NSF is announcing a new solicitation to support the creation of a Plant Science Cyberinfrastructure Collaborative
(PSCIC).
An informational meeting for prospective PIs will be held at the NSF site in Arlington, Virginia on September 18, 2006. The meeting will
be held from 10am to noon in room 555 of the Stafford II building. Please contact NSF at pscic@nsf.gov in advance to let them know of your
intention to attend so that a security pass can be arranged in advance. Information for visiting NSF can be found at: http://www.nsf.gov/about/visit/.
NSF is also making arrangements for a webcast of this event. Please contact Lauren Kitchen at lkitchen@nsf.gov for details on how to
access the webcast.
The creation of a cyberinfrastructure collaborative for plant science is being undertaken in response to the dramatic expansion of resources for plant science, including genome-scale sequence,
expression, and phenotypic data sets, genetic resources, functional genomics assets, informatics tools, etc. While these resources create
the potential for dramatic new progress, this potential will only be realized if these resources can be easily accessed, understood, and
used in novel combinations by all in the research and education communities. The Plant Science Cyberinfrastructure Collaborative (PSCIC) will address these needs.
The PSCIC will be a new type of organization in many respects. First, the driving force and organizing principles for the Collaborative will be the grand challenge questions in plant science.
Second, as the questions change and evolve, the PSCIC will constantly reinvent itself and its capabilities, developing next-generation
computation and cyberinfrastructure capabilities. Third, the core of the Collaborative will be comprised of a fully integrated blend of
plant science, cyberinfrastructure, and computer and information science capabilities, operating at and beyond the frontier in each of these areas. Fourth, the Collaborative will develop novel mechanisms for catalyzing synthetic interactions among biologists, computer and information scientists, cyberinfrastructure researchers, and others appropriate to the research questions at hand. Finally, it will be an institution by, for, and of the community - enabling scientists and educators in all realms to contribute to progress in plant science.
Please consult the program solicitation at the URL listed for detailed information about the program, including timelines, proposal preparation instructions, and review criteria. You may contact NSF at pscic@nsf.gov if you need additional information or have questions.
Publish Date:
08-09-2006
