NSF Award
1928838
Standards for data exchange are critical to the development of any field. They support the reliable exchange of information, interoperability of various tools, and reproducibility of scientific results. The COmputational MOdeling in Biology NEtwork (COMBINE) was created to coordinate standardization efforts for modeling in biology by providing a central point for discussions about standards relevant to particular domains, and organizing regular face-to-face meetings. COMBINE workshops have been instrumental in making progress in the development of these standards and in interacting closely with biologists that develop state-of-the-art models, such as a global map of human metabolism or whole cell models. This award will support the COMBINE 2019 meeting to be held at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies, Germany, from July 15th to 19th, 2019. Registration, travel, and accommodation expenses for US based students to attend the meeting will be partially supported. A priority will be given to participants from underrepresented groups who otherwise may find it very difficult to find the funds to attend. This workshop will provide a valuable educational and research experience for these participants, enabling students to share their work and interact with the larger community. <br/><br/>COMBINE 2019 will be a workshop-style event with invited lectures, oral presentations and posters, but also reserving time for afternoon breakout sessions. It will be held at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies, Germany, from July 15th to 19th, 2019. The five meeting days will include talks about the COMBINE standards and associated or related standardization efforts, as well as presentations of tools using these standards and other similar topics. Some oral presentations will be selected from abstracts submitted by the attendees. In addition, poster sessions will allow people to inform each other about their software and other projects in a setting that fosters interaction and in-depth discussion. The funding will provide partial support for registration, travel, and accommodation expenses to 5 to 7 US based students. The students will be selected by the COMBINE coordinators. The student applicants will provide a short narrative on why they are interested in participating, including a description of their current interest/involvement with standard development. Students who are new to the community and/or are members of underrepresented groups will be especially encouraged to apply. At least one third of the funds will be reserved for these individuals. The remainder of the funds will be utilized to support attendance of students that working on standards or are developing critical software infrastructure that supports these standardization efforts.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
