About MSRI

What is MSRI?

MSRI – Simons auditorium (courtesy of MSRI)

The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) is one of the world’s preeminent centers for collaborative research. A rotating committee of ten renowned mathematical scientists governs the Institute’s scientific programs with a vision of the field that is perpetually renewed. A Board of Trustees, composed of accomplished business and academic leaders, oversees the Institute’s strategy, and assures its operational and financial welfare.

Researchers—some 2,000 per year—come to MSRI to work in an environment that promotes creativity and the effective interchange of ideas and techniques. MSRI features two focused programs each semester, attended by foremost mathematicians and postdocs from the United States and abroad; the Institute temporarily becomes a world center of activity in those fields. MSRI’s staff and hosting processes effectively and comfortably support the visiting academic research community.

MSRI takes advantage of its close proximity to the University of California, Berkeley and to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. MSRI also collaborates nationally with organizations such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The Institute’s prize-winning forty-eight thousand square foot building enjoys spectacular views of the San Francisco Bay. After 30 years of activity, the reputation of the Institute is such that mathematicians make it a professional priority to participate in the Institute’s programs.

MSRI also serves a wider community through the development of human scientific capital, providing postdoctoral training to extraordinary young scientists and increasing the diversity of the research workforce.

The Institute advances the education of young people with conferences on critical issues in mathematics education. MSRI has created a national “math circles” movement of small organizations teaching and engaging in math as a hobby, beyond the standard curricula, for enthusiastic and often gifted kids. Through bold and attractive programs and films for the general public, MSRI strives to make mathematics accessible and exciting to those outside the field.

Because MSRI contributes so much to the nation’s scientific potential, MSRI’s activity is supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency. Private individuals, foundations, and nearly 100 Academic Sponsor Institutions, including the top mathematics departments in the United States, provide crucial support and flexibility.

More About MSRI

A sense of the activity and physical plant of MSRI can be had through the short video at http://tinyurl.com/MSRIvideo.

To learn more about MSRI in general, please visit the MSRI web site.

You can also read the full MSRI Mission Statement here.