NESCent

WORKING GROUPS

Working Groups involve small groups of scientists (10-12 participants) collaborating intensively on the analysis or synthesis of data, models or both, to address a major question in evolutionary science.  The working groups will typically meet 3-4 times over two years, with each meeting lasting 3-7 days. Working groups are intended to, and will be evaluated on,

 

• address an important and outstanding evolutionary question,
• be "risky" endeavors but with a reasonable chance of success,
• reflect NESCent’s scientific mission to advance research that addresses fundamental questions in evolutionary science by integrating methods, concepts, and data within and across disciplines (For more on the context and a classification of synthesis in evolutionary science please read Linking Big: The Continuing Promise of Evolutionary Synthesis.),
• not be readily supported by other funding mechanisms or opportunities,
• possess sufficient data to tackle the question,
• possess appropriate analytical tools or will develop them during the working group project.
• incorporate diverse group of scientists that go beyond existing collaborations and include mutidisplinarity, emerging scientists including graduate students, and international linkages.
• produce products that typically fall into three broad categories (but are not restricted to):
  • Synthetic papers and reviews
  • Databases allowing others to build on your foundation
  • Software or mathematical tools that solve a major analytical problem

NESCent will not support collection of new data or field research, but encourages the mining of public and private databases.  NESCent is committed to making data, databases, software and other products that are developed as part of NESCent activities available to the broader scientific community. Applicants should review the Data And Software Policy for NESCent.

Examples of recently supported working groups can be found on NESCent’s supported 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.  Working groups may request additional funding up to $9600 in support of their activities. Examples might include for funds for data entry, publication costs or travel by PIs to related meetings. Requests should include the proposed amount, use of funds and justification for how this will enable or enhance the group's goals.

Graduate Fellowships

The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center is now seeking to include graduate traineeship to our portfolio in facilitating broadly synthetic research to address fundamental questions in evolutionary science.   We are offering one-semester fellowships for graduate students to pursue research either with a NESCent sabbatical scholar or with a NESCent Working Group.  The research should be in line with the goals of the sabbatical scholar and/or working group and may include integrating datasets, developing databases, performing analyses, programming and software development, etc.  Support will not be provided to collect or generate new data.  When relevant, graduate students are expected to be full members of working group.  Ultimately we expect the graduate student to lead and author aspects of the research.  For further details see our graduate fellowship webpage. Interested graduate students should consult with the Principal Investigator of a Working Group or Sabbatical scholar before submitting an application through our online proposal system.  In the proposal, applicants should make explicitly how the fellowship will interface with the work of the sabbatical scholar or working group.

Before You Apply

Applicants may contact Allen Rodrigo, Director of NESCent or Susan Alberts, Associate Director of Science and Synthesis, for feedback on project ideas.  Please review our Conflict of Interest and Data And Software policies before applying.  For technical support, write to help@nescent.org.

Proposal Guidelines

Proposals for working groups are short, not to exceed 5 single-spaced (12-pt type) pages (not CVs or references). 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:

1. Title (80 characters max)
2. Short Title (25 characters max)
3. Name and contact information for Project Leader, and any Co-Leaders
4. Project Summary (250 words max)
5. Public Summary (250 words max) - written for the public and visible on the NESCent web site
6. Introduction and Goals – A statement of the outstanding question in evolutionary science being addressed and a concise review of the concept and the literature to place the project in context.
7. Proposed Activities - A clear statement of specific data (include citations or urls) and analytical tools that will be required for the project.  You must demonstrate that, if you propose to construct a database, you can obtain the relevant data from existing literature. Letters of support are required from the proprietor of datasets, analytical tools, or software not publically available or not owned by the applicant. The proposal should also include a clear statement on how synthesis will occur. 
8. 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. Not all participants need to be specified in advance; if unspecified, the type of expertise needed should be indicated. For each participant include career stage, discipline, and institutional location.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Anticipated IT Needs - Briefly describe any needs for IT support that are important to the success of the proposed project. Please indicate whether long-term maintenance of a public database will be expected.
12. Proposed Timetable - include Start Date month and year, number of meetings, and length of each meeting
13. Outcomes - Proposals should include a clear statement about the expected outcomes of the meeting.  
14.  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.