NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Methods and Models For Integrated Assessment
Research Opportunity Related to the
NSF Global Change Research Program
Announcement of Special Funding Opportunity
Submission Deadline:
May 21, 1999
INTRODUCTION
Methods and Models for Integrated Assessment (MMIA) is a funding
opportunity for global change research at the National Science
Foundation (NSF). Assessing the combined influence of multiple
systems is central to understanding important issues such as
global environmental change, large-scale technological change, and
international socio-political evolution. Integrated assessment
refers to approaches for examining the complex interactions among
Earth's physical, biological, and human systems. The integrated
assessment approach involves the use of quantitative models and
other methods to understand individual component systems and their
interactions, with particular emphasis on how changes in one or
more component systems will impact other systems. The goal of the
MMIA competition is to support methodological research that will
advance the design and conduct of integrated assessments.
Federal agencies participating in the U.S. Global Change Research
Program (US/GCRP) have identified integrated assessment as an
important approach for providing information to policy and
decision makers. In addition to providing information about the
dynamics of change, integrated assessments will assist policy
makers by providing a framework for identifying and evaluating
likely consequences of different environmental policies.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
In concert with other US/GCRP agencies, NSF has established MMIA
to sponsor high-quality, fundamental and methodological research
that advances the development of methodologies and models that
will integrate or couple multiple component systems. NSF
encourages participation and collaboration of researchers from all
appropriate scientific and engineering disciplines, including the
mathematical sciences. In FY 1997, NSF awarded approximately $3.4
M through the special MMIA competition. Funding in FY 1999 is
anticipated at approximately the same level, depending on
availability of funds.
A review of MMIA proposals will be conducted in the Spring of
1999. Evaluation of proposals for this special competition will
include reviews by external experts and by a multidisciplinary
panel. Evaluation of proposals will be based on the standard NSF
evaluation criteria noted below. Proposals submitted for this
competition must be received no later than May 21, 1999.
Proposals should describe research intended to improve methods for
integrated assessment. Because of the nature of this research,
NSF expects most awards in this category to be interdisciplinary
in scope and to focus on the linkages among multiple human and
natural systems with reference to high priority global change
policy issues (such as national economic welfare, international
technological change, or regional ecological impacts). Examples
of research in this category include rigorous modeling methods and
algorithms that link or couple atmospheric, ecological, and socio-
economic systems; validation of the models and sensitivity
analysis of the data; statistical approaches to combining
information, including substantive knowledge, models, and data;
treatment of uncertainty and risk in integrated systems;
development of integrated assessment model building and validation
techniques; approaches to prediction for large-scale, complex, and
stochastic systems; and development and testing of methods that
integrate formal analysis and modeling with deliberation such as
gaming, policy exercises, and simulation exercises.
Proposals addressing the integration or coupling of multiple
systems are expected to indicate the scientific merit of the
proposed research, and the policy relevance of the anticipated
results. They may also propose specific activities, such as
workshops and briefings, to foster interactions and
communications between the policy and research communities.
Although participation by researchers in specific disciplines is
not required, the Foundation encourages investigators to
demonstrate substantial contributions from the mathematical,
statistical, natural, and social sciences in their research plans.
MMIA projects that will produce data and information that can be
used by other global change researchers must include a special
information and supplementary documentation section (Proposal
Section I) titled "Data and Information Availability." Section I,
described on page 13 of the Grants Proposal Guide (GPG), NSF 99-2,
is not counted in the 15-page Project Description limitation.
This discussion, not to exceed four pages, should describe the
data and information products, the management plans for their
validation, quality control and archiving, and the costs for these
activities.
For contact information and more information view the announcement directly at NSF: http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf9986