New York University has launched the Simons Center for Computational Geophysical Flows. The new center is supported by a five-year, $10 million grant funded by Simons Foundation International and administered by the Simons Foundation. The center will serve as a research and training hub, pioneering next-generation computational methods to tackle the challenges of planetary climate predictions and revealing the complex circulation patterns that drive the climates of Earth and other planets.
Understanding and predicting geophysical flows, such as ocean currents, atmospheric winds, and river systems, is fundamental because these movements act as the engine of Earth’s weather and climate. They govern everything from global circulation patterns and extreme events, like hurricanes and monsoons, to ecosystem health and the spread of pollution. Consequently, these flows directly affect global safety and economic stability. Therefore, mastering their prediction is essential for forecasting climate impacts, optimizing energy production, managing natural resources, mitigating hazards like floods and wildfires, and building infrastructure.
Scientists have made enormous strides in measuring various properties of Earth and other planets’ climates. However, recent advances in applied mathematics, computer science, and artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to accelerate, at an unprecedented level, the ability to gauge the complex dynamics of planets.
“We are in an era in which data, computation, and AI have the potential to unlock scientific mysteries of our oceans, atmosphere, and their interactions,” says Laure Zanna, a professor at NYU’s Courant Institute School of Mathematics, Computing, and Data Science, who will lead the center. “Yet, to fully understand the planets’ intricate and constantly changing weather and climate, there is a need to develop new methods and train the next generation of scientists in how to carry out this vital research.”
Recent research, co-led by Zanna and Carlos Fernandez-Granda, director of NYU’s Center for Data Science, has demonstrated the effectiveness of AI methods in capturing complex information from data and exponentially speeding up ocean and climate models.
“By driving advances in methodologies that blend established physics-based numerical approaches with the latest advances in AI, the NYU Simons Center for Computational Geophysical Flows will accelerate our understanding of the Earth’s climate and also lead to more accurate simulations and predictions that will better inform the work of policymakers, scientists, and the private sector,” says Juan de Pablo, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Executive Vice President for Global Science and Technology and executive dean of NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering.
“We are excited to support the Center for Computational Geophysical Flows at NYU and believe it will develop into a world-leading intellectual center,” says David Spergel, president of the Simons Foundation. “This is a very exciting time in this field, with advances in computing, our deepening understanding of the underlying physics and improved data enabling transformative advances in understanding our oceans and our atmosphere.”
The dynamics of the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere, and of planetary atmospheres in general, are inherently complex, spanning spatial scales from millimeters to tens of thousands of kilometers and temporal scales from seconds to millennia. Gaining a deep understanding of these complex systems through observation, experimentation, simulation, and theoretical analysis remains a longstanding challenge in science.
The multidisciplinary hub will study fundamental geophysical problems around two main axes: multiscale interactions in geophysical flows and the physics of rare events. Scientists at the center will develop cutting-edge computational methods, including AI algorithms, to tackle those scientific challenges.
The center will address these scientific goals by building upon NYU’s existing breakthroughs, including how turbulence shapes ocean currents and atmospheric winds, and the development of new methods to predict extreme events.
Extreme events, such as marine and atmospheric heatwaves and extreme precipitation, remain scientifically challenging to understand and predict due to their rarity and the dearth of observations. By studying weather and climate on Earth and other planets, the center’s integrative approach will shed light on many events that have historically been difficult to forecast and that induce profound socioeconomic and ecological impacts.
Zanna and Fernandez-Granda, along with NYU professors Jonathan Weare, Sara Shamekh, and Yi Zhang from the newly established Courant Institute School of Mathematics, Computing, and Data Science, will be core faculty at the new Simons Center. They will be joined by researchers from other NYU departments and schools, including:
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NYU’s Department of Physics and Department of Environmental Studies
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The Courant Institute School’s Center for Atmosphere and Ocean Science
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Climate risk modeling faculty at NYU’s Stern School of Business and Tandon School of Engineering
In training the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists, the Simons Center for Computational Geophysical Flows will expand NYU’s existing connections across applied mathematics, data science, and computer science to solve open scientific challenges in weather and climate. The center activities will include international workshops, a residency program for preeminent faculty, and the creation of a competitive independent fellowship program for postdoctoral researchers.
“Today’s scientists are well-equipped to make computational advances to better forecast climate,” says Gerard Ben Arous, inaugural dean of the Courant Institute School. “However, we must ensure tomorrow’s researchers have the necessary training to build upon these advances and to optimize our understanding of Earth’s complexities. This center will help secure that future.”
Editor’s Note: In November 2025, NYU announced the establishment of the Courant Institute School of Mathematics, Computing, and Data Science. The newly established school recognizes the storied history of the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences—and its strengths in both applied and pure mathematics—while encompassing NYU’s Center for Data Science and linking the computer science departments at Courant and the Tandon School of Engineering.
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