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NIMBioS Investigative Workshops
Investigative Workshops focus on broad topics or a set of related topics, summarizing/synthesizing the state of the art and identifying future directions. Organizers invite 15-20 key participants, and the remaining 15-20 participants are filled through open application from the scientific community. Those selected to attend are notified by NIMBioS within two weeks of the application deadline. Investigative Workshops have the potential for leading to one or more future Working Groups.
| NIMBioS Investigative Workshops | Meeting Date | Summaries |
| Modeling White Nose Syndrome in Bats | Jun 29 - Jul 1, 2009 | Meeting summary |
| Modeling Bovine Tuberculosis | Jul 7-9, 2009 | Meeting summary |
| New Soil Black Box Strategies | Oct 15 - 17, 2009 | Meeting summary |
| Optimal Control and Optimization for Individual-based and Agent-based Models. | Dec 1-3, 2009 | Meeting summary |
| Modeling Toxoplasma gondii. | May 13-15, 2010 | Meeting summary |
| Modeling Reef Ecosystems. | July 21-23, 2010 | |
| Modeling Wildlife and Virus Zoonoses. | Nov 8-10, 2010 | |
| Solid Tumor Modeling. | Jan 19-21, 2011 | |
| Synchrony in Biological Systems Across Scales. | April 11-13, 2011 | |
| Modeling Metabolism and Body Weight Regulation | Jul 12-15, 2011 |
Requests for NIMBioS support for investigative workshops are considered twice per year, with deadlines on September 1 and March 1. The deadline is September 1, 2010, for activities beginning in early 2011. All areas of research at the interface of biology and mathematics will be considered, but we are especially interested in activities expanding beyond the areas of research supported to date. Potential organizers of activities in areas of molecular biology, cell biology, network biology, immunology and systems biology are particularly encouraged to submit requests for support of Working Groups or Investigative Workshops.
Call for Investigative Workshop Applications
NIMBioS Investigative Workshops differ from Working Groups in that they focus on a broader topic or set of related topics at the interface of biology and mathematics and have relatively large size (30-40 participants). Workshops attempt to summarize/synthesize the state of the art and identify future directions, and they have potential for leading to one or more future Working Groups. Organizers invite 15-20 key participants, and the remaining 15-20 participants are filled through open application from the scientific community. Those selected to attend are notified by NIMBioS within two weeks of the application deadline. Participants can include post-docs and graduate students with less experience in the particular topic than those participating in Working Groups. Workshops meet at NIMBioS just once for 2-3 days.
Click here for a describtion of best practices for conducting a successful NIMBioS Investigative Workshop. Click here for a printable pdf version.
NIMBioS support includes travel, accommodation, and per diem for meals. No salary support is provided, and no overhead is allowed.
Development of new experimental or observational data is outside the scope of NIMBioS Workshops, though Workshop results may provide justification for new empirical research and suggest priorities for such research.
A goal of NIMBioS is to enhance the cadre of researchers capable of interdisciplinary efforts across mathematics and biology. As part of this goal, NIMBioS is committed to promoting diversity in all its activities. Diversity is considered in all its aspects, social and scientific, including gender, ethnicity, scientific field, career stage, geography and type of home institution. Requests for support are required to provide an explicit diversity statement describing how the proposed list of participants achieves a broad level of diversity. Questions regarding diversity issues should be directed to Dr. Suzanne Lenhart, the NIMBioS Associate Director for Outreach, Education, and Diversity (diversity@nimbios.org).
Applications for Investigative Workshop support will be evaluated based upon the:
- expected level of contribution to science;
- feasibility to produce meaningful synthesis given the constraints of the Workshop process;
- qualifications, appropriate diversity of scientific backgrounds, and experience of the invited participants;
- inclusion of diversity to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups with respect to gender, ethnicity, disability and geographic location;
- response to a clear national need;
- balance of topics across biology and mathematics; and
- clarity of explication as to why NIMBioS rather than some other venue is the most appropriate one to host this Workshop.
Guidelines for Investigative Workshop Applications
Applications for Investigative Workshops are short, not to exceed 5 single-spaced (12-pt type) pages (not including CVs). Applications should be organized as follows:
- Cover sheet
- Descriptive title
- Short title (25 characters max)
- Name and contact information for at least two PIs (preferably at least one with biological expertise and one with mathematical/computational expertise)
- Project Summary (250 words max) - appropriate for public distribution on the NIMBioS web site
- Proposed dates
- Conflict of interests with the members of the Advisory Boards or the NIMBioS Leadership Team
- Central Theme - Justify the importance of the Central Theme, and why it will capture the attention and imaginations of the participating scientists.
- Rationale for NIMBioS support - Why can this activity be most effectively conducted through NIMBioS? Demonstrate that this group of researchers has not met previously.
- Names and affiliations (including departments) of proposed participants.
- Indicate the areas of expertise most relevant for the Investigative Workshop. Workshops are expected to have a balance of participants across areas of biology and mathematics/computation, including individuals with a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences.
- NIMBioS encourages groups that go beyond existing collaborations.
- Named individuals should be committed to participating in the project if funded.
- No more than 20 individuals should be named in the request for support, allowing our Advisory Board to suggest additional appropriate participants and inclusion of applicants from the general community.
- If non-US participants are proposed, briefly describe why their participation is essential.
- Diversity statement – Include a paragraph(s) describing the various aspects of diversity in your invited participant list.
- Kinds of networks and grand-scale collaborations you hope to inspire, including primary research collaborations and future Working Groups.
- Budget (This is not in dollars, but do provide numbers of trips to NIMBioS broken down by number of US domestic and international participants and total days of local support. NIMBioS does not provide honoraria or stipends for Investigative Workshop participants.)
- Short CV of the PIs (2 pages for each). Do not include talks, society memberships, nor papers in preparation.
What We Do Not Fund
- NIMBioS does not fund projects if the activity should be funded by another entity or can just as easily take place elsewhere.
- NIMBioS does not fund collection of new empirical data or field research but does fund the development of models which produce new data.
- NIMBioS does not fund projects requesting overhead or funds to be spent by the investigator at the investigator's home institution.
- NIMBioS does not typically fund activities that involve medical and human health projects unless these projects involve new mathematical approaches to general problems.
Application and Submission Process
Applications will be accepted in digital format only, as a pdf file. Graphics should be embedded directly into the application document. Note that applications should be submitted as a single pdf file including all of the components listed above (items 1-8).
Applications should be submitted electronically. (Click here to submit application)
