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> National Science
> Foundation Title: Quantitative > Environmental and Integrative Biology (QEIB) > >Dear Colleague, > >We are >announcing a new category > of proposals entitled Quantitative Environmental and >Integrative Biology > (QEIB) within our core program competitions. The >Directorates for Biological > Sciences (BIO) and Mathematics & Physical Sciences (MPS) >at the National > Science Foundation have a long history of supporting basic >research relevant > to environmental biology. This letter is to inform the >community of U.S. scientists that BIO and MPS seek to encourage submission of proposals > that are at the interface of mathematics and environmental >biology. >Environmental >and integrative > biologists are entering a new era in which they possess the >data necessary > for building or testing models, but lack the quantitative solutions to > large-scale and complex problems. BIO and MPS recognize that the time > is especially ripe for accelerating progress in >understanding and predicting > important phenomena in environmental and integrative biology by using > existing mathematical tools and by developing new mathematical > and statistical approaches. The burgeoning base of >theoretical and empirical > work, made possible by new methods and technologies, is providing the > impetus to develop robust answers to the major integrative biological > and environmental challenges faced by our society. Meeting >those challenges > will require new efforts to train environmental and >integrative biologists > in mathematical sciences - including analytical and >numerical modeling, > statistics and time series analysis, and dynamical and >nonlinear systems > analysis. We need a new generation of empiricists with >stronger quantitative > skills and theoreticians with a detailed understanding of >the empirical > structure of biological processes. The challenge also >requires new efforts > to train mathematicians in the environmental sciences >including ecological > and evolutionary theory and empiricism. Our goals are: >1) to encourage > major mathematical advances of relevance to ecological and >evolutionary > forecasting; 2) to foster collaboration among environmental >and integrative > biologists and mathematicians; and 3) to enhance >quantitative skills of > students and investigators through training activities. >Examples of areas in which > mathematical advances are desired include, but are not limited > to: >
It is our hope >that both the > biological and mathematical sciences will benefit >from additional > collaboration and cross training. Collaboration between >biologists with > mathematicians can produce truly emergent insights into >biology and create > interesting mathematical challenges, the combination of >which will exceed > the sum of their individual domains. >Titles of >proposals submitted > in response to this Dear Colleague letter emphasizing >Quantitative Environmental > and Integrative Biology (QEIB) should be prefaced with >"QEIB:". > This is not a special competition or new program. The >purpose of this > letter is to encourage submissions of relevant proposals to >existing core > programs at the programs regular target dates. The most >competitive > proposals will be those that include an explicit training element for graduate and/or undergraduate students. These students should be full > partners in the research, conceptually and operationally. It would be > appropriate to include in the budget, items to further this training. > Increased participation of members of groups >underrepresented in science > is encouraged. >Target dates for >applicable > programs may be found at href="http://www.nsf.gov/bio/start.htm >">http://www.nsf.gov/bio/start.htm > or href="http://www.nsf.gov/home/mps">http://www.nsf.gov/home/mps. >NSF FastLane > requirements apply to all proposals submitted in response to this Dear > Colleague Letter. Proposals must conform to all format requirements in > the Grant Proposal Guide (href="http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?gpg">http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bi >n/getpub?gpg). > Investigators are strongly encouraged to contact one of the following > program officers to determine if their proposed ideas fall within the > QEIB goals: >Division of
Environmental
> Biology, BIO Division of
>Integrative Biology
> and Neuroscience, BIO Division of
Molecular and
> Cellular Biosciences, BIO Division of
>Mathematical Sciences,
> MPS Division of
Molecular and
> Cellular Biosciences, BIO Division of
>Mathematical Sciences,
> MPS > NSF 00-149 |
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