Institute for Modeling Collaboration and Innovation

Advancing model-based research & Fostering interdisciplinary collaboration

The Institute for Modeling Collaboration and Innovation (IMCI) at the University of Idaho advances model-based research and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration. It serves as a hub where faculty, postdocs, staff and students from a broad range of disciplines work together to solve complex-systems problems. IMCI’s Modeling Core supports research across the university by generating new approaches and seeding interdisciplinary teams and its mission emphasizes creating a cultural and physical environment that bridges disciplines and encourages grassroots collaboration. Through pilot grants, modeling access and collaborative structures, IMCI enables early-career investigators and multi-disciplinary teams to pursue novel research directions and build institutional capacity.

Get involved!

Grant Support

Community / Grassrooting
Bring Your Own Cup (BYOC)
Brown Bag Lunch (BBL)
Writing Working Group (Writing WG)

Collaboration
IDAC
The Modeling Core

News and Events

Brown Bag Lunch: Single-cell and evolutionary approaches to basic microbial physiology and diagnostics

Posted on
Johan Paulsson, of Harvard Medical School will be joining us, with his talk titled: Single-cell and evolutionary approaches to basic microbial physiology and diagnostics. More details to come on that talk as we get closer. We are excited to have Johan coming from such a distance to speak to the IMCI community! Zoom Link: https://uidaho.zoom.us/j/81951581577 Meeting ID: 81951581577 Password: 4321
Read More Brown Bag Lunch: Single-cell and evolutionary approaches to basic microbial physiology and diagnostics

IMCI News: Admin Retreat is a Success!

Posted on
IMCI is excited to share the success of this year’s Admin Team Retreat! Over the weekend of February 6th, 2026, we gathered in rainy Spokane to discuss many high order objects related to the future of our institute’s operations as well as aims for the new near. We kicked off the retreat on Friday evening where guests and the admin team joined together around dinner with a stimulating discussion on modeling, AI ethics, and our take on the “Commandments of modeling”. After a night’s rest at the Spokane Club, we rejoined in the Gourmet room and discussed new and sustainable…
Read More IMCI News: Admin Retreat is a Success!

IHHE IMCI Synergistic Grant Support

Posted on
Animal, plant, human health, and complex ecosystem researchers! Are you planning on a grant submission to a federal agency in the next 4-6 months from mechanism to modeling? Do you need feedback on your premise and overarching hypothesis or text? Would you like assistance with paperwork, planning a budget, and or meeting deadlines for your unit, OSP, and the target agency? The Institute for Health in the Human Ecosystem (IHHE) and the Institute for Modeling Collaboration and Innovation (IMCI) are here to help! These institutes are partnering together to provide synergistic support for PIs who want to would like assistance with the demanding task of grant submission. With…
Read More IHHE IMCI Synergistic Grant Support

Spring 2026 Carpentries Workshops

Posted on
Sign up now! The Carpentries is an international community of learners and instructors dedicated to the importance of software and data in research. Learn more at www.carpentries.org Open to students and non-students. Registration required. All participants need to register with IMCI to attend. For more information and to register please email your name and affiliation (department and institution) to jvanleuven@uidaho.edu. Students taking the workshops for academic credit MUST register via the U of I course schedule. See more information below.
Read More Spring 2026 Carpentries Workshops

Publication: Deep-sea fish reveal an alternative developmental trajectory for vertebrate vision

Posted on
Deep-sea fish study shows developmental trajectory for vertebrate vision What do deep-sea fish eyes see what we don’t? Deep-sea fish larvae development has long given us a glimpse into observable evolutionary processes–helping us humans not only to understand their vision, but of vertebrates (like ourselves). A new study conducted by our very own, Assistant Professor Jagdish Patel and former U of I postdoc Jonathan Barnes, makes waves, proposing alternate developmental trajectory for vertebrate vision. As we know, vertebrate vision relies on two mechanisms to see, “cones for bright light and rods for dim light”. Traditionally, it has been thought that…
Read More Publication: Deep-sea fish reveal an alternative developmental trajectory for vertebrate vision