The mission of the Flatiron Institute is to advance scientific research through computational methods, including data analysis, theory, modeling and simulation.

Simons Foundation

Featured News

Center for Computational Astrophysics Hyped Signal of Decaying Dark Matter Vanishes in Updated Analysis By Jane Beaufore

In 2014, scientists observed X-ray activity from distant galaxies that was thought to be the first evidence of dark matter decay — a landmark discovery that could significantly advance efforts to characterize this puzzling substance. However, a new study from the Flatiron Institute and collaborators suggests that imperfect analysis methods used to detect the activity — called the 3.5 keV line — likely produced a phantom signal.

Center for Computational Biology Researchers Crack Mystery of Swirling Vortexes in Egg Cells

Center for Computational Neuroscience How Do Our Brains Classify Similar Objects? New Theory Works Out the Details

Our Centers

Center for Computational Astrophysics

Center for Computational Biology

Center for Computational Mathematics

Center for Computational Neuroscience

Center for Computational Quantum Physics

Scientific Computing Core

It develops, deploys and maintains computational infrastructure — from supercomputers to desktop PCs — dedicated solely to the use of Flatiron researchers.

Initiatives

Initiative for Computational Catalysis

The Simons Foundation Initiative for Computational Catalysis is a new effort within the Flatiron Institute dedicated to the development and application of computational techniques enabling the rational design of more efficient and more affordable catalysts.

Collaborative Work

Machine Learning at the Flatiron Institute

Machine learning has become an indispensable tool for computational science, and it is an active and growing area of research throughout the Flatiron Institute.

Structural and Molecular Biophysics

Underlying all biological processes are molecules and their interactions with each other. However, our ability to understand how these molecules function over biologically relevant scales remains very limited.

Learning the Universe

This collaboration, directed by Greg Bryan of Columbia University, aims to understand and determine the evolution and initial conditions of our universe, using observations via a Bayesian forward modeling approach.

CCA
| Columbia University
| Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
| Harvard University
| Stockholm University
| Institute D'Astrophysique de Paris
| Université de Montreal
| Princeton University
| Carnegie Mellon University
| Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics

Flatiron Institute Inclusion, Diversity,
Equity & Advocacy (IDEA) Scholar Program

For distinguished scientists with a particular interest in diversity and inclusion

Scholars may engage in a variety of activities, such as working on scientific projects, starting new collaborations, mentoring junior scientists, and organizing or participating in workshops and career development events.

Learn More

A major effort of the Flatiron Institute is the development and support of high-quality, open-source software for research.

View All Software

Research Highlights

2024

An adaptive spectral method for oscillatory second-order linear ODEs with frequency-independent cost

F. Agocs, A. Barnett

We introduce an efficient numerical method for second-order linear ODEs whose solution may vary between highly oscillatory and slowly changing…

SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis

August 2, 2024

Unraveling the Molecular Complexity of N-Terminus Huntingtin Oligomers: Insights into Polymorphic Structures

Neha Nanajkar, A. Sahoo, Silvina Matysiak

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder resulting from an abnormal expansion of polyglutamine (polyQ) repeats in the N-terminus…

The Journal of Physical Chemistry B

August 1, 2024

Computational tools for cellular scale biophysics

D. Stein, M. Shelley

Mathematical models are indispensable for disentangling the interactions through which biological components work together to generate the forces and flows…

Current Opinion in Cell Biology

News & Announcements

Center for Computational Astrophysics

November 25, 2024

First Dish Built for South Africa’s HIRAX Radio Telescope Array

An artist’s illustration of the 1,024 HIRAX dishes in the Karoo Desert in South Africa.

Center for Computational Astrophysics

November 18, 2024

We Finally Know Where Black Holes Get Their Magnetic Fields: Their Parents By Jane Beaufore

3D rendering of a rapidly spinning black hole's accretion disk and a resulting black hole-powered jet

Flatiron Institute

November 01, 2024

Applications Open for 2025 – 2026 Flatiron Institute Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Advocacy (IDEA) Scholar Program

Leadership

Leslie Greengard, M.D., Ph.D.

Director, CCM

Leslie Greengard joined the Simons Foundation in 2013 as founding director of the Simons Center for Data Analysis, now called the Center for Computational Biology. Prior to that, Greengard served as director of the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University.

Julianne Dalcanton, Ph.D.

Director, CCA

Julianne Dalcanton joined the Simons Foundation in September 2021 as the director of the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA). Her research specializes in the origins and evolution of galaxies.

Ian Fisk, Ph.D.

Director, SCC

Ian Fisk came to the Simons Foundation in 2014 after working in the computing division at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois since 2003. Fisk was the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment’s computing coordinator at CERN from 2010 to 2013, overseeing operations and improvements…

Antoine Georges is a professor of physics at the Collège de France, where he holds the chair in condensed matter physics. He also has joint appointments with École Polytechnique and the University of Geneva. He received his Ph.D. from the École Normale Supérieure in 1988.…

Andrew Millis, Ph.D.

Collaboration Director

Andrew Millis is co-director of the Center for Computational Quantum Physics at the Flatiron Institute and professor of physics at Columbia University. He currently serves as Managing Director of the Flatiron Institute.

Michael Shelley, Ph.D.

Director, CCB

Michael Shelley joined the Simons Foundation in 2016 to work on the modeling and simulation of complex systems arising in physics and biology.

Eero P. Simoncelli, Ph.D.

Director, CCN

Eero P. Simoncelli is the inaugural director of the Center for Computational Neuroscience. Eero P. Simoncelli’s research interests span a wide range of topics in the representation and analysis of visual images and sounds in both machine and biological vision systems.