NSF award to explore mathematical tools for complex systems

12/3/2025 Jeni Bushman

Daniel Liberzon, the Richard T. Cheng Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has received a 3-year, $420,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to create better mathematical tools for understanding complex systems with time-varying signals and parameters.

Written by Jeni Bushman

Daniel Liberzon, the Richard T. Cheng Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has received a 3-year, $420,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to create better mathematical tools for understanding complex systems with time-varying signals and parameters.

Photo of Daniel Liberzon
Daniel Liberzon

Liberzon’s research has implications for medical drug delivery, where drug concentrations can rise quickly, followed by a slow decrease. Liberzon’s goal is to develop a new theory that combines existing ideas about system stability with methods for handling abrupt changes. His group’s work will improve the design and control of time-varying systems in medicine, engineering, and beyond.

“The results of this research are expected to become part of the core theory of nonlinear systems and help bridge the gap with applications that current theory is unable to handle,” Liberzon said.

The NSF award also includes components for integrating Liberzon’s research with student training and educational activities.


Illinois Grainger Engineering Affiliations
Daniel Liberzon is a professor of electrical and computer engineering in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is affiliated with the Coordinated Science Laboratory and the Department of Mathematics. Liberzon holds the Richard T. Cheng Professor of Electrical and Chemical Engineering appointment.


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This story was published December 3, 2025.