Depaul University

RECIPIENT'S INSTITUTIONAL SHARE: TO AID WITH COSTS ATTRIBUTABLE TO SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGING THE DELIVERY OF INSTRUCTION DUE TO CORONAVIRUS

EMERGENCY FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO STUDENTS: TO HELP COVER EXPENSES DUE TO CORONAVIRUS-RELATED DISRUPTION OF CAMPUS OPERATIONS

PREVENTING SUICIDE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS

MAINTENANCE AND INCIDENCE OF ME/CFS FOLLOWING MONO

EMOTION, AGING, AND DECISION MAKING

EMERGENT SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS AS PREDICTORS OF RECOVERY RESIDENT OUTCOMES

EVALUATION OF AN INTERVENTION TO IMPROVE ACADEMIC OUTCOMES FOR LOW-INCOME URBAN YOUTH THROUGH INSTRUCTION IN EFFECTIVE COPING SUPPORTED BY MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS

LEGAL EDUCATION REFORM AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAQ

SOCIAL ECOLOGY AND THE PREVENTION OF SUICIDE AND AGGRESSION IN AFRICAN AMERICAN Y

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATORY INTERVENTION WITH HIGH-RISK AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN

PROJECT STRIDE: SCHOOL-BASED TRAINEE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION THROUGH INNOVATION AND DIVERSITY ENRICHMENT

EVALUATING ALTERNATIVE AFTERCARE MODELS FOR EX-OFFENDERS

CHICAGO TEACHER RESIDENCY: PREPARING HIGH QUALITY TEACHERS FOR HIGH-NEED URBAN SCHOOLS

MRI-R2: DEVELOPMENT OF A SOFTWARE TRACEABILITY INSTRUMENT TO FACILITATE AND EMPOWER TRACEABILITY RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

BUILDING A STEM PIPELINE IN CHICAGO

PEDIATRIC CFS IN A COMMUNITY-BASED SAMPLE

DEPAUL UNIVERSITY STUDENT SUPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

SCC-IRG TRACK 2: SCHOLAR: SMART, CONNECTED, AND HEALTHY OUTCOMES FROM LEVERAGING ASSETS AND RESEARCH -AN EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR IMPROVING HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR HIGH-RISK PATIENTS IN UNDER-RESOURCED COMMUNITIES IS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER (CHW) PROGRAM. THERE IS AN URGENT NEED TO INTEGRATE EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES INTO THESE PROGRAMS TO HELP CHWS BETTER LINK PATIENTS WITH HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THE COMMUNITY, AND BETTER SUPPORT HEALTH SYSTEMS TO ADDRESS THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH. SCHOLAR (SMART, CONNECTED, AND HEALTHY OUTCOMES FROM LEVERAGING ASSETS AND RESEARCH) WILL LEVERAGE THE VOICES OF CHWS TO BUILD THE HEALTH SYSTEM?S ABILITY TO USE DATA TO PREDICT PATIENT NEEDS AND PROVIDE BETTER CARE. THIS APPROACH USES DATA TO BUILD AN INFORMATION PIPELINE BETWEEN COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND THE HEALTH SYSTEMS THAT SERVE THEM, STRENGTHENING THE SMART CONNECTION BETWEEN THEM. AS A RESULT OF THIS WORK, HOSPITALS WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH THE RIGHT DATA TO ASSIGN THEIR TIME, TALENT, AND RESOURCES TO IMPROVE HEALTH OUTCOMES. IN THE LONG RUN, THIS INNOVATIVE SOCIOTECHNICAL APPROACH WILL LEAD TO MORE SUSTAINABLE HEALTH SYSTEMS IN UNDER RESOURCED COMMUNITIES BY REDUCING EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT (ED) READMISSION RATES, WHICH ARE A KEY METRIC FOR FEDERAL FUNDING PROGRAMS. THE SCHOLAR PROJECT WILL DESIGN, DEVELOP, AND EVALUATE AN ANALYTICS DASHBOARD THAT WILL EMPOWER CHWS TO INTERACT WITH AND INTERPRET DATA AND LEAD TO: 1) IMPROVED COMPUTATIONAL PREDICTION MODELING FOR EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT READMISSION RATES; 2) IMPROVED HEALTH SYSTEM RISK STRATIFICATION AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION; AND, 3) STRENGTHENING OF THE SMART CONNECTION BETWEEN THE HEALTH SYSTEM AND THE COMMUNITIES IT SERVES. THE PROJECT WILL BE DEPLOYED IN OVERBURDENED AND UNDER-RESOURCED SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST SIDE CHICAGO COMMUNITIES SERVED BY SINAI CHICAGO, ILLINOIS' LARGEST PRIVATE SAFETY NET HOSPITAL SYSTEM. THIS INTEGRATIVE RESEARCH SPANS SOCIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DOMAINS. THE PROJECT TEAM INCLUDES RESEARCHERS FROM DEPAUL UNIVERSITY AND SINAI URBAN HEALTH INSTITUTE (THE COMMUNITY-ENGAGED RESEARCH ARM OF SINAI CHICAGO), WITH EXPERTISE IN DATA SCIENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING, HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION, EPIDEMIOLOGY, AND COMMUNITY BASED PUBLIC HEALTH. GROUNDED IN OUR PREVIOUS WORK, WE WILL INVESTIGATE: 1) DATA LINKAGE ACROSS HEALTHCARE AND COMMUNITY SETTINGS INCLUDING ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORD AND SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH DATA INTEGRATION; 2) HIGH-RISK STRATIFICATION PREDICTION MODELS THAT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT DIVERSE PATIENT GROUPS; 3) HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION APPROACHES THAT AIM TO ITERATIVELY INCORPORATE CHW FEEDBACK INTO DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PREDICTION MODELS; AND 4) PROTOTYPES OF TRAINING, NETWORKS, AND PARTICIPATORY STRUCTURES TO SYSTEMIZE AN INTEGRATIVE SCHOLAR CHW PROGRAM THAT LEVERAGES THE ADVANTAGES OF DATA-INFORMED DECISIONS AND THE EFFICIENCY OF COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

DIP: DEVELOPING FRAMEWORKS, TOOLS AND SOCIAL PRACTICES TO SUPPORT EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTOR USE OF ONLINE SOCIAL LEARNING NETWORKS IN BLENDED LEARNING MOD

EVALUATING A BILINGUAL VOLUNTARY COMMUNITY-BASED HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATION

ENGAGING MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS IN COMPUTATIONAL ELECTRONIC DESIGN

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

DOCUMENTING CURRENT HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN IRAQ AND SUPPORTING GRASSROOTS NGOS

ADVANCING HIGH SCHOOL COMPUTER SCIENCE THROUGH MATH AND SCIENCE INTEGRATION

TRACK 2 CS10K: ACCELERATE ECS4ALL

REPRODUCIBLE CONTAINERS FOR ADVANCING PROCESS-ORIENTED COLLABORATIVE ANALYTICS

NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION RESEARCH

DEPAUL UNIVERSITY RONALD E. MCNAIR POST-BACCALAUREATE ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM

TRIO - STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES - STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

RONALD E. MCNAIR POSTBACCALAUREATE ACHIEVEMENT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CHICAGO ALLIANCE FOR EQUITY IN COMPUTER SCIENCE (CAFECS)

SCHOLARSHIPS AND COMMUNITIES TO SUPPORT STEM UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT PERSISTENCE AND GRADUATION

DEPAUL UNIVERSITY RONALD E. MCNAIR POST-BACCALAUREATE ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CAFECS: AP CSP ACCESS FOR ALL -THE LEARNING PARTNERSHIP, DEPAUL UNIVERSITY, AND CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS (CPS) WILL COLLABORATE TO INCREASE ACCESS TO AND SUCCESS IN AP COMPUTER SCIENCE PRINCIPLES (AP CSP), FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN AND HISPANIC STUDENTS, WHO ARE TRADITIONALLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AND SPECIFICALLY IN AP COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSES. EACH YEAR, ABOUT 14,000 STUDENTS IN CPS GRADUATE WITH ONE YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL COMPUTER SCIENCE CREDIT IN FULFILLMENT OF THE DISTRICT?S COMPUTER SCIENCE GRADUATION REQUIREMENT. THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT WAS THE CULMINATION OF OVER A DECADE OF WORK BY THE CHICAGO ALLIANCE FOR EQUITY IN COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH-PRACTICE PARTNERSHIP, WHICH INCLUDES CPS TEACHERS, CPS ADMINISTRATORS, UNIVERSITY COMPUTER SCIENCE FACULTY, AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHERS. HOWEVER, ACCESS TO ADVANCED COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSES, SPECIFICALLY AP CSP, REMAINS LIMITED, RESULTING IN SIGNIFICANT RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN ACCESS AND OUTCOMES. WITH A SPECIFIC FOCUS ON AFRICAN AMERICAN AND HISPANIC STUDENTS, THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO ENSURE THAT EVERY CPS HIGH SCHOOL OFFERS AP CSP, THAT ENROLLMENT IN THE COURSE REFLECTS THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF EACH SCHOOL, AND SUCCESS ON THE AP EXAM IS EQUIVALENT BY RACE, ETHNICITY, AND GENDER. IN ADDITION TO ADDRESSING INEQUITY IN COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION AND SUPPORTING TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, THE PROJECT WILL ULTIMATELY LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A STRONGER AND MORE DIVERSE COMPUTING WORKFORCE THAT WILL ENHANCE U.S. ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS. THE PROJECT WILL PROVIDE SYSTEMS OF SUPPORT TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES INHERENT IN PREPARING ALL STUDENTS AND TEACHERS FOR SUCCESS IN AP CSP AND ENSURE THE COURSE IS TAUGHT USING CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGY. AN INCREASING PROPORTION OF NEW AP CSP TEACHERS DO NOT HAVE A DEEP BACKGROUND IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, AND THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE CONTENT-SPECIFIC PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ONGOING COACHING. TEACHERS WILL BE SCAFFOLDED IN IMPLEMENTING CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING PRACTICES THROUGH THE EXPLORING CONNECTIONS TO COMPUTER SCIENCE ACTIVITIES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. THESE PRACTICES ARE ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR ADDRESSING GAPS IN COURSE OUTCOMES EXPERIENCED BY STUDENTS OF COLOR WHO ARE THE FOCUS OF THIS PROJECT. THE PROJECT WILL REACH APPROXIMATELY 75 TEACHERS, WHICH WOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO HAVE AT LEAST ONE CSP TEACHER IN EVERY SCHOOL THAT DOES NOT CURRENTLY OFFER AP CSP. AS A RESULT, THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS TAKING AP CPS SHOULD DOUBLE FROM ROUGHLY 2000 TO 4000 STUDENTS WITHIN THREE YEARS WITH THE INCREASE COMING PRIMARILY FROM STUDENTS AT NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS WHO IDENTIFY AS BLACK OR HISPANIC. THE PROJECT WILL ENGAGE IN HYPOTHESIS-DRIVEN RESEARCH TO IDENTIFY FACTORS THAT PREDICT, FACILITATE OR HINDER IMPLEMENTATION OF AP CSP IN NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS AND CREATE A FRAMEWORK OF STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT THE DISTRICT-WIDE EFFORT TO EXPAND AP CSP. 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TYPE I: TASTE OF COMPUTING: ADDING A CS ENTREE TO THE EDUCATION CHOICES IN A LARGE URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

RONALD E. MCNAIR POST-BACCALAUREATE ACHIEVEMENT

EARTHCUBE BUILDING BLOCKS: COLLABORATIVE PROPOSAL: GEOTRUST: IMPROVING SHARING AND REPRODUCIBILITY OF GEOSCIENCE APPLICATIONS

SAI: HEALTHY AND EQUITABLE PUBLIC SPACES -STRENGTHENING AMERICAN INFRASTRUCTURE (SAI) IS AN NSF PROGRAM SEEKING TO STIMULATE HUMAN-CENTERED FUNDAMENTAL AND POTENTIALLY TRANSFORMATIVE RESEARCH THAT STRENGTHENS AMERICA?S INFRASTRUCTURE. EFFECTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDES A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR SOCIOECONOMIC VITALITY AND BROAD QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENT. STRONG, RELIABLE, AND EFFECTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE SPURS PRIVATE-SECTOR INNOVATION, GROWS THE ECONOMY, CREATES JOBS, MAKES PUBLIC-SECTOR SERVICE PROVISION MORE EFFICIENT, STRENGTHENS COMMUNITIES, PROMOTES EQUAL OPPORTUNITY, PROTECTS THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, ENHANCES NATIONAL SECURITY, AND FUELS AMERICAN LEADERSHIP. TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS REQUIRES EXPERTISE FROM ACROSS THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DISCIPLINES. SAI FOCUSES ON HOW KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN REASONING AND DECISION-MAKING, GOVERNANCE, AND SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PROCESSES ENABLES THE BUILDING AND MAINTENANCE OF EFFECTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IMPROVES LIVES AND SOCIETY AND BUILDS ON ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING. MORE THAN HALF OF THE HUMAN POPULATION IS CONCENTRATED IN URBAN AREAS. THIS WORLDWIDE SHIFT FROM RURAL TO URBAN LIVING IS LIKELY TO CONTINUE. ALTHOUGH URBANIZATION CREATES OPPORTUNITIES TO SUPPORT HUMAN HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, IT ALSO INTRODUCES SERIOUS THREATS. COMPARED TO SUBURBAN AND RURAL ENVIRONMENTS, URBAN LIVING PROVIDES EASIER ACCESS TO SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE ? THE PUBLIC SPACES WHERE PEOPLE INTERACT SOCIALLY AND ENGAGE WITH THE COMMUNITY. YET, EXPOSURE TO URBAN VERSUS NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS IS ASSOCIATED WITH POORER PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING. ONE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THESE DIFFERENCES IS TO RECOGNIZE THAT NOT ALL URBAN PUBLIC SPACES ARE CREATED THE SAME. STARK DIFFERENCES EXIST WITHIN CITIES IN THE QUALITIES OF URBAN AND NATURAL PUBLIC SPACES, AND THE DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES THAT THESE PUBLIC SPACES PROVIDE. WITH THE INPUT OF COMMUNITY PARTNERS, THIS MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT USES ONLINE, LABORATORY, AND COMMUNITY-BASED DATA COLLECTION TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC SPACES ON COGNITION, EMOTION, AND WELL-BEING, AND TO DOCUMENT THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF MARGINALIZED AND NON-MARGINALIZED COMMUNITY MEMBERS. THIS SAI RESEARCH PROJECT STRENGTHENS AMERICA?S SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE BY IDENTIFYING FEATURES OF PUBLIC SPACES THAT PROMOTE RESTORATION AND WELL-BEING, AND BY PROVIDING EVIDENCE-BASED DESIGN STANDARDS FOR HEALTHY AND EQUITABLE PUBLIC SPACES. THIS PROJECT EXPLORES RESPONSES TO PUBLIC SPACES AMONG DIVERSE RESIDENTS IN THREE U.S. CITIES. THE PROJECT LEVERAGES A MIXED-METHODS APPROACH, USING QUALITATIVE INDICATORS AND QUANTITATIVE DATA FROM SURVEYS AND EXPERIMENTS. THE QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENTS INCLUDE PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIVITY DATA, BEHAVIORAL EYE TRACKING AND MOTION TRACKING DATA, SELF-REPORT DATA, AND ARCHIVAL NEIGHBORHOOD-LEVEL DATA. THESE METHODS ARE USED TO IDENTIFY FEATURES OF PUBLIC SPACES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL RESTORATION AND WELL-BEING, AND TO DOCUMENT SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN THE EXPERIENCES OF MARGINALIZED AND NON-MARGINALIZED INDIVIDUALS. FINDINGS ARE REGULARLY SHARED WITH AN ADVISORY BOARD WITH REPRESENTATION FROM A VARIETY OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT PROMOTE PUBLIC SPACES, INCLUDING CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS, POLICY GROUPS, EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES AND COMMUNITY GROUPS. THE DATA AND THE EXPERTISE OF ADVISORS ARE INCORPORATED INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SOCIAL IMPACT PROTOCOL FOR ASSESSING AND DESIGNING HEALTHIER AND MORE EQUITABLE PUBLIC SPACES. THIS AWARD IS SUPPORTED BY THE DIRECTORATE FOR SOCIAL, BEHAVIORAL, AND ECONOMIC (SBE) SCIENCES AND THE DIRECTORATE FOR ENGINEERING. 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.

BPEC: BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN COMPUTING THROUGH A COMMUNITY APPROACH TO LEARNING

FIE EARMARK GRANT AWARDS

CHROMOSOME CONGRESSION IN DROSOPHILA FEMALE MEIOSIS

GRADUATE ASSISTANCE IN AREAS OF NATIONAL NEED

BUILDING A TEACHER KNOWLEDGE BASE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF HIGH-QUALITY INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES THROUGH THE COLLABORATIVE INVESTIGATION OF VIDEO CASES

THE ROLE OF AFFECT IN DECISIONS INVOLVING RISK ACROSS THE ADULT LIFE SPAN

"DEPAUL UNIVERSITY WILL BE PARTNERING WITH THE ASSET BASED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE FOR A 2.5-YEAR DEVELOPMENTAL EVALUATION TO IDENTIFY LESSONS LEARNED BY 12 COMMUNITY CATALYST GRANT AWARDEES. THE PARTNERSHIP AIMS TO PRODUCE FRAMEWORKS, BEST PRACTICES, AND METHODOLOGIES THAT THE LIBRARY AND MUSEUM FIELDS CAN USE TO COLLABORATE WITH COMMUNITIES. THE EVALUATION PROCESS AND THE RESOURCES IT PRODUCES WILL SUPPORT PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, REFINEMENT, AND REFLECTIVE LEARNING FOR THE MUSEUM AND LIBRARY FIELDS, EDUCATORS, POTENTIAL FUNDERS, AND THE PUBLIC, FOCUSING ON THE SUPPORTIVE ROLE MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES CAN PLAY AS PARTNERS IN COMMUNITY PROBLEM-SOLVING."

FOLLOW THAT CELL: MOTILITY ANALYSIS OF L-PLASTIN MUTANT ZEBRAFISH

SHF: SMALL: RUI: GENERATING HIGH QUALITY TRACE LINKS THROUGH INTELLIGENT COMPOSITION OF TRACING FEATURES

SHF: SMALL: TACTIC-CENTRIC TRACEABILITY MODELS FOR PRESERVING ARCHITECTURAL QUALITY

III: SMALL:USING DATA MINING AND RECOMMENDER SYSTEMS TO FACILITATE LARGE-SCALE REQUIREMENTS PROCESSES

TC: SMALL: LANGUAGE BASED ACCOUNTABILITY

III: SMALL: RUI: MULTI-DIMENSIONAL RECOMMENDATION IN COMPLEX HETEROGENEOUS NETWORKS

SHF: SMALL: RELAXING SOUNDNESS

SHF: SMALL: STATEFUL INTERFACES

GRADUATE ASSISTANCE IN AREAS OF NATIONAL NEED (GAANN)

REU SITE: MEDIX: MEDICAL INFORMATICS EXPERIENCES IN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

GRADUATE ASSISTANCE IN AREAS OF NATIONAL NEED (GAANN)

DEPAUL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF COMPUTING, GRADUATE ASSISTANCE IN AREAS OF NATIONAL NEED

VS-EDGE: VISUAL-SEMANTIC EXPLANATIONS FOR DIAGNOSTIC GUIDANCE - PROJECT SUMMARY TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS SUCH AS COMPUTER-AIDED DIAGNOSIS (CAD) SYSTEMS CAN BE OF VALUE IN ANALYZING THE SIXTY BILLION RADIOLOGICAL IMAGES THAT ARE GENERATED ANNUALLY IN AMERICA’S HEALTHCARE SECTOR. HOWEVER, THERE IS A LARGE GAP BETWEEN THE NUMBER OF CAD SYSTEMS REPORTED IN THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE AND THE NUMBER ROUTINELY USED IN CLINICAL PRACTICE. THIS GAP CAN BE PARTIALLY EXPLAINED BY THE FACT THAT MOST MACHINE LEARNING-BASED CAD SYSTEMS FUNCTION IN A “BLACK BOX” MANNER, LEADING TO A LACK OF TRUST BY CLINICIANS IN THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO AID THE DIAGNOSTIC PROCESS IN CLINICAL SETTINGS. RECOGNIZING AN OBJECT INVOLVES RAPID VISUAL PROCESSING AND ACTIVATION OF SEMANTIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE OBJECT, BUT HOW VISUAL PROCESSING ACTIVATES AND INTERACTS WITH SEMANTIC REPRESENTATIONS FOR BOTH PHYSICIAN AND CAD SYSTEMS REMAINS UNCLEAR. THERE IS, THEREFORE, A CRITICAL NEED TO DETERMINE HOW VISUAL-SEMANTIC PROCESSING IDENTIFIES IMPORTANT, CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT VISUAL PATTERNS. THE LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO ACCELERATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS FOR IMPROVED DECISION MAKING IN CLINICAL SETTINGS. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE FOR THE PROPOSED R15 IS TO DEVELOP AND VALIDATE A NOVEL MODEL OF VISUAL-SEMANTIC PROCESSING. THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT A MODEL BASED ON AN INTEGRATED SEMANTIC AND DEEP-LEARNING NEURAL NETWORK (SDNN) CAN CREATE EXPLAINABLE AND ACCURATE CAD MECHANISMS AND ESTABLISH A COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IS VISUALLY IMPORTANT TO RADIOLOGISTS. THE RATIONALE IS THAT SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF A VALIDATED EXPLAINABLE CAD MODEL WILL PROVIDE NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR ITS CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT AND FUTURE CLINICAL USE AS AN AID TO PHYSICIANS MAKING DIAGNOSES. THE FOLLOWING TWO SPECIFIC AIMS ARE PROPOSED: 1) DEVELOP A SEMANTIC DEEP-LEARNING NEURAL NETWORK (SDNN) THAT GENERATES VISUAL PATTERNS AND IMAGE EXEMPLARS; AND 2) DETERMINE WHICH VISUAL PATTERNS AND IMAGE EXEMPLARS ARE DIAGNOSTICALLY MOST INFORMATIVE. IN THE FIRST AIM, A DEEP LEARNING MODEL WILL BE DESIGNED AND DEVELOPED THAT, WHEN AUGMENTED WITH VISUAL SEMANTIC KNOWLEDGE, GIVES RISE TO REPRESENTATIONAL FEATURES THAT CLOSELY MATCH THE VISUAL SEMANTIC CONCEPTS REPRESENTED IN HUMAN HIGHER-LEVEL VISION. FOR THE SECOND AIM, A PANEL OF EXPERTS WILL BE ENGAGED TO IDENTIFY A SET OF VISUAL PATTERNS AND IMAGE EXEMPLARS THAT CAN BE USED AS POTENTIAL CAD EXPLANATIONS WHEN INTERPRETING LUNG NODULES BY COMPUTER. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS INNOVATIVE BECAUSE IT FOCUSES ON INTEGRATING VISUAL PERCEPTION AND SEMANTIC KNOWLEDGE AND DISCOVERING EMERGENT PATTERNS THAT MORE CLOSELY MATCH THE VISUAL-SEMANTIC FEATURES REPRESENTED IN HUMAN HIGHER-LEVEL VISUAL CORTEX. THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE THE RESULTS ARE EXPECTED TO PROVIDE STRONG SCIENTIFIC JUSTIFICATION FOR CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF FUTURE CAD SYSTEMS AUGMENTED WITH EXPLANATIONS AS A GATEWAY BETWEEN CAD TECHNOLOGY AND CLINICAL PRACTICE, AS WELL AS CONTINUED EXPANSION OF USE OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES. FINALLY, AS AN R15, THIS AWARD WILL BE USED TO HELP STRENGTHEN THE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT AT DEPAUL UNIVERSITY, AS WELL AS EXPOSE UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS TO BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH, THEREBY BROADENING THEIR RANGE OF CAREER CHOICES.

THE RESEARCH AND EVALUATION (R&E) INITIATIVE IS AUTHORIZED BY 34 USC 12291(B)(7), WHICH PERMITS OVW TO SET ASIDE UP TO THREE PERCENT OF AVAILABLE FUNDS FROM MOST OVW PROGRAMS TO CONDUCT EVALUATIONS OF PROMISING PRACTICES FOR COMBATTING DOMESTIC/DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND STALKING, AND TO RESEARCH PROBLEMS EMERGING IN THE FIELD. BY GENERATING MORE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT STRATEGIES FOR SERVING VICTIMS AND HOLDING OFFENDERS ACCOUNTABLE, COMMUNITIES THAT BENEFIT FROM VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT (VAWA) FUNDING WILL BE BETTER EQUIPPED TO ALIGN THEIR WORK WITH PRACTICES THAT ARE KNOWN TO BE EFFECTIVE, AND THEY WILL BE MORE CAPABLE OF BUILDING EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE ON THE EFFICACY OF NEW AND PROMISING WAYS OF MAKING COMMUNITIES SAFER AND MORE JUST. RECOGNIZING THAT THERE IS A PRESSING NEED TO UNDERSTAND SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS’ PERCEPTIONS OF HELPFUL AND UNHELPFUL ASPECTS OF THEIR EXPERIENCES SEEKING CIVIL NO CONTACT ORDERS (CNCOS), AND FOCUSING ON THE ROLE OF ADVOCATES AND LAWYERS AND SURVIVOR AND COMMUNITY DIVERSITY, THIS STUDY WITH DEPAUL UNIVERSITY WILL INVOLVE QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS WILL BE CONDUCTED WITH 45-50 ADULT SURVIVORS WHO SOUGHT A CNCO AND SOUGHT HELP FROM ONE OF THE FOCAL RAPE CRISIS CENTERS. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A STATE SEXUAL ASSAULT COALITION, THE RESEARCHERS WILL INTERVIEW 30-35 URBAN SURVIVORS (AT LEAST 10 BLACK AND AT LEAST 10 LATINO/A/X SURVIVORS), 15-20 RURAL SURVIVORS, AND 15 SURVIVORS WHO DID AND 15 WHO DID NOT SPEAK WITH A LAWYER ABOUT THEIR CNCO. THIS STUDY WILL CONTRIBUTE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE UNIQUE EXPERIENCES OF SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS WHO SEEK CNCOS OUTSIDE THE CONTEXT OF DOMESTIC/DATING VIOLENCE. FINDINGS WILL BE SHARED WITH STATE AND NATIONAL STAKEHOLDER GROUPS REPRESENTING VICTIM ADVOCATES, JUDGES, AND LAWYERS VIA PRACTITIONER REPORTS, PRESENTATIONS, AND A PRACTITIONER-ORIENTED CONFERENCE. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL PRESENT AT TWO SCHOLARLY CONFERENCES AND SUBMIT AT LEAST TWO MANUSCRIPTS TO PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS.

PCB-INDUCED PRIMING OF MICROGLIAL ACTIVITY ACROSS SEXES AND DEVELOPMENT - PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBS) REMAIN UBIQUITOUS ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS AND EXPOSURE TO THEM IS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED RISK OF NEURODEVELOPMENTAL AND MOOD DISORDERS. THESE DISORDERS TEND TO OCCUR MORE FREQUENTLY IN INFANT MALE AND ADOLESCENT FEMALE INDIVIDUALS, AND ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ALTERED FUNCTION OF MICROGLIA, THE RESIDENT IMMUNE CELLS OF THE BRAIN. WHILE SIGNIFICANT GAINS HAVE BEEN MADE IN UNDERSTANDING EFFECTS OF PCBS ON NEURONS, DIRECT EFFECTS OF PCBS AND MOST OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICANTS ON MICROGLIA ARE UNKNOWN. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO IDENTIFY DIRECT EFFECTS AND PUTATIVE MECHANISMS OF PCB ACTION ON MICROGLIAL FUNCTION AND POSSIBLE NEURONAL CONSEQUENCES. THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT PCBS WILL PRIME MICROGLIA TO PRODUCE EXAGGERATED RESPONSES TO A SECONDARY CHALLENGE IN AGE- AND SEX-SPECIFIC WAYS. THE APPLICATION PROPOSES TO USE MICROGLIA ACUTELY ISOLATED FROM MALE AND FEMALE NEONATAL AND ADOLESCENT WHOLE BRAINS AND TREATED TO INDIVIDUAL PCB CONGENERS, AN ENVIRONMENTALLY REPRESENTATIVE MIXTURE, OR VEHICLE IN VITRO PRIOR TO A CONTROL OR IMMUNE CHALLENGE. AIM 1 IS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF PCB EXPOSURE ON MICROGLIAL CYTOKINE SIGNALING AND REGULATION. IL1B AND TNFA EXPRESSION AND RELEASE WILL BE ASSAYED WITH QPCR AND ELISA. EXPRESSION AND LOCALIZATION OF PRO-INFLAMMATORY TLR4 RECEPTOR AND NFKB TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR REQUIRED FOR CYTOKINE EXPRESSION WILL ALSO BE DETERMINED WITH IMMUNOCYTOCHEMISTRY. AIM 2 IS TO INTERROGATE EFFECTS AND PUTATIVE MECHANISMS OF PCBS ON MICROGLIAL OXIDATIVE STRESS. PRODUCTION OF ROS/RNS AND PEROXYNITRITE- ASSOCIATED CELL DAMAGE IN MIXED CELL CULTURES, AND EXPRESSION OF PCB-SENSITIVE RECEPTORS THAT MODULATE CALCIUM AND ROS/RNS PRODUCTION IN MICROGLIA, WILL BE DETERMINED. AIM 3 IS TO IDENTIFY EFFECTS AND PUTATIVE MECHANISMS OF PCBS ON MICROGLIAL PHAGOCYTOSIS. MICROGLIAL PHAGOCYTOSIS OF FLUORESCENTLY LABELED LATEX BEADS AND EXPRESSION OF PHAGOCYTOSIS-RELATED GENES WILL BE DETERMINED BY FLOW CYTOMETRY AND QPCR. MICROGLIA MORPHOLOGY ASSOCIATED WITH PHAGOCYTOSIS WILL BE DETERMINE IN MIXED CELL CULTURES BY IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY. THE PROPOSED WORK IS INNOVATIVE IN THAT IT IS THE FIRST TO DIRECTLY STUDY SEX DIFFERENCES IN MICROGLIAL RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICANTS AND USE ACUTE ISOLATION TECHNIQUES TO BETTER MAINTAIN IN VIVO PHENOTYPES. THESE STUDIES ARE EXPECTED TO CONTRIBUTE TO A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR IDENTIFYING MECHANISTIC TARGETS OF PCB ACTION IN MICROGLIA. THIS KNOWLEDGE COULD PROVIDE A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR THE PURSUIT OF MICROGLIA-DIRECTED THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES AIMED AT TREATING OR PREVENTING TOXICANT-INDUCED NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS. THIS INFORMATION COULD ALSO INFORM POPULATION-TARGETED EXPOSURE MITIGATION STRATEGIES. AS AN AREA-R15 APPLICATION, THESE STUDIES WILL ENGAGE STUDENTS IN INDEPENDENT AND MERITORIOUS RESEARCH, STRENGTHENING THE INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT AT AN INSTITUTION SERVING A LARGE NUMBER OF STUDENTS UNDERREPRESENTED IN SCIENCE.

REU SITE: MEDIX: MEDICAL INFORMATICS EXPERIENCES IN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

DEVELOPMENT AND REGENERATION OF THE ZEBRAFISH MAXILLARY BARBEL

CNH: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: COUPLED NATURAL HUMAN SYSTEMS IN THE CHICAGO WILDERNESS: EVALUATING THE BIODIVERSITY AND SOCIAL OUTCOMES OF DIFFERENT

UNCOVERING THE BIOLOGICAL ROLES OF INFLAMMATORY CASPASES THROUGH CHEMICAL APPROACHES

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A COMPREHENSIVE STRESS BATTERY FOR ADOLESCENTS

AGING, EMOTION REGULATION, AND STRESS

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A NEUROPHYSIOLOGY LABORATORY FOR A RESEARCH AND TRAINING INITIATIVE IN AFFECTIVE, SOCIAL, AND COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE

AFFECTIVE AND DELIBERATIVE PROCESSES IN DECISION MAKING ACROSS THE ADULT LIFE SPAN

HOW CREW COMPOSITION AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS AFFECT CREW FUNCTIONING AND EFFECTIVENESS HAS BEEN AND CONTINUES TO BE OF INTEREST TO BOTH NASA AND

CAREER: ADVANCED CONTAINERS FOR REPRODUCIBILITY IN COMPUTATIONAL AND DATA SCIENCE

DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF A SYNDEMIC MODEL AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MALE ADOLESCEN

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FMITF: TRACK I: A FORMAL VERIFICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION STACK FOR PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLERS -SAFETY-CRITICAL INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS, SUCH AS THE ELECTRIC POWER GRID OR WATER-TREATMENT PLANTS, PROVIDE CRUCIAL SERVICES IN MODERN SOCIETIES. THEREFORE, THEY MUST BE SAFE AT ALL TIMES AND ON ALL LEVELS, FROM THEIR DESIGN TO THEIR OPERATION. THIS IS ESPECIALLY CHALLENGING SINCE INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SOFTWARE IS LARGELY AUTOMATED TO MAKE DECISIONS ON BEHALF OF HUMANS WHILE BEING INCREASINGLY TARGETED BY ADVERSARIAL CYBER-PHYSICAL ATTACKS. IN ORDER TO ACT IN ADVANCE BEFORE UNSAFE OR UNDESIRED SITUATIONS OCCUR, MODELS THAT DESCRIBE THE PHYSICS OF THE SYSTEM AND THE EFFECTS OF POTENTIAL SECURITY ATTACKS NEED TO BECOME A CENTRAL ELEMENT IN DESIGNING INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS. THE PROJECT'S NOVELTIES ARE MATHEMATICS- AND LOGIC-BASED SOFTWARE-DEVELOPMENT METHODS TO MAKE INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SOFTWARE AWARE OF REAL-WORLD EFFECTS AND THREATS. THE PROJECT'S IMPACTS ARE IMPROVED SUPPORT FOR PRACTITIONERS IN DEVELOPING TRUSTWORTHY AND RESILIENT INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS, WITH THE AIM OF PROVIDING THE CRUCIAL MISSING VERIFICATION LINK BETWEEN INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND EXECUTION. THE PROJECT'S TECHNICAL APPROACH STUDIES A PROVABLY CORRECT DEVELOPMENT STACK FOR INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS WITH PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROL (PLC) THAT IS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE A CHAIN OF FULLY VERIFIED LINKS FROM HIGH-LEVEL MODELS ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE RUNNING CODE, ACCOMPANIED BY SYNTHESIZED CORRECTNESS PROOFS. THE CORRECTNESS PROOFS ENTAIL STRONG SAFETY GUARANTEES ON THE ACTUAL INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH VALIDATION METHODS TO ANALYZE, AT RUNTIME, WHETHER MODELS AND REALITY AGREE AND TO COUNTERACT WHEN DEVIATIONS OCCUR. TO THIS END, THE TEAM OF RESEARCHERS EXPECTS TO ADVANCE TECHNIQUES FOR VERIFIED RUNTIME MONITORING OF THE OPERATING CONTEXT AND FOR VERIFIED BI-DIRECTIONAL TRANSLATION BETWEEN CODE AND MODELS. THE MODELS COMBINE DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS WITH NONDETERMINISTIC CONTROL AND ENVIRONMENT MODELS TO DESCRIBE PHYSICAL EFFECTS AND SECURITY THREATS. SUCH PREDICTIVE MODELS, SAFETY PROOFS, AND VALIDATION METHODS ARE CRUCIAL ELEMENTS OF EVERY TRUSTWORTHY IMPLEMENTATION STACK SO THAT PROOFS FROM MODELS TRANSFER TO THE RUNNING SYSTEM. TO ADDRESS DESIGN SAFETY AT THE SCALE OF INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS, THE INVESTIGATORS BRING TOGETHER COMPLEMENTARY EXPERTISE IN FOUNDATIONS AND PRACTICAL VERIFICATION FOR CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS, WITH FIELD EXPERTISE IN EMBEDDED SYSTEMS FOR INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS SAFETY AND SECURITY. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

CAREER: CHIRAL ANIONIC BIDENTATE LIGANDS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN PALLADIUM-CATALYZED STEREOSELECTIVE ALLYLATION REACTIONS

MATERIALS WORLD NETWORK: NEW FLUORINATED POLYMERS FOR APPLICATIONS IN ELECTRONICS

DEPAUL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

EARTHCUBE DATA CAPABILITIES: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INTEGRATION OF REPRODUCIBILITY INTO COMMUNITY CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE

REU SITE: MEDIX: MEDICAL INFORMATICS EXPERIENCES IN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

COLLABORATIVE PROPOSAL: MRA: THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATIC DIPOLES ON PLANT AND ANIMAL POPULATIONS AT CONTINENTAL SCALES

CAREER: LINKING MACROECOLOGY AND TRAITS TO PREDICT MYCORRHIZAL FUNGAL DISPERSAL

TTP: SMALL: A KIT FOR EXPLORING DATABASES UNDER THE HOOD FOR SECURITY, FORENSICS AND DATA RECOVERY

MOTIVES FOR HEAVY CANNABIS USE AMONG YOUNG MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS

NATIONAL COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR LATTICE GAUGE THEORY

REU SITE: MEDIX: MEDICAL INFORMATICS EXPERIENCES IN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

REU SITE: MEDIX: MEDICAL INFORMATICS EXPERIENCES IN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

CHS: SMALL: EXTRACTING AFFECT AND INTERACTION INFORMATION FROM PRIMARY CARE VISITS TO SUPPORT PATIENT-PROVIDER INTERACTIONS

REDDDOT PHASE 1: PLANNING GRANT: AI-ENABLED SUPPORT SERVICES FOR TRANSPLANTED POPULATIONS: A COMMUNITY-CENTERED DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT APPROACH -TRANSPLANTED POPULATIONS TYPICALLY FIND THEMSELVES IN A NEW PLACE WITHOUT APPROPRIATE PLACEMENT MATCHING AND WITHOUT ANY SUPPORT FOR THEIR CRITICAL NEEDS. ENSURING THE SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATION OF THESE PEOPLE IN THEIR HOST COMMUNITIES IS A PROFOUND AND CRITICAL HUMANITARIAN GOAL. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) TECHNOLOGIES HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF AUTOMATING MANY ASPECTS OF THE INTEGRATION PROCESS, AND TO ASSIST BOTH THE IMPACTED PEOPLE AND THE ORGANIZATIONS WORKING WITH THEM IN A VARIETY OF TASKS FROM TRANSLATION SERVICES TO INFORMATION GATHERING AND DATA COLLECTION, TO TARGETED MATCHING OF PEOPLE WITH APPROPRIATE RESOURCES AND SERVICES. THE RESPONSIBLE DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, AND DEPLOYMENT OF SUCH TECHNOLOGIES, PARTICULARLY WHEN DEALING WITH VULNERABLE POPULATIONS, REQUIRES A COMMUNITY-BASED APPROACH THAT INTEGRATES ITERATIVE FEEDBACK FROM MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDER GROUPS. THE GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS THE RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF AN AI-BASED PLATFORM DEDICATED TO IMPROVING SUCH SUPPORT SERVICES. LESSONS LEARNED AS PART OF THIS FRAMEWORK'S EVALUATION WILL BE APPLICABLE TO OTHER DOMAINS WHERE AI TECHNOLOGIES ARE CONSIDERED TO ADDRESS THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC NEEDS OF VULNERABLE POPULATIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A NEW COMMUNITY-CENTERED DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK LEADING TO THE CREATION OF A HOLISTIC AI-POWERED PLATFORM THAT INTEGRATES REAL-TIME TRANSLATION SERVICES, INFORMATION EXTRACTION CAPABILITIES, AND A PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM. THIS PROJECT HAS THREE CORE OBJECTIVES: (1) DEVELOP AND PILOT A PROCESS FOR IDENTIFYING AND ENGAGING STAKEHOLDERS ACROSS A VARIETY OF SPHERES, THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT SERVE SUCH POPULATIONS, COMMUNITY LEADERS, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS, IN A NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND DATA COLLECTION PROCESS THAT WILL LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM THAT WILL MATCH MIGRANTS WITH APPROPRIATE SERVICES AND RESOURCES; (2) DEVELOP AND PILOT A FRAMEWORK FOR ITERATIVE MACHINE LEARNING MODEL DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT THAT ENGAGES STAKEHOLDERS IN THE ENTIRE DATA PIPELINE, INCLUDING EVALUATING INFORMATION EXTRACTION, FEATURE SELECTION, PARAMETER OPTIMIZATION, RECOMMENDATION GENERATION, AND PLATFORM USABILITY TESTING; (3) BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE WORK PERFORMED DURING THE PLANNING GRANT PERIOD, DEVELOP A PROPOSAL TO SCALE THE COMMUNITY-CENTERED FRAMEWORK AND FULLY DEVELOP AND DEPLOY A RECOMMENDER SYSTEM TO MATCH THESE POPULATIONS WITH THE RELEVANT SERVICES. THE COMMUNITY-CENTERED DESIGN APPROACH UTILIZED IN THIS PROJECT WILL ENSURE THAT CRITICAL SYSTEM-LEVEL CRITERIA SUCH AS GROUP FAIRNESS, POLICY COMPLIANCE, PRIVACY PRESERVATION, TRANSPARENCY, AND GENERAL USABILITY ARE PRIORITIZED. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RI: SMALL: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: A MODULAR APPROACH TO ROBOT SYSTEMS INCORPORATING COMPLIANT AND SOFT ELEMENTS

CPATH CB: COMPUTATIONAL THINKING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

CPA-SEL-T: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TRACEABILITY+: A SERVICE ORIENTED FRAMEWORK TO SUPPORT VALUE-ADDED SOFTWARE TRACEABILITY

GLOBAL VERIFICATION AND DYNAMIC OPTIMIZATION OF NETWORK SECURITY POLICES

MODEL-BASED PRINCIPLES FOR INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE NOTE: MOD. #2 IN FDPS IS NUMBER 1A IN CMM IT CORRECTED THE END DATE INADVERTENTLY NOT CHANGED ON

PFI-TT: SYSTEMATIC AUDITING OF DATABASE ACTIVITY

WHEN DISCLOSURE FAILS TO PROTECT CONSUMERS FROM PREDATORY LENDING: TESTING KEY PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSES AND INTERVENTION STRATEGIES

DESIGNING FOR JUST GREEN ENOUGH: A DATA INTEGRATION TOOL FOR INFORMING COMMUNITY GREEN SPACE PLANNING

ENHANCING THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AT DEPAUL UNIVERSITY

GENERAL RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY ACTIVITY

EAGER: INDIVIDUAL VARIATION IN MAST SEEDING PATTERNS

EAGER: SMART AND CONNECTED COMMUNITIES: REDUCING THE FRICTION IN THE L3 CONNECTS INFRASTRUCTURE THROUGH THE INTEGRATION OF SMART TECHNOLOGIES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ENHANCING COLLABORATION WITH INQUIRY-BASED LABS - LEVERAGING A COMMUNITY OF TRANSFORMATION TO AMPLIFY INQUIRY IN CHEMISTRY TEACHING LABORATORIES -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST OF TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS BY HELPING FACULTY ACCESS AND IMPLEMENT EVIDENCE-BASED LABORATORY TEACHING PRACTICES. CHEMISTRY LABORATORY TRAINING IS A CENTRAL COMPONENT OF ALL UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES IN STEM FIELDS. THESE HANDS-ON EXPERIENCES WILL PUSH STUDENTS TO APPLY THEORETICAL IDEAS, DEEPEN THEIR UNDERSTANDING, AND DEVELOP THE SKILLS NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS IN FUTURE STEM CAREERS. BECAUSE DEVELOPING IMPACTFUL LABORATORY EXPERIENCES TAKES SIGNIFICANT TIME AND EXPERTISE, MANY EXPERIMENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE OUTDATED AND REQUIRE MODERNIZATION, BOTH IN TECHNIQUES AND OVERALL STRUCTURE AND APPROACH. THIS LEVEL 2 INSTITUTIONAL AND COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION PROJECT AIMS TO IMPROVE GENERAL AND INORGANIC CHEMISTRY LABORATORY INSTRUCTION NATIONWIDE BY TRAINING FACULTY TO DEVELOP LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS AND ADVANCING UNDERSTANDING OF FACULTY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. USING A MULTI-YEAR COHORT EXPERIENCE, IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL MEETINGS ARE PLANNED TO HELP ENHANCE THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF CHEMISTRY LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS BY FOCUSING ON SKILLS THAT CROSSCUT STEM DISCIPLINES AND BY EMBEDDING AUTHENTIC RESEARCH EXPERIENCES. AN EMPHASIS WILL ALSO BE PLACED ON TOPICS THAT ARE FOUND IN BOTH GENERAL AND INORGANIC CHEMISTRY CONTEXTS, PROVIDING FLEXIBILITY IN EXPERIMENT USE AND INCREASING IMPACT. BY REFLECTING ON THEIR TEACHING BELIEFS AND EXPERIENCES ALONG WITH DATA ON STUDENT LEARNING, PARTICIPATING FACULTY MEMBERS CAN IMPROVE TEACHING LABORATORY EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS AND BETTER PREPARE GRADUATES FOR THE MODERN CHEMISTRY AND STEM WORKFORCE. THE PROJECT PLANS TO RECRUIT 60 CHEMISTRY FACULTY MEMBERS FROM 2- AND 4-YEAR INSTITUTIONS AND ASSIST THEM IN REVISING TEACHING LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS FOR GENERAL AND INORGANIC CHEMISTRY CONTEXTS. FACULTY WILL LEARN ABOUT INQUIRY-BASED LABORATORY PRACTICES, SCIENCE PRACTICES, AND OVERALL BEST PRACTICES FOR SUPPORTING STUDENT LEARNING IN THE LAB. IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS CAN PROVIDE FACULTY MEMBERS WITH TIME AND SPACE TO REVISE LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS, INCLUDING TESTING AND REFINING PROCEDURES AND OVERALL EXPERIMENTAL PARAMETERS. THE PLANNED IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE COHORTS OVER THEIR 2-YEAR EXPERIENCE ARE DESIGNED TO EQUIP PARTICIPATING FACULTY WITH THE SKILLS AND RESOURCES NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT INNOVATIVE EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS IN CHEMISTRY TEACHING LABORATORIES. AN EMPHASIS WILL BE PLACED ON ACTIVITIES THAT SPAN CHEMISTRY SUBDISCIPLINES, ENABLING MODULAR DESIGNS THAT ALLOW FOR IMPLEMENTATION AT MULTIPLE COURSE LEVELS AND IN VARIOUS CONTEXTS. THE DEVELOPED LABS AND ACTIVITIES, ALONG WITH EVALUATION RESULTS, WILL BE PUBLISHED IN AN OPEN-ACCESS FORMAT ON THE VIRTUAL INORGANIC PEDAGOGICAL ELECTRONIC RESOURCE (VIPER) WEBSITE. THE MULTIPLE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS APPLIED HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO THE ROLES OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITIES OF TRANSFORMATION ON FACULTY CHANGE. LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPATING FACULTY WILL INFORM A CONTEXTUALIZED UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROJECT?S IMPACT ON STUDENTS' COGNITIVE LEARNING. DATA ON STUDENTS? CRITICAL THINKING, INFORMATION PROCESSING, AND SELF-IDENTIFICATION AS SCIENTISTS WILL PROVIDE A MORE COMPREHENSIVE BASIS FOR ASSESSING THE PROJECT'S OVERALL IMPACT. THE NSF IUSE: EDU PROGRAM SUPPORTS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STEM EDUCATION FOR ALL STUDENTS. THROUGH THE INSTITUTIONAL AND COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION TRACK, THE PROGRAM SUPPORTS EFFORTS TO TRANSFORM AND IMPROVE STEM EDUCATION ACROSS INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND DISCIPLINARY COMMUNITIES. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

EARTHCUBE BUILDING BLOCK: GEODATASPACE: SIMPLIFYING DATA MANAGEMENT FOR GEOSCIENCE MODELS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CCRI: NEW: A SOFTWARE REFACTORING COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE -SOFTWARE REFACTORING PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN MAINTAINING HIGH-QUALITY SOFTWARE BY RE-STRUCTURING EXISTING CODE AND REDUCING TECHNICAL DEBT. DESPITE MORE THAN 5,000 AUTHORS PUBLISHING REFACTORING PAPERS IN THE LAST TWO DECADES, REFACTORING RESEARCHERS, STUDENTS, AND NEW COMMUNITY MEMBERS LACK PUBLICLY AVAILABLE REFACTORING BENCHMARKS, TOOLS, AND DATASETS. THEY MUST FREQUENTLY REPLICATE EXISTING REFACTORING RESEARCH FROM SCRATCH ? THIS WASTES TIME, EFFORT, AND INTRODUCES THREATS TO VALIDITY. THE PROJECT'S NOVELTIES ARE TO CREATE AND DISSEMINATE A REPOSITORY OF SOFTWARE REFACTORING-RELATED ARTIFACTS AND ONLINE TOOLS, TO ENABLE REFACTORING AS A SERVICE, SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT RIGOROUS EMPIRICAL STUDIES AND EXPERIMENTS WITH THE DETECTION, PRIORITIZATION, REPAIR, TESTING, AND DOCUMENTATION OF SOFTWARE QUALITY ISSUES ACROSS A BROAD COMMUNITY OF RESEARCHERS, EDUCATORS, SOFTWARE ENGINEERS, AND STEM RESEARCHERS. THE PROJECT'S IMPACTS RELATE TO ISSUES OF GREAT ECONOMIC IMPACT: LARGE SOFTWARE COMPANIES SPEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS YEARLY TO REDUCE THE TECHNICAL DEBT THROUGH REFACTORING. THE PUBLICLY-RELEASED INFRASTRUCTURE WILL SUPPORT THE TRANSITION OF REFACTORING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE AND WILL ENABLE STEM RESEARCHERS TO BETTER MAINTAIN THEIR SOFTWARE PROTOTYPES AS THESE INEVITABLY DECAY. THE PROPOSED INFRASTRUCTURE REFCRI WILL BE A CATALYST FOR REVAMPING SOFTWARE ENGINEERING COURSES AT MANY UNIVERSITIES TO EMPHASIZE REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES OF REFACTORING AND WILL OFFER TREMENDOUS EDUCATION RESOURCES FOR PRACTITIONERS. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL ORGANIZE WORKSHOPS ON THE PLATFORM TO FOSTER A THRIVING COMMUNITY. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL CURATE A REPOSITORY OF REFACTORING DATA SETS VIA DATA PRE-PROCESSING TECHNIQUES TO (I) CLEAN THE DATA, AND (II) CHECK ITS COVERAGE AND DIVERSITY. THE TEAM OF THIS PROJECT WILL RELEASE AN API TO ALLOW THE REFACTORING COMMUNITY TO EASILY UPLOAD DATASETS, REFACTORING TEACHING EXAMPLES/TUTORIALS, TOOLS, AND PUBLICATIONS. THE DATA SETS WILL SERVE AS BENCHMARKS THAT ENABLE RESEARCHERS TO VALIDATE NEW TOOLS AND WILL ENABLE NEW EMPIRICAL STUDIES IN THE FIELD OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING. THE DATA SETS WILL PROVIDE REALISTIC TRAINING EXAMPLES AND TOOLS TO ENHANCE THE INTEGRATION OF REFACTORING INTO SOFTWARE ENGINEERING CURRICULA AND WILL SERVE AS A TREMENDOUS EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE FOR PRACTITIONERS. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL INTEGRATE AND ORCHESTRATE (BASED ON KUBERNETES) MULTIPLE TOOLS COVERING THE WHOLE LIFECYCLE OF REFACTORING BY AUTOMATICALLY TRANSFORMING THE INPUTS/OUTPUTS OF EXISTING TOOLS INTO GENERIC DATA PROCESSING FORMATS AND PACKAGING TOOLS AS DOCKER IMAGES. THEY WILL MAKE EXISTING REFACTORING TOOLS EASY TO CONFIGURE, EXECUTE, AND INTEGRATE. REFCRI WILL RE-IMPLEMENT SEVERAL REFACTORING TOOLS, FROM PAPERS AND REPOSITORIES, AS SERVICES IN THE CLOUD. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL FIRST AUTOMATICALLY MINE MILLIONS OF EXAMPLES OF REFACTORINGS THAT OPEN-SOURCE DEVELOPERS APPLIED MANUALLY AND THEN THEY WILL USE THEM TO RECOMMEND AND SYNTHESIZE NEW REFACTORINGS-BY-EXAMPLE TO SUPPORT PYTHON AND OTHER DATA SCIENCE LANGUAGES WIDELY USED BY THE STEM COMMUNITY. 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: STRATEGIES: BUILDING A LEARNING ECOLOGY TO INCREASE STEM PARTICIPATION AMONG MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS

CHICAGO SUMMER OF LEARNING SELF-PACED ONLINE BADGING EVALUATION

NEURAL PLASTICITY AND NEUROREHABILITATION FOLLOWING TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CAFECS: DEVELOPING EQUITABLE COMPUTER SCIENCE PATHWAYS FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO COLLEGE

CAREER: TYPE SYSTEMS FOR SECURE CODE MIGRATION

CHICAGO CS FOR ALL RPP WORKSHOP SUPPORT

EAGER: PARTNERSHIPS FOR URBAN STEM LEARNING HUBS

CRII: SATC: TOWARDS DETECTING AND MITIGATING VULNERABILITIES -THIS AWARD IS FUNDED IN WHOLE OR IN PART UNDER THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021 (PUBLIC LAW 117-2). NUMEROUS REAL-WORLD ATTACKS EXPLOIT SOFTWARE VULNERABILITIES TO COMPROMISE COMPUTER SYSTEMS SUCH AS SERVERS, DESKTOPS, SMART PHONES, AND INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) DEVICES. RECENT STUDIES SHOW THAT IT IS CHALLENGING TO DETECT VULNERABILITIES ACCURATELY AND PATCH VULNERABILITIES RAPIDLY. STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNIQUES CAN MITIGATE UNPATCHED VULNERABILITIES EFFECTIVELY, BUT THEY USUALLY SACRIFICE THE AVAILABILITY OF SYSTEMS. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO IMPROVE VULNERABILITY DETECTION AND MITIGATION. THE PROJECT?S NOVELTIES ARE TWO-FOLD. FIRST, THE PROJECT TEAM IS DEVELOPING AN APPROACH TO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASING THE ACCURACY OF VULNERABILITY DETECTION. SECOND, THE PROJECT TEAM IS DEVELOPING AN APPROACH TO SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCING THE AVAILABILITY LOSS OF VULNERABILITY MITIGATION. THE PROJECT'S BROADER SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPORTANCE ARE THAT 1) THE APPROACHES DEVELOPED BY THE PROJECT CAN BE USED BY OTHER PROJECTS ADDRESSING VULNERABILITIES, 2) THE OUTCOME OF THE PROJECT CAN HELP THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY IN DESIGNING MECHANISMS TO DETECT VULNERABILITIES AND DEFEND AGAINST VULNERABILITY EXPLOITS; AND 3) THE PROJECT IS TIGHTLY INTEGRATED WITH UNDERGRADUATE-LEVEL AND GRADUATE-LEVEL CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND STUDENT ADVISING. A DIVERSE GROUP OF UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE PROJECT AND DEVELOPING THEIR INTERESTS AND EXPERTISE IN SOFTWARE SECURITY. THE PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP AN ACCURATE VULNERABILITY-DETECTION TECHNIQUE AND AN UNOBTRUSIVE VULNERABILITY-MITIGATION TECHNIQUE. TO IMPROVE THE ACCURACY, THE VULNERABILITY-DETECTION TECHNIQUE USES VULNERABILITY CONDITIONS, EACH OF WHICH CAPTURES THE INTRINSIC CHARACTERISTICS OF A TYPE OF VULNERABILITIES, TO DETECT VULNERABILITIES. TO REDUCE THE AVAILABILITY LOSS, THE VULNERABILITY-MITIGATION TECHNIQUE USES BASIC BLOCKS AND PROGRAM PATHS AS THE GRANULARITY OF VULNERABILITY MITIGATION. THE PROJECT CONSISTS OF THREE KEY TASKS: 1) DESIGNING A SCHEME FOR ENCODING VULNERABILITY CONDITIONS, 2) DEVELOPING A TECHNIQUE BASED ON FUZZING TO DETECT VULNERABILITIES USING VULNERABILITY CONDITIONS, AND 3) DEVELOPING A TECHNIQUE BASED ON CODE-DISABLING TO MITIGATES VULNERABILITIES AT THE GRANULARITY OF BASIC BLOCKS AND PROGRAM PATHS. THE MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE PROJECT INCLUDE THE DESIGN OF THE TECHNIQUES, PROTOTYPE IMPLEMENTATIONS OF THE TECHNIQUES, AND AN EVALUATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATIONS WITH REAL-WORLD VULNERABILITIES. 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.

HIGHER-ORDER PATTERN CONTAINMENT

AF: SMALL: NOVEL TOPOLOGICAL DESCRIPTORS FOR TOPOLOGICAL DATA ANALYSIS -THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS THE EVALUATION OF A NOVEL DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE. SPECIFICALLY, THIS PROJECT STUDIES A GEOMETRIC-TOPOLOGICAL TECHNIQUE, MEANING THAT THE TECHNIQUE STRIVES TO UNDERSTAND PATTERNS IN DATA WHICH ARE NOT FIXED SHAPES, BUT INSTEAD ARE DEFINED BY PROPERTIES LIKE HAVING A HOLE OR ENCOMPASSING A VOID. THIS PROJECT'S TECHNIQUES DISCOVER SUCH VOIDS REGARDLESS OF THEIR SHAPE IN DATA. IN REAL APPLICATIONS, THE DATA CONSISTS OF POINTS IN HIGH-DIMENSIONAL ABSTRACT SPACES, AND VOIDS IN HIGHER DIMENSIONS ARE LESS INTUITIVE. HIGH DIMENSIONALITY OF REAL-WORLD DATA, AND THE NEED TO DISCOVER ONLY SIGNIFICANT FEATURES MAKE THE TASK MORE DIFFICULT. THEREFORE, THE PROJECT DIRECTLY HELPS ADVANCE SCIENCE AND PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE BY PRESENTING A NEW DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE, POTENTIALLY LEADING TO THE DISCOVERY OF NEW PATTERNS IN DATA, IN DIVERSE AREAS BENEFICIAL TO THE SOCIETY, FROM MEDICAL SCIENCES TO SOCIAL STUDIES. MOREOVER, DURING THE PROJECT, MASTER STUDENTS WILL BE HIRED TO WRITE CODE AND PERFORM EXPERIMENTS, EDUCATING THEM WITH VALUABLE SKILLS. THE TECHNIQUES OF DATA ANALYSIS AND INFERENCE ARE AT THE CORE OF TODAY?S ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)-DRIVEN TECHNOLOGY. STATISTICAL METHODS BASED ON EXTRACTION OF FEATURE VECTORS OUT OF POINT CLOUD DATA ARE WIDESPREAD. IN MANY APPLICATIONS, HOWEVER, NEW APPROACHES ARE REQUIRED FOR EXTRACTING FEATURES AND DESCRIPTORS OF DATA. TOPOLOGICAL DATA ANALYSIS (TDA) IS A DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE THAT EXPLOITS ALGEBRAIC TOPOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTS TO DESIGN DATA DESCRIPTORS WHICH CAN BE USED FOR INFERRING TOPOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF THE SPACE OF DATA. THESE PROPERTIES ARE GLOBAL PROPERTIES OF THE SPACE OF DATA (THE IDEAL SPACE FROM WHICH THE DATA ARE SAMPLED) THAT ARE INVARIANT UNDER CONTINUOUS DEFORMATIONS. THESE PROPERTIES FORM THE SO-CALLED SHAPE OF DATA, OR MORE PRECISELY, TOPOLOGICAL SHAPE OF DATA. THE PRIME EXAMPLE OF A TOPOLOGICAL DATA FEATURE IS THE WELL-ESTABLISHED PERSISTENCE BARCODE. THE INVESTIGATOR, IN COLLABORATION WITH COLLEAGUES, HAS RECENTLY DISCOVERED A NEW TOPOLOGICAL DATA DESCRIPTOR CALLED HARMONIC CHAIN BARCODE. SIMILAR TO THE PERSISTENCE BARCODE, OUR SUGGESTED BARCODE IS BASED ON SOUND AND PROMISING THEORY. THIS AWARD IS USED TO STUDY THE HARMONIC CHAIN BARCODE AND PERFORM EMPIRICAL STUDY AND EVALUATION OF THIS DATA DESCRIPTOR ON LARGE DATA SETS. THE ALGORITHM FOR COMPUTATION OF THE BARCODE IS KNOWN AND THE STUDENTS IN THE PROJECT WILL IMPLEMENT AND EVALUATE IT. A FEW DATA SETS FROM THE MEDICAL IMAGING DOMAIN ARE CHOSEN AND THE BARCODES WILL BE COMPUTED FOR THESE DATA SETS. THESE WILL BE USED TO AUGMENT A CLASSIFICATION METHOD, AND THE RESULTS WOULD BE COMPARED WITH STATE OF THE ART. THIS SHALL PROVIDE A NEW TOOL IN THE TOPOLOGICAL DATA ANALYSIS (TDA) TOOLBOX, ONE THAT CAN OPEN NEW FRONTS IN APPLICATIONS WHERE EXISTING METHODS HAVE FAILED, EITHER IN PERFORMING THE REQUIRED TASK, OR IN THE INTERPRETATION OF THE DATA DESCRIPTORS OBTAINED. THE IDEA OF THE HARMONIC CHAIN BARCODE IS NOVEL, AND THE THEORY PREDICTS THAT IT COULD BE APPLIED ALONGSIDE THE PERSISTENCE BARCODE AS A MAIN TOOL OF TDA. HARMONIC CHAINS HAVE BEEN USED IN THE LITERATURE, HOWEVER, NO ONE PRIOR TO THE INVESTIGATOR'S TEAM DEVISED A BARCODE THAT IS DISTINCT FROM THE PERSISTENCE BARCODE, AND THAT IS STABLE. THE CONNECTIONS OF THE NEW BARCODE TO HARMONIC CHAINS, AND THE FACT THAT HARMONIC CHAINS HAVE DESIRABLE GEOMETRIC FEATURES PRODUCES OPTIMISM FOR APPLICATIONS OF THE SUGGESTED BARCODE. IN SHORT, THE REASON FOR THIS OPTIMISM IS THAT EACH BAR OF THE HARMONIC CHAIN BARCODE MAPS IN A MORE CANONICAL WAY TO S GEOMETRIC FEATURE, THAN A BAR IN PERSISTENCE BARCODE. MOREOVER, THEORETICAL STUDY OF THIS NEW TOOL IS A STEP TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING OUR LIMITATIONS IN DESIGNING DATA DESCRIPTORS BASED ON SPECIAL HOMOLOGICAL CHAINS. THE APPLICATION DOMAINS OF PERSISTENCE BARCODE ARE INDEED VERY BROAD, AND A NEW STABLE TOPOLOGICAL BARCODE IS A SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT THAT CAN TURN THE THEORY INTO A TECHNIQUE THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO MANY DATA ANALYSIS TASKS WITH SIGNIFICANT OUTCOME FOR SOCIETAL GOOD, LIKE IMPROVING AI TECHNIQUES IN MEDICAL SCIENCES. THE INVESTIGATOR BELIEVES THAT THE HARMONIC CHAIN BARCODE CAN BE USED IN ALL RESEARCH AREAS IN PLACE OR ALONGSIDE THE USUAL PERSISTENCE BARCODE. THE RESULTS OF THE STUDIES AND EXPERIMENTS OF THIS PROJECT, TOGETHER WITH THE CODE, WILL BE MADE PUBLIC. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

CRII: HCC: MAKING VIDEOS ACCESSIBLE BY DESIGN -VIDEOS ARE A POPULAR WAY TO CONSUME INFORMATION ONLINE. HOWEVER, THEIR AUDIOVISUAL CONTENT IS OFTEN INACCESSIBLE TO A WHOLE RANGE OF PEOPLE (E.G., THOSE WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD-OF-HEARING OR WHO ARE BLIND OR HAVE LOW VISION. WHILE METHODS FOR MAKING VIDEOS ACCESSIBLE EXIST, VIDEOS ARE OFTEN CREATED FIRST AND THEN MODIFIED TO MAKE THEM ACCESSIBLE. IN ADDITION, EVEN WHEN VIDEO FILES INCLUDE APPROPRIATE ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES, PLAYBACK CONTEXTS MAY INTRODUCE NEW CHALLENGES. THESE INCLUDE SMALL SCREEN SIZES OR LOW VOLUME IN DEVICES WITH SMALL SPEAKERS. EXPANDING A RECENT CONCEPT OF RESPONSIVE VIDEOS, THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO EXTEND VIDEO RESPONSIVENESS TO ENCOMPASS AND MITIGATE A RANGE OF CHALLENGES. THIS SHOULD ALLOW PEOPLE WITH SENSORY DISABILITIES TO WATCH, LISTEN OR READ THE CONTENT OF A VIDEO WITHOUT MISSING CRITICAL INFORMATION. THE RESEARCH WILL RESULT IN RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RESPONSIVE VIDEOS, WHICH CAN BE, BY DESIGN, MORE ACCESSIBLE, ADAPTABLE, AND USEFUL FOR PEOPLE WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES ALIKE. THE PROJECT AIMS TO ACHIEVE THREE MAIN OBJECTIVES. FIRST, THE PROJECT TEAM WILL EMPLOY CONTENT ANALYSIS TO CREATE A TAXONOMY OF COMMON AUDIOVISUAL COMPONENTS IN VIDEOS. THESE WOULD NEED TO ADAPT TO VARIATIONS IN DISPLAY SIZES AND CHANGING AUDIO-VISUAL MODALITIES (E.G. AUDIO AND VISUAL MODALITIES ALONE, AND TEXT-ONLY MODALITIES) TO ENSURE ACCESSIBILITY. SECOND, A SERIES OF INTERVIEWS AND CO-DESIGN SESSIONS WITH DHH AND BLV PARTICIPANTS WILL EXPLORE THESE TYPES OF VIEWERS' NEEDS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR VIDEO RESPONSIVENESS. THIRD, THE TEAM WILL USE DESIGN ETHNOGRAPHY AND INTERVIEWS WITH NON-DISABLED VIDEO CREATORS TO EXPLORE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE VIDEO CREATION AND EDITING PROCESS. THIS PROCESS WILL GENERATE THE INFORMATION NEEDED TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS AND REQUIREMENTS OF VIEWERS. TOGETHER, THESE EFFORTS WILL HELP ESTABLISH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF RESPONSIVE VIDEOS, LEADING TO A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MAKING VIDEOS ACCESSIBLE BY DESIGN. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

CAREER: GOAL CENTRIC TRACEABILITY FOR MANAGING SYSTEMIC REQUIREMENTS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: HDR DSC: THE METROPOLITAN CHICAGO DATA SCIENCE CORPS (MCDC): LEARNING FROM DATA TO SUPPORT COMMUNITIES

LEAPS-MPS: PHOTONIC TOPOLOGICAL EDGE STATES ON SHARPLY JOINED OR TRUNCATED MATERIALS -TOPOLOGICAL INSULATORS, FIRST DISCOVERED IN THE CONTEXT OF ELECTRONICS, ARE MATERIALS WHOSE INTERIORS BEHAVE LIKE INSULATORS AND WHOSE SURFACES BEHAVE LIKE CONDUCTORS?THAT IS, WAVES CAN TRAVEL ON THE SURFACE BUT NOT IN THE BULK. THE SURFACE WAVES IN TOPOLOGICAL INSULATORS, ALSO KNOWN AS EDGE STATES, ARE REMARKABLY ROBUST AGAINST ENVIRONMENTAL DISTURBANCES AND MANUFACTURING DEFECTS, MAKING THEM VALUABLE FOR TRANSMITTING INFORMATION AND ENERGY. PHOTONIC TOPOLOGICAL INSULATORS ARE TOPOLOGICAL INSULATORS FOR ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES, WHICH CAN BE USED TO MAKE COMPACT AND EFFICIENT ON-CHIP DEVICES FOR COMMUNICATION AND DATA PROCESSING, AND ARE ALSO UTILIZED IN OPTICAL ISOLATORS, TOPOLOGICAL LASERS, UNCOMPRESSED VIDEO, AND ULTRA-THIN ELECTRICAL SHIELDING COMPONENTS. PHOTONIC TOPOLOGICAL INSULATORS WITH SHARP INTERFACES AND EDGES ARE EASY TO MANUFACTURE, BUT THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ADDRESSED IN CURRENT MODELS IN MANY IMPORTANT CONTEXTS. THIS PROJECT INVESTIGATES PHOTONIC TOPOLOGICAL INSULATORS INVOLVING SHARP INTERFACES AND EDGES, WHICH WILL GUIDE THE DESIGN AND SIMPLIFY THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS FOR PHOTONIC DEVICES. THIS PROJECT ALSO PROVIDES ABUNDANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENT LEARNING, TRAINING, AND RESEARCH. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SHOW THE EXISTENCE AND CHARACTERIZE THE BEHAVIOR OF THE EDGE STATES IN PHOTONIC TOPOLOGICAL INSULATORS INVOLVING SHARP INTERFACES OR EDGES, WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES INCLUDE: (1) IDENTIFYING EDGE STATES ON SHARP INTERFACES FORMED BY MATERIALS WITH VARIOUS SYMMETRIES. THESE GEOMETRIES ARISE FROM SETTINGS INCLUDING THE PHOTONIC QUANTUM HALL EFFECT, THE PHOTONIC QUANTUM SPIN HALL EFFECT, AND PHOTONIC TOPOLOGICAL INSULATORS BASED ON SQUARE LATTICES. (2) IDENTIFYING EDGE STATES ON SHARPLY TRUNCATED EDGES, WITH VARIOUS TRUNCATION LOCATIONS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS. (3) PROVIDING A FAMILY OF MATERIALS SATISFYING THE NO-FOLD ASSUMPTION, WHICH IS A CONDITION FOR EDGE STATES TO EMERGE WHEN CERTAIN SPECTRAL DEGENERACIES ARE WEAKLY PERTURBED. THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR VARIOUS TYPES OF PHOTONIC TOPOLOGICAL INSULATORS, AND WILL ENTAIL AN ADVANCEMENT OF THE MATHEMATICAL TOOLS OF LAYER POTENTIALS AND THEIR SUBTLE ASYMPTOTIC ANALYSIS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INSTITUTE IN RESEARCH METHODS FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR EMERGING EDUCATION RESEARCHERS (PEER) FIELD SCHOOLS

INVESTIGATING THE USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN VIOLENCE INTERRUPTION

SCC-PG: CULTIVATING A SMART EQUITY-DRIVEN POLICYMAKING INFRASTRUCTURE TO IMPROVE YOUTH LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

NATURAL MENTORING, RACIAL AND CULTURAL PROCESSES AND ACADEMIC OUTCOMES

NATIONAL COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR LATTICE GAUGE THEORY

HOUSING INSTABILITY IN CHILD WELFARE-INVOLVED FAMILIES: IMPACT ON EMOTIONAL BEH

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ABI INNOVATION: BIOFILM RESOURCE AND INFORMATION DATABASE (BRAID): A TOOL TO FUSE DIVERSE BIOFILM DATA TYPES

DEVELOPING PLANS AND PARTNERSHIPS FOR INCORPORATING TREE REPRODUCTION TO UNDERSTAND EARTH SYSTEM CHANGE

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"SAY SOMETHING WONDERFUL: TEACHING THE PLEASURES OF POETRY"

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EARTHCUBE IA: COLLABORATIVE PROPOSAL: INTEGRATED GEOSCIENCE OBSERVATORY

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VISTA STATE

E. U. - US ATLANTIS PROGRAM

COMPUTER SCIENCE FOR ALL: DEVELOPING A COMPUTER SCIENCE ENDORSEMENT PROGRAM FOR TEACHERS

READING CHICAGO READING: MODELING TEXTS AND READERS IN A PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM

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INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PATHWAYS TO HELPING BEHAVIORS IN RECOVERY HOUSING

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MCA: NEW APPROACHES TO STUDYING MAST-SEEDING DYNAMICS -UNDERSTANDING THE PATTERNS AND DRIVERS OF PLANT REPRODUCTION IS A LONG-STANDING CHALLENGE IN ECOLOGY. THE NUMBER OF SEEDS PRODUCED BY PERENNIAL PLANTS OVER TIME SHOWS INCREDIBLE VARIATION ACROSS SPECIES AND LOCATIONS, FROM CONSISTENT LEVELS OF ANNUAL REPRODUCTION TO BOOM AND BUST YEARS OF SEED PRODUCTION EXHIBITING EXTREMELY HIGH TEMPORAL VARIABILITY, KNOWN AS ?MAST SEEDING?. LINKING RELATIONSHIPS AMONG PLANT REPRODUCTION, ENVIRONMENTAL DRIVERS, AND SPECIES INTERACTIONS HAS PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON ABOVEGROUND FACTORS SUCH AS POLLINATORS AND WEATHER CONDITIONS; WHILE BELOWGROUND PLANT TRAITS, SUCH AS ROOT ATTRIBUTES AND SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS WITH MYCORRHIZAL FUNGAL NETWORKS, HAVE BEEN LARGELY IGNORED. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO BRING TOGETHER THE ABOVEGROUND PHENOMENON OF MAST SEEDING, WITH BELOWGROUND TRAITS AND BELOWGROUND SPECIES INTERACTIONS USING MULTIPLE GLOBAL DATABASES AND LONG-TERM FIELD DATA. THIS STUDY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO REVEAL NEW DRIVERS OF ANNUAL FLUCTUATIONS IN REPRODUCTION IN NATURAL AND MANAGED FORESTRY SYSTEMS. IN ADDITION TO EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF MYCORRHIZAE ON REPRODUCTIVE DYNAMICS, THIS PROJECT MAY INFORM FORESTRY PRACTICES. MANY FORESTRY TREES ARE INOCULATED WITH MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI, AND THIS WORK COULD ALLOW FORESTERS TO DEVELOP MORE EFFICIENT TREE REGENERATION TECHNIQUES. THE PROJECT WILL PROVIDE A MID-CAREER SCIENTIST PROTECTED TIME AND INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING. TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR AN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT AND A POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS WILL ALSO BE ENABLE BY THIS INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY. THIS WORK WILL USE FIVE GLOBAL DATABASES ON MAST SEEDING, AND MYCORRHIZAL FUNGAL ASSOCIATIONS AND PLANT-TRAITS (E.G., TRY, FRED, MYCOBD, FUNGALROOT), WITH DATA FROM A TEN-YEAR FIELD STUDY OF MAST SEEDING. THE INVESTIGATOR HAS EXPERTISE IN MAST SEEDING AND WILL WORK WITH A COLLABORATIVE PARTNER WITH EXPERTISE IN PLANT-SOIL-MICROBE INTERACTIONS AND STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING. THE PROJECT WILL TEST HYPOTHESES ABOUT HOW BELOWGROUND PLANT TRAITS AND MYCORRHIZAL ASSOCIATIONS INFLUENCE THE RANGE OF MAST-SEEDING CONDITIONS (E.G., TEMPORAL VARIABILITY, TIME-LAGS) OBSERVED GLOBALLY ACROSS TAXA, OVER A RANGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL APPROACHES WILL BE APPLIED THROUGH STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELLING TO GENERATE NEW INSIGHT INTO DRIVERS OF THE PATTERNS OF MAST SEEDING. AN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT WILL ASSIST WITH EXPLORING DATABASES, AND A POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER WILL WORK WITH THE INVESTIGATOR TO MODERNIZE LAB WORKFLOWS USING GITHUB AND CREATING SHINY APPS. THIS WORK WILL FACILITATE NEW CONCEPTUAL AND ANALYTICAL POSSIBILITIES TO THE FIELD OF MAST SEEDING AND TO PLANT REPRODUCTION STUDIES MORE BROADLY. 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.

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COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EAGER--BIOGENIC VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUND EMISSIONS FROM THE TUNDRA AND ARCTIC ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY

CSR-DMSS, SM: CONFVEAL: AUTOMATED TESTING OF SECURITY CONFIGURATION ENFORCEMENT IN DISTRIBUTED NETWORKS

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE (NIJ) RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP PROGRAM (RAP) IS DESIGNED TO SUPPORT RESEARCH ON CRIME, VIOLENCE, AND OTHER CRIMINAL JUSTICE-RELATED TOPICS. IT ALSO HELPS ATTRACT HIGHLY QUALIFIED STUDENTS TO ACCREDITED UNIVERSITIES THAT SUPPORT GRADUATE STUDY LEADING TO RESEARCH-BASED DOCTORAL DEGREES. NIJ INVESTS IN DOCTORAL EDUCATION BY SUPPORTING UNIVERSITIES THAT SPONSOR STUDENTS WHO DEMONSTRATE THE POTENTIAL TO COMPLETE SUCCESSFULLY DEGREE PROGRAMS IN DISCIPLINES RELEVANT TO THE MISSION OF NIJ.   UNDER THE RAP, NIJ PROVIDES FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO PARTICIPATING UNIVERSITIES FOR CERTAIN COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH RESEARCH ASSISTANTS ENROLLED IN DEGREE PROGRAMS WHO THEN WORK AT NIJ AND PARTICIPATE IN NIJ’S RESEARCH ACTIVITIES. RESEARCH ACTIVITIES PERFORMED BY NIJ RESEARCH ASSISTANTS INCLUDE (AMONG OTHER THINGS) SUMMARIZING, REVISING, OR MAKING USE OF COMPLEX, TECHNICAL, OR SPECIALIZED LITERATURE; EXTRACTING AND COMPILING A RANGE OF DATA FROM WRITTEN SOURCES, FROM INDIVIDUALS (QUESTIONNAIRES/INTERVIEWS), AND FROM ONE OR SEVERAL GIVEN DATABASES; ASSISTING IN RESEARCH DESIGN STRATEGIES (E.G., DEVELOPING AND MODIFYING PROGRAM OF RESEARCH PROPOSALS, PROCEDURES, OR TOOLS/INSTRUMENTS); PROCESSING AND SUMMARIZING DATA USING SCIENTIFIC OR STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES; ASSISTING IN DATA INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSES; FORMATTING, STORING, AND FILING DATA TO GENERATE REPORTS/PAPERS; CONCEPTUALIZING AND DRAFTING PUBLICATIONS; DRAFTING AND PRESENTING PRESENTATIONS AT CONFERENCES (WHERE FUNDING PERMITS AND THE UNIVERSITY APPROVES); RECORDING AND COMPILING INFORMATION RELATED TO RESEARCH PROGRAMS; REPORTING ON STATUS OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES; AND ASSISTING WITH COORDINATION OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.   RESEARCH ASSISTANTS ARE FULL-TIME GRADUATE STUDENTS NOMINATED BY THEIR UNIVERSITIES AND APPROVED BY NIJ, WHO AGREE TO WORK AT NIJ ON PREAPPROVED RESEARCH ACTIVITIES OVER THE ACADEMIC YEAR (APPROXIMATELY 9.5 MONTHS), TYPICALLY COMMENCING AT THE START OF AN ACADEMIC YEAR. WHEN FUNDING AND UNIVERSITY POLICY PERMITS AND WITH NIJ PERMISSION, STUDENTS MAY WORK UP TO 40 HOURS PER WEEK DURING THE ACADEMIC YEAR SCHOOL BREAKS (FALL, WINTER, SPRING), AND UP TO 40 HOURS PER WEEK DURING THE SUMMER.   IN GENERAL, FOR A FULL-TIME GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT, NIJ PROVIDES FUNDS TO THE PARTICIPATING UNIVERSITY TO PAY RESEARCH ASSISTANT SALARY AND FRINGE BENEFITS OF HEALTH INSURANCE AND TUITION REMISSION, ALL IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE UNIVERSITY’S STANDARD PRACTICE FOR SIMILARLY SITUATED GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS WHOSE WORK IS PERFORMED AT THE UNIVERSITY. NIJ DETERMINES THE NUMBER AND TYPE OF RESEARCH ASSISTANTS IT WILL SUPPORT (IF ANY), AND THE DURATION OF EACH RESEARCH ASSISTANT POSITION, BASED ON THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND VARIOUS OTHER FACTORS. IN GENERAL, NIJ MAKES ITS DECISION IN THE SPRING PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF AN ACADEMIC YEAR.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CAFECS: ENHANCING CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING THAT HELPS STUDENTS BUILD CONNECTIONS BETWEEN EXPLORING COMPUTER SCIENCE AND THEIR LIVES

I-CORPS: TRANSLATION POTENTIAL OF A TRAIN PROTECTION SYSTEM -THE BROADER IMPACT OF THIS I-CORPS PROJECT IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY THAT MAKES INCREASES THE ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL BENEFITS OF ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE-BASED TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS WITHOUT INCURRING SAFETY RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH TESTING-BASED QUALITY ASSURANCE. THE BENEFITS OF THE TECHNOLOGY INCLUDE IMPROVED INFRASTRUCTURE UTILIZATION, LEADING TO INCREASED THROUGHPUT IN THE EXISTING RAIL NETWORK. ADDITIONALLY, LOWER ENERGY CONSUMPTION HAS ECOLOGICAL BENEFITS, WHILE INCREASED EFFICIENCY MAKES TRANSPORTATION CHEAPER. THE UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGY OF SAFE LEARNING INSIDE A VERIFIED CONTROL ENVELOPE CAN BE GENERALIZED TO OTHER SYSTEMS LIKE CARS AND ROBOTS. THIS I-CORPS PROJECT UTILIZES EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING COUPLED WITH A FIRST-HAND INVESTIGATION OF THE INDUSTRY ECOSYSTEM TO ASSESS THE TRANSLATION POTENTIAL OF THE TECHNOLOGY. THIS SOLUTION IS BASED ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A VERIFIED TRAIN PROTECTION SYSTEM. TRAIN PROTECTION SYSTEMS SAFEGUARD RAILROAD OPERATIONS BY KEEPING MOTION WITHIN A SAFE ENVELOPE. THESE SYSTEMS DECIDE WHEN TO SLOW TRAINS DOWN TO AVOID COLLISIONS WITH OTHER TRAINS, STAY INSIDE MOVEMENT AUTHORITIES, AND NAVIGATE SLOPES, CURVES, AND TUNNELS SAFELY. THE TECHNOLOGY IS A TRAIN PROTECTION SYSTEM THAT IS FORMALLY VERIFIED, MEANING THAT IT IS MATHEMATICALLY PROVEN TO BE SAFE, WITH COMPUTER-CHECKED PROOFS, ENSURING HIGH LEVELS OF SAFETY AND RELIABILITY. THE CURRENT APPROACH TO ENSURING TRAIN SOFTWARE RELIABILITY IS TO RUN EXTENSIVE TESTS AND SIMULATIONS. HOWEVER, THESE METHODS CAN CHECK ONLY A FINITE NUMBER OF SCENARIOS OUT OF THE INFINITE POSSIBILITIES, FORCING CONSERVATIVE ENGINEERING DECISIONS. IN CONTRAST, THESE PROOFS GIVE A STRONGER GUARANTEE OF CORRECTNESS BY CHECKING SAFETY IN MANY MORE POSSIBLE CASES. THE RESULTING VERIFIED TRAIN PROTECTION SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY PROVIDES A SAFE PATH TO DEPLOY NEW TECHNOLOGIES. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

I-CORPS: TOOLS FOR DATABASE FORENSIC ANALYSIS AND INTRUSION DETECTION

BCSER: EXPANDING THE POOL OF DISCIPLINE-BASED STEM EDUCATION RESEARCHERS

SHF: MEDIUM: RUI: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ADVANCED TRACEABILITY FOR COMPOSING PRODUCT LINE SAFETY CASES

CI-EN: RUI: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TRACELAB COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR REPLICATION, COLLABORATION, AND INNOVATION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: A MULTI-LEVEL INVESTIGATION OF STEM MENTORING - OUTCOMES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL YOUTH, THEIR MENTORS, AND PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS

TO SUPPORT THE EXHIBITION WAR BABY/LOVE CHILD: MIXED RACE ASIAN AMERICAN ART, AND ACCOMPANYING CATALOGUE.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: BIOGEOCHEMICAL FINGERPRINTING OF THE MEGATOOTHED (MEGALODON) SHARK: A DUAL STUDY IN THERMOPHYSIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION AND SEAWATER CHEMISTRY

STABLE HOMOTOPY METHODS IN P-LOCAL GROUP THEORY

RI: SMALL: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH TO OPTIMAL MORPHOLOGY AND CONTROL OF TRANSFORMABLE SOFT ROBOTS

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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON REPRESENTATION THEORY AND COMMUTATIVE ALGEBRA

ENGAGES INDIVIDUALS IN SERVICE TO ELIMINATE POVERTY AND POVERTY-RELATED PROBLEMS IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES

NSF WORKSHOP ON ASSURABLE AND USABLE SECURITY CONFIGURATION

TWENTY YEARS OF WAVELETS; CHICAGO, IL, SPRING 2009

TRAVEL: STUDENT TRAVEL TO THE 21ST IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON E-SCIENCE 2025 -THIS PROJECT COVERS TRAVEL EXPENSES FOR FIFTEEN ELIGIBLE STUDENTS FROM US INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION TO THE 21ST INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS (IEEE) INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON E-SCIENCE (ESCIENCE 2025). ATTENDANCE WILL HELP PREPARE THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS FOR ROLES IN ACADEMIA, GOVERNMENT, AND INDUSTRY VIA MEANINGFUL EXPOSURE TO ADVANCED RESEARCH METHODS, PROFESSIONAL NETWORKS, AND COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENTS. PARTICIPATION IN THE CONFERENCE WILL BOLSTER STUDENTS? CAREER TRAJECTORIES AND NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS IN THE GLOBAL RESEARCH ECOSYSTEM. THE STUDENT TRAVELERS GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE THE CONFERENCE PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND ESTABLISH USEFUL CONNECTIONS WITH MENTORS IN THEIR FIELDS. THIS AWARD WILL ENABLE THE STUDENT TRAVELERS TO ENGAGE DIRECTLY WITH LEADING EXPERTS, DEVELOPERS OF CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGIES, AND INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH COMMUNITIES AROUND DATA- AND COMPUTE-INTENSIVE RESEARCH FIELDS SUCH AS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) FOR A WIDE VARIETY OF TARGET ARCHITECTURES INCLUDING HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING (HPC), CLOUD COMPUTING, AND INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) INFRASTRUCTURES. THIS PROGRAM DIRECTLY SUPPORTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A HIGHLY SKILLED U.S.-BASED AND DOMESTIC RESEARCH WORKFORCE EQUIPPED TO ADVANCE DATA- AND COMPUTE-INTENSIVE SCIENCE. STUDENTS SELECTED FOR TRAVEL SUPPORT GAIN EXPOSURE TO CUTTING-EDGE INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH IN AREAS SUCH AS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING, AND CLOUD-TO-EDGE SYSTEMS. THEY ALSO GAIN ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL NETWORKS AND MENTORS IN EMERGING FIELDS. SUPPORTING PARTICIPATION IN THE ESCIENCE 2025 CONFERENCE HELPS DEVELOP A SKILLED DOMESTIC WORKFORCE CAPABLE OF ADDRESSING COMPLEX SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

REU SITE: RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR UNDERGRADUATES IN ECOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CDIZ, SPAIN

TRAVEL: STUDENT TRAVEL SUPPORT FOR LOGIC MENTORING WORKSHOPS 2025 -THE LOGIC MENTORING WORKSHOP (LMW) IS A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS THAT OFFER GUIDANCE AND PERSPECTIVE TO STUDENTS AIMING FOR AN ACADEMIC CAREER IN THEORETICAL COMPUTER SCIENCE, FOCUSING ON LOGIC. LMW IS CO-LOCATED EVERY YEAR WITH THE CONFERENCES COMPUTER SCIENCE LOGIC (CSL) AND LOGIC IN COMPUTER SCIENCE (LICS). THIS PROJECT OFFERS FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO STUDENTS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND THIS WORKSHOP OR THE MAIN CONFERENCE. THIS PROJECT'S IMPACT IS THAT THE AUDIENCE OF THE WORKSHOP AND THE MAIN CONFERENCE REFLECTS A MORE DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE STUDENT BODY, BOTH IN TERMS OF SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUND AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. IN 2025, LMW AT CSL WILL TAKE PLACE IN AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS IN FEBRUARY, WHILE LMW AT LICS WILL BE IN SINGAPORE IN JUNE. THE PROJECT IS IMPLEMENTED BY ADDING A FUNDING SURVEY TO THE WORKSHOPS' CALL FOR PARTICIPATION. CANDIDATE SELECTION, BASED ON NEEDS, IS DONE BY THE WORKSHOP ORGANIZERS. THE HOME INSTITUTION OF THE INVESTIGATOR COORDINATES REIMBURSEMENTS TO STUDENTS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

TRAVEL: STUDENT TRAVEL SUPPORT FOR LOGIC MENTORING WORKSHOPS 2024 -THIS CONFERENCE GRANT WILL ENABLE STUDENTS TO ATTEND THE LOGIC MENTORING WORKSHOP (LMW 2024), WHICH WILL BE CO-LOCATED WITH COMPUTER SCIENCE LOGIC (CSL) CONFERENCE, IN NAPLES, ITALY, IN FEBRUARY 2024, AND LOGIC IN COMPUTE SCIENCE (LICS) CONFERENCE IN TALLINN, ESTONIA IN JULY 2024. LMW SEEKS TO INTRODUCE AND MENTOR STUDENTS WHO HAVE ALREADY SHOWN INTEREST IN LOGIC AND SEMANTICS RESEARCH BY BRINGING THEM TO CSL AND LICS SO THEY CAN LEARN ABOUT CURRENT RESEARCH PROBLEMS, MAKE CONNECTIONS WITH THEIR CONTEMPORARIES, AND INTERACT WITH LEADERS IN THE FIELD. FUNDED STUDENTS WILL BENEFIT GREATLY FROM THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE IN THE CRITICAL TECHNICAL, PROFESSIONAL, AND SOCIAL EXCHANGES THAT BOTH THE CONFERENCE AND THE WORKSHOP FOSTER. THE LMW WORKSHOP WILL FOCUS ON MENTORING AND CAREER ADVICE TO ENABLE UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS, INCLUDING WOMEN AND STUDENTS FROM OTHER UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS, TO PURSUE AND THRIVE IN RESEARCH CAREERS BOTH IN LOGIC/SEMANTICS SPECIFICALLY AND IN COMPUTER SCIENCE MORE GENERALLY. THIS TRAVEL GRANT WILL ENABLE CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR US-BASED AND/OR US CITIZEN GRADUATE STUDENTS. ATTENDING CONFERENCES IS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF GRADUATE SCHOOL EDUCATION FOR OUR SOCIETY'S FUTURE COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCHERS. STUDENTS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS LEADING EDGE RESEARCH WITH WORLD-CLASS RESEARCHERS, AND ESTABLISH NETWORKS, CONNECTIONS, AND MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS THAT WILL SERVE THEM WELL DURING THEIR RESEARCH CAREERS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

SCIENCE AND POWER, SCIENCE AS POWER: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TRAVEL

GENDERING SCIENCE: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TRAVEL

STUDENT SUPPORT FOR USER MODELING, ADAPTATION AND PERSONALIZATION CONFERENCE

SUPPORTING STUDENTS ATTENDING THE USER MODELING, ADAPTATION AND PERSONALIZATION 2012 CONFERENCE

THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A SOIL QUALITY ASSESSMENT TOOL THAT CAN BE USED TO ASSESS SUITABLE CANDIDATES FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

STUDENT SUPPORT FOR THE 2015 USER MODELING, ADAPTATION AND PERSONALIZATION CONFERENCE

PI ALGEBRAS

TRAVEL: STUDENT TRAVEL SUPPORT FOR LOGIC MENTORING WORKSHOP 2023 -THE CONFERENCE GRANT WILL ENABLE STUDENTS TO ATTEND THE LOGIC MENTORING WORKSHOP (LMW 2023) WHICH WILL BE CO-LOCATED WITH COMPUTER SCIENCE LOGIC (CSL) CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN FEBRUARY IN WARSAW, POLAND. CSL IS THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE LOGIC (EACSL). LMW SEEKS TO INTRODUCE AND MENTOR STUDENTS WHO HAVE ALREADY SHOWN INTEREST IN LOGIC AND SEMANTICS RESEARCH BY BRINGING THEM TO CSL SO THEY CAN LEARN ABOUT CURRENT RESEARCH PROBLEMS, MAKE CONNECTIONS WITH THEIR CONTEMPORARIES, AND INTERACT WITH LEADERS IN THE FIELD. FUNDED STUDENTS WILL BENEFIT GREATLY FROM THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE IN THE CRITICAL TECHNICAL, PROFESSIONAL, AND SOCIAL EXCHANGES THAT BOTH THE CONFERENCE AND THE WORKSHOP FOSTER. THE LMW WORKSHOP WILL FOCUS ON MENTORING AND CAREER ADVICE TO ENABLE UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS, AND ESPECIALLY WOMEN, AND UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES TO PURSUE AND THRIVE IN RESEARCH CAREERS BOTH IN LOGIC/SEMANTICS SPECIFICALLY AND IN COMPUTER SCIENCE GENERALLY. THIS TRAVEL GRANT WILL ENABLE CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR US-BASED AND/OR US CITIZEN GRADUATE STUDENTS. ATTENDING CONFERENCES IS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF GRADUATE SCHOOL EDUCATION FOR OUR SOCIETY'S FUTURE COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCHERS. STUDENTS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS LEADING EDGE RESEARCH WITH WORLD-CLASS RESEARCHERS, AND ESTABLISH NETWORKS, CONNECTIONS, AND MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS THAT WILL SERVE THEM WELL DURING THEIR RESEARCH CAREERS. 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.

ADVANCED EDUCATION NURSING TRAINEESHIPS

STUDENT SUPPORT FOR 2015 CONFERENCE ON REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING

CRII: AF: EFFICIENTLY COMPUTING AND UPDATING TOPOLOGICAL DESCRIPTORS FOR DATA ANALYSIS -HARNESSING THE POWER OF DATA HAS BEEN A DRIVING FORCE FOR COMPUTING, ESPECIALLY IN RECENT YEARS WHEN BREAKTHROUGHS IN DATA SCIENCE ENABLE COMPUTERS TO PERFORM TASKS NEVER SEEN BEFORE. HOWEVER, AS THE DATA BECOMES MORE AND MORE COMPLEX, THERE IS ALSO A GROWING NEED FOR MORE ADVANCED TECHNIQUES TO UNCOVER THE HIDDEN STRUCTURES OF DATA. USING TOOLS IN A BRANCH OF MATHEMATICS, NAMELY TOPOLOGY, TOPOLOGICAL DATA ANALYSIS (TDA) AIMS AT REVEALING THE 'SHAPE' OF DATA THAT ARE OTHERWISE NOT EASILY CAPTURED BY TRADITIONAL METHODS. HOWEVER, THE COMPUTATIONAL COMPLEXITY OF SOME IMPORTANT DATA DESCRIPTORS PROPOSED IN TDA IS NOT VERY WELL-UNDERSTOOD, WHICH IS A MAJOR OBSTACLE TO THEIR WIDER APPLICATIONS. THIS PROJECT AIMS AT DEVISING EFFICIENT ALGORITHMS FOR COMPUTING THESE IMPORTANT DATA DESCRIPTORS. EFFICIENT SOFTWARE FOR THE COMPUTATION WILL BE DEVELOPED, WHICH IS A NECESSARY STEP FOR PROMOTING APPLICATIONS. EFFORTS OF THE PROJECT WILL HELP TRAIN UNDERGRADUATE OR GRADUATE STUDENTS BY ENABLING THEM TO CULTIVATE MATHEMATICAL AND ALGORITHMIC THINKING THROUGH THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS. TWO FOCI OF THIS PROJECT ARE THE FOLLOWING DESCRIPTORS REVOLVING AROUND PERSISTENT HOMOLOGY (A CORNERSTONE OF TDA) AND ITS EXTENSION ZIGZAG PERSISTENCE: (I) REPRESENTATIVES FOR TOPOLOGICAL PERSISTENCE; (II) VINES AND VINEYARD FROM UPDATING THE STANDARD AND ZIGZAG PERSISTENCE. NOVEL DATA STRUCTURES DEDICATED TO THE COMPUTATION WILL BE DEVISED. FROM THE STUDY, A DEEPER CONNECTION BETWEEN THE MATHEMATICAL OBJECTS AND THEIR ALGORITHMIC INTERPRETATION CAN BE ESTABLISHED, WHICH CAN HAVE FURTHER IMPLICATIONS ON THE COMPUTATIONAL FRONT OF TDA. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

INCREASING SCIENCE LITERACY IN MICROBIOLOGY THROUGH THE USE OF OPEN EDUCATION RESOURCES -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST BY ENGAGING STUDENTS IN A NOVEL WAY TO IMPROVE THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF MICROBIOLOGY CONCEPTS. UNDERSTANDING THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS AND DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING ARE IMPORTANT SKILLS FOR EVERYONE, BUT ESPECIALLY FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS PURSUING CAREERS IN STEM FIELDS. HOWEVER, STUDENTS FREQUENTLY STRUGGLE WITH LEARNING HOW TO EFFECTIVELY READ, ANALYZE, AND WRITE ABOUT SCIENCE. MOREOVER, MANY STUDENTS LEAVE SCIENCE BECAUSE THEY FEEL UNCONNECTED AND UNINSPIRED BY TRADITIONAL TEACHING METHODS. AT THE SAME TIME, TEACHERS STRUGGLE TO FIND TEACHING RESOURCES THAT ARE EFFECTIVE AND INNOVATIVE TO ENGAGE THEIR STUDENTS IN THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES USING SUCCESSFUL INNOVATIVE METHODS SUCH AS HAVING STUDENTS PRACTICE SCIENCE WHILE WORKING IN TEAMS ON REAL PROBLEMS AND GENERATING READILY AVAILABLE TEACHING MATERIALS. TEAMS OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS WILL CREATE ACCESSIBLE AND FREE LEARNING MATERIALS BASED ON POPULAR SCIENCE PODCASTS. THE PROJECT IS NOVEL BECAUSE IT WILL USE MODERN COMMUNICATION TOOLS TO ENGAGE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS. THE IMPACT OF THESE TRAINING AND LEARNING MATERIALS ON STUDENT SCIENCE LITERACY, IDENTITY, AND MOTIVATION WILL BE INVESTIGATED. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO BE EVALUATED TO DETERMINE BEST PRACTICES FOR TRAINING FACULTY TO IMPLEMENT THESE MATERIALS IN THE CLASSROOM. A GUIDING IMPERATIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO SUPPORT THE TRAINING OF A DIVERSE STEM WORKFORCE USING ACTIVE METHODS AND ACCESSIBLE MATERIALS THAT BUILD SCIENCE LITERACY AND CRITICAL THINKING. THROUGH THE CREATION OF OPEN EDUCATION RESOURCES, WHICH ARE FREE, ADAPTABLE, OF HIGH QUALITY, AND ACCESSIBLE, THIS PROJECT IS FOCUSED ON ENHANCING SCIENCE LITERACY AND CRITICAL THINKING. MOREOVER, THIS PROJECT STRIVES TO INCREASE INCLUSIVITY IN STEM EDUCATION GIVEN THAT PUBLICLY AND WIDELY AVAILABLE RESOURCES USUALLY ENGAGE LARGER, MORE DIVERSE POPULATIONS BY REMOVING ACCESSIBILITY BARRIERS. WITH THESE GOALS IN MIND, THIS PROJECT AIMS TO EXPAND A SUCCESSFUL DIGITAL INITIATIVE THAT USES THIS WEEK IN MICROBIOLOGY (TWIM), A PODCAST THAT I) FEATURES PROFESSIONAL SCIENTISTS DISCUSSING CURRENT PAPERS, II) IS LICENSED UNDER CREATIVE COMMONS, AND III) IS SUPPORTED BY THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY. UNDER THIS INITIATIVE STUDENTS ANNOTATE THE TWIM PODCASTS WITH MATERIALS THEY THINK OTHER UNDERGRADUATES WOULD CONNECT WITH (CULTURAL RELEVANCY, CURRENT EVENTS, ETC.) AND TIE THESE BACK TO A COURSE?S LEARNING OBJECTIVES. CRITICALLY, THE PROJECT USES METHODS KNOWN TO INCREASE LONG TERM RETENTION IN STEM, INCLUDING BUILDING A COLLABORATIVE FACULTY LEARNING COMMUNITY, STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN THE PRACTICE OF SCIENCE, BUILDING STUDENT SCIENCE IDENTITY, AND WORKING ON RELEVANT, REAL-WORLD SCIENTIFIC PROBLEMS. THERE ARE THREE MAIN COMPONENTS TO THIS PROJECT. FIRST, IT AIMS TO TRAIN TEACHERS AND STUDENTS USING AN ESTABLISHED COLLABORATIVE WORKFLOW. KEY FEATURES OF THIS WORKFLOW ARE THE USE OF LEARNING METHODS AND MATERIALS THAT ARE ACCESSIBLE, INCLUSIVE OF UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS, AND KNOWN TO INCREASE SCIENCE LITERACY AND PROMOTE THE FORMATION OF SCIENCE IDENTITY. SECOND, THE PROJECT AIMS TO PRODUCE A FREE ELECTRONIC BOOK CALLED PODCAST ANNOTATION RESOURCES: MICROBIOLOGY. THIRD, THE PROJECT AIMS TO USE VALIDATED METHODS TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF THESE ACTIVE LEARNING MATERIALS ON METRICS KNOWN TO PROMOTE LONG-TERM STEM SUCCESS: STUDENT CONTENT UNDERSTANDING, STEM MOTIVATION, SCIENCE LITERACY, AND SCIENCE IDENTITY. BY IDENTIFYING BENEFITS AND BARRIERS TO ADOPTION OF THIS TYPE OF ACTIVE LEARNING AND COLLABORATION, THE PROJECT WILL ENHANCE THE LEARNING EXPERIENCES OF ALL PARTICIPANTS AS THEY WORK ON COMPLEX AND RELEVANT TOPICS IN DIVERSE COLLABORATIVE TEAMS. BY TRAINING ADDITIONAL FACULTY, USING A PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY?S PODCAST WITH A GLOBAL REACH, AND DISSEMINATING RESEARCH FINDINGS THROUGH MEETING ATTENDANCE AND PUBLICATION, THE AVAILABILITY OF LEARNING MATERIALS AND METHODS WILL ENABLE TEACHERS ACROSS THE NATION TO EASILY FIND AND ADOPT ACTIVE LEARNING MATERIALS. THE NSF IUSE: EDU PROGRAM SUPPORTS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STEM EDUCATION FOR ALL STUDENTS. THROUGH ITS ENGAGED STUDENT LEARNING TRACK, THE PROGRAM SUPPORTS THE CREATION, EXPLORATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PROMISING PRACTICES AND TOOLS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MOD. #1 TO EXTEND STARTING DATE OF GRANT FROM MARCH 31, 2007 TO JULY 31, 2007.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CSSI FRAMEWORKS: FROM NOTEBOOK TO WORKFLOW AND BACK AGAIN -COMPUTATIONAL NOTEBOOKS HAVE BECOME A CORNERSTONE OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING ENTERPRISE, PROVIDING AN INTERACTIVE MEANS TO ACQUIRE AND COMMUNICATE INSIGHTS, SHARE DISCOVERIES, AND VISUALIZE EXPERIMENTAL OUTCOMES. HOWEVER, COMPUTATIONAL NOTEBOOKS TODAY ARE MOST SUITED FOR SMALL-SCALE EXPLORATIONS CARRIED OUT ON A SINGLE COMPUTER, AND ARE QUITE DIFFICULT TO USE FOR LARGE-SCALE COMPUTATIONS ON HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING CLUSTERS OR COMMERCIAL CLOUDS. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP NBFLOW, A SOFTWARE TOOLKIT FOR CONVERTING NOTEBOOK COMPUTATIONS INTO WORKFLOWS THAT ARE FEASIBLE TO EXECUTE EFFICIENTLY ON CLUSTERS OR CLOUDS. THIS WILL MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO USE NOTEBOOK TECHNOLOGIES IN CONJUNCTION WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE CLUSTERS TO ENABLE NEW DISCOVERIES IN SCIENTIFIC FIELDS SUCH AS HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS AND GEOSCIENCES. THESE TECHNOLOGIES WILL BE USED TO DEVELOP NEW EDUCATIONAL CURRICULA, OUTREACH ACTIVITIES FOR K-12 STUDENTS, AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS. NBFLOW WILL SUPPORT AND ADVANCE THE USE OF COMPUTATIONAL NOTEBOOKS IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND DATA ANALYSIS BY BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN INTERACTIVE COMPUTATION AND DISTRIBUTED CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPED FOR DATA-INTENSIVE SCIENCES. TODAY'S NOTEBOOK ENVIRONMENTS PROVIDE EASY ACCESS TO STANDARD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING TOOLKITS FOR PROCESSING VAST DATASETS WITH GREATER EFFICIENCY AND ACCURACY COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL METHODS. HOWEVER, MIGRATING A NOTEBOOK FROM A SCRATCHPAD-LIKE ANALYSIS TO A ROBUST PIPELINE, WHICH MUST BE DISTRIBUTED ACROSS A CLUSTER OR CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE, CURRENTLY REQUIRES SIGNIFICANT EFFORTS BY DEVELOPERS AND SCIENTISTS. NBFLOW WILL BUILD UPON EXISTING NSF INVESTMENTS IN THE AREAS OF CONTAINERIZATION AND WORKFLOWS THAT WILL RECORD NOTEBOOK EXECUTIONS AND SCHEDULE TASKS FOR CONCURRENT EXECUTION. BY EXPERIMENTING WITH AN INTEGRATED NOTEBOOK-WORKFLOW SYSTEM, THIS CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH WILL ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING IN DATA MANAGEMENT AND DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING SUB-FIELDS. AT THE SAME TIME, THE PROJECT WILL PRODUCE NOVEL TECHNIQUES TO ROBUSTLY CAPTURE PROVENANCE FROM NOTEBOOK-BASED WORKFLOWS, A RICH SOURCE OF DATA IN ITSELF, AS WELL AS PUT TECHNIQUES DEVELOPED FOR INCREMENTAL COMPUTATION TO PRACTICE. THESE TECHNOLOGIES WILL BE DEPLOYED WITH ACTIVE USER COMMUNITIES IN HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS AT MULTIPLE FACILITIES AND IN GEOSPATIAL AND SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCES THROUGH THE I-GUIDE CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

NRI/COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ROBUST DESIGN AND RELIABLE AUTONOMY FOR TRANSFORMING MODULAR HYBRID RIGID-SOFT ROBOTS -SOFT ROBOTS ARE A PROMISING TECHNOLOGY FOR EXPLORATION TASKS AND HAVE SHOWN GREAT POTENTIAL FOR UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF BIOLOGICAL CREATURES AND CREATING ADAPTABLE, VERSATILE, AND HUMAN-FRIENDLY ROBOTS. ON THE OTHER HAND, RIGID ROBOTS OFFER MANY ADVANTAGES IN TERMS OF PRECISION AND EASE OF CONTROL. THE NOVEL HYBRID ROBOT DESIGN CONSIDERED IN THIS PROJECT WILL COMBINE THESE TWO TECHNOLOGIES TO PROVIDE THE ADVANTAGES OF BOTH. THIS GRANT SUPPORTS RESEARCH TO PRODUCE NEW KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO MODULAR DESIGN AND RELIABLE HUMAN-ROBOT COLLABORATION USING THIS HYBRID DESIGN PARADIGM. THE NEW MODULAR ROBOTS WILL BE ABLE TO ADAPT TO NEW ENVIRONMENTS, MOVE ACROSS VARIED TERRAINS, AND OPERATE IN A WIDE VARIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL RESULT IN IMPROVED ROBOTIC CAPABILITY FOR EXPLORATION OF DIFFICULT TERRAINS SUCH AS THOSE FOUND DURING SEARCH AND RESCUE, INSPECTION, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE. THE NEW ROBOT CAPABILITIES WILL ALSO BENEFIT FUTURE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL MISSIONS. THE PROJECT INCLUDES SUMMER RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AND EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH ACTIVITIES TO K-12 STUDENTS TO SUPPORT SOFT ROBOTICS EDUCATION. THE RESEARCH SUPPORTED BY THIS GRANT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCE THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IN THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF SOFT ROBOTS BY CREATING NOVEL AND HYBRID (INCORPORATING BOTH STIFF AND SOFT ELEMENTS) PHYSICAL HARDWARE DESIGNS TO OFFSET LIMITATIONS OF EACH INDIVIDUAL TECHNOLOGY. THE RESEARCH TASKS ARE AIMED AT ADVANCING THE SEAMLESS INTEGRATION AND OPERATION OF NON-COLLOCATED HUMAN-ROBOT TEAMS AND ARE ALIGNED IN TWO THRUSTS. THE FIRST THRUST CONSIDERS MODULAR DESIGN FOR EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS USING LOW-DEGREE-OF FREEDOM MODULES CONNECTED BY REVERSIBLE, COMPLETELY SEALED PERMANENT MAGNET CONNECTORS. MODULES COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER VIA WIRELESS PROTOCOLS TO ENABLE DISTRIBUTED CONTROL ALGORITHMS. DYNAMIC MODELING AND SIMULATION ARE USED TO DISCOVER A HYBRID LOCOMOTION STRATEGY BASED ON A LEARNING CENTRAL PATTERN GENERATOR. THE PROJECT ALSO CREATES MOTION PLANNING ALGORITHMS FOR BIOINSPIRED, TOPOLOGICALLY RECONFIGURABLE SOFT ROBOTS. THE SECOND THRUST FOCUSES ON RELIABLE NON-COLLOCATED HUMAN ROBOT COLLABORATION, INCLUDING HIGH-LEVEL TELEOPERATION, TOPOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION STRATEGIES TO MITIGATE MODULE FAILURES, AUTOMATIC GAIT RE-SELECTION BASED ON FAULT DIAGNOSIS TECHNIQUES, AND A CONSENSUS DECISION-MAKING SYSTEM TO ENABLE FUNCTIONAL MODULES TO DISABLE NONFUNCTIONAL ONES. 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.

CAREER: TRANSFORMABLE AND RECONFIGURABLE SOFT ROBOTS

USING HYPERLOCAL AND NETWORKED STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION FOR MIDDLE GRADE STUDENTS IN CHICAGO

SHF: SMALL: ASKED AND ANSWERED: INTELLIGENT DATA SCIENCE FOR SOFTWARE PROJECTS

ENHANCING THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY