CATALYSIS MEETINGS
These one-time meetings bring together ~30 scientists from diverse disciplines to focus on a major question or research area in evolutionary biology. Catalysis meetings are intended
- to focus on a theme that is grand enough to excite and inspire,
- to increase the scale and ambition of our scientific vision,
- to design avenues for scientific synthesis,
- to identify classes of primary data that must be collected before grand-scale synthesis is possible,
- to initiate a dialogue across disciplinary boundaries,
- to influence the research programs of potential collaborators,
- and to facilitate the assembly of scientific networks.
Examples of recently supported catalysis meetings can be found on NESCent’s funded project page.
Meetings should focus on synthetic scientific or educational research in evolutionary science. Applicants may contact Allen Rodrigo, Director of NESCent or Susan Alberts, Associate Director of Science and Synthesis, for feedback on project ideas. For more information about educational programs at NESCent, please contact Brian Wiegmann, Associate Director for Education and Outreach.
Meetings will be held at NESCent facilities in Durham, North Carolina. Support includes travel, lodging and per diem. No salary support is provided, and no overhead is allowed. Awardees do not receive an actual budget. NESCent will handle the budgetary needs for all meeting expenses (hotel, airfare, meals, break food, shuttles, taxis, parking, etc.). Specific guidelines will be provided with award information.
Proposal Guidelines
Proposals for catalysis meetings are short, not to exceed 5 single-spaced (12-pt type) pages (not including CVs). Please review our checklist for group meetings, document on best practices for a successful meeting, and our policies on travel, IT support, and reporting requirements.
Proposals should be organized as follows:
- Title (80 characters max)
- Short title (25 characters max)
- Name and contact information for Project Leader, and any Co-Leaders
- Project Summary (250 words max)
- Public Summary (250 words max) - written for the public and visible on the NESCent web site
- Central Theme - Justify the importance of the Central Theme, and why it will capture the attention and imaginations of the participating scientists.
- Rationale for NESCent support - Why can this activity be most effectively conducted through NESCent? Demonstrate that this group of scientists has not met previously. Typically, proposals that have been selected for support by NESCent are those that explicitly capitalize on NESCent's in-house community, its linkages locally, nationally, and internationally, and the IT and logistic resources that are available.
- Collaborations with other NESCent Activities – We greatly encourage synergy between sabbatical scholars, short-term visitors, working groups, catalysis groups, and postdoctoral fellows. If you plan for such collaboration please provide specifics.
- Participating Fields and Partial List of Proposed Participants - NESCent encourages groups that go beyond existing collaborations and including mutidisplinarity, emerging scientists including graduate students, and international linkages. Named individuals should be committed to participating in the project if funded. No more than 20 individuals should be named in the proposal, allowing the NESCent Advisory Board to suggest likely participants and unrepresented relevant fields. For each participant career stage, discipline, and institutional location should be given.
- Outcomes-Proposals should include a statement about the expected outcomes of the meeting. These outcomes may include, but are not restricted to:
- An inventory of new research questions and themes
- A list of projects that may be suitable for working groups
- An ontology of unified concepts
- One or more publications, including review and opinion pieces on how the field can develop.
- The development of a grant proposal to enable/insure future work in the area (e.g. that may ultimately lead to NSF Research Coordination Networks or NESCent Working Groups)
- Short CV of Project Leaders (2 pages for each). Do not include talks, society memberships, or papers in preparation.
Proposal Submission
Proposals will be accepted in digital format only as a pdf file. Graphics should be embedded directly into the proposal document. Note that proposals should be submitted as a single pdf file including all of the components listed above. Proposals are submitted electronically. Please login first if you have already created a profile.
