorses the IBA’s Complete Collaborative Research Statement.

Membership

Members of the IBA include Institutions, whose faculty and students are considered Institutional Members. The IBA welcomes all faculty, students, scientists, scholars, researchers, or educators from non-IBA member institutions as Individual Members.

The IBA is governed by a Board of Directors according to guidelines as stated in the IBA bylaws.

Institutional Members are eligible to be selected as Research Mentors. All IBA members are eligible to ​be selected as Research Associates.

IBA Personnel

Director
Olcay Akman, PhD
Dept. of Mathematics
Illinois State University
309.438.3763
Email
Assistant to the Director
Diane Smith
Illinois State University
309.438.3763
Email
IBA Graduate Program Director
James Pierce, PhD
Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
608.785.6604
Email

Academic Technology Coordinator
Ryan Bunge, PhD
Dept. of Mathematics
Illinois State University
309.438.3763
Email
Education and Outreach Coordinator
Chris Hay-Jahans
University of Alaska Southeast
Email
Research Fellow in Residence
Anuj Mubayi, PhD
IBA
IBA Graduate Assistant
Godwin Vondee
Biomathematics
Illinois State University
Email

Highlighted Programs

IBA is proud to support and sponsor the following:

  • BEAM: Biomathematics Education with Applications and Methods Grant,
  • BEER: Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research Symposium,
  • CURE: Cross-institutional Undergraduate Workshop Experience Workshop,
  • OUR-BEST: Outstanding Undergraduate Research in Biomathematics Education, Scholarship, and Teaching Prize,
  • PEER​: Partners in Extending Education and Research,
  • IBA-GCP: IBA Graduate Certificate Program,
  • Spora: A journal dedicated to publishing research in mathematical biology.
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