paleonet Assembling the Tree of Liff (AToL)

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This note is to draw your attention to the new and updated program announcement for the "Assembling the Tree of Life" program at the US National Science Foundation. Although this is on the surface a largely neontological initiative, a couple of multidisciplinary teams including paleontologists and biologists (including non-Americans) have successfully submitted multimillion dollar proposals to this initiative in previous rounds. It is important to keep the paleontological community actively involved in this well funded program, after all the paleontological information represents 99.9%+ of the evolutionary record of life on Earth. Please pass this note along to other paleo listserves. The program anticipates commitment of approximately $13 million in 2004. A synopsis of the program and links to the new announcement are below. Please contact Dr. Gerald Guala (AToL Working Group Chair) or an appropriate cognizant program officer (listed below) for more information.

NOTE: The new deadline for submission of proposals is March 05, 2004

You can see the program announcement at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?ods_key=nsf04526

Also see the AToL home page at: http://www.nsf.gov/bio/progdes/bioatol.htm

US National Science Foundation

ASSEMBLING THE TREE OF LIFE (AToL)

Synopsis of Program:

A flood of new information, from whole-genome sequences to detailed structural information to inventories of earth's biota, is transforming 21st century biology. Along with comparative data on morphology, fossils, development, behavior, and interactions of all forms of life on earth, these new data streams make even more critical the need for an organizing framework for information retrieval, analysis, and prediction. Phylogeny, the genealogical map for all lineages of life on earth, provides an overall framework to facilitate information retrieval and biological prediction. Currently, single investigators or small teams of researchers are studying the evolutionary pathways of heredity usually concentrating on phylogenetic groups of modest size. Assembly of a framework phylogeny, or Tree of Life, for all 1.7 million described species requires a greatly magnified effort by large teams working across institutions and disciplines. This is the overall goal of the Assembling the Tree of Life activity. The National Science Foundation invites research proposals from multidisciplinary teams to conduct creative and innovative research that will resolve phylogenetic relationships for large groups of organisms on the Tree of Life. Teams of investigators also will be supported for projects in data acquisition, analysis, algorithm development and dissemination in computational phylogenetics and phyloinformatics.

Cognizant Program Officer(s):

Gerald F. Guala, Program Director, Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, 615 N, telephone: (703) 292-8470, fax: (703) 292-9063, email: gguala@nsf.gov <mailto:gguala@nsf.gov>

James E. Rodman, Program Director, Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Environmental Biology, 635 N, telephone: (703) 292-8481, fax: (703) 292-9064, email: jrodman@nsf.gov <mailto:jrodman@nsf.gov>

James B. Woolley, Program Director, Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Environmental Biology, 635 N, telephone: (703) 292-8133, fax: (703) 292-9064, email: jwoolley@nsf.gov <mailto:jwoolley@nsf.gov>

Judith E. Plesset, Program Director, Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Integrative Biology & Neuroscience, 685 S, telephone: (703) 292-8417, fax: (703) 292-9153, email: jplesset@nsf.gov <mailto:jplesset@nsf.gov>

Matthew D. Kane, Program Director, Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Molecular & Cellular Biosciences, 655 S, telephone: (703) 292-7186, fax: (703) 292-9061, email: mkane@nsf.gov <mailto:mkane@nsf.gov>

H. Richard Lane, Program Director, Directorate for Geosciences, Division of Earth Sciences, 785 S, telephone: (703) 292-8551, email: hlane@nsf.gov <mailto:hlane@nsf.gov>

Mark L. Weiss, Program Director/Cluster Coordinator, Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences, Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, 995 N, telephone: (703) 292-7321, fax: (703) 292-9068, email: mweiss@nsf.gov <mailto:mweiss@nsf.gov>

Sylvia Spengler, Program Director, Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering, Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, 1175 N, telephone: (703) 292-8936, fax: (703) 292-9073, email: sspengle@nsf.gov <mailto:sspengle@nsf.gov>

Mitra Basu, Program Director, Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering, Division of Computing and Communication Foundations, 1160 N, telephone: (703) 292-8910, fax: (703) 292-9059, email: mbasu@nsf.gov mailto:mbasu@nsf.gov

H. Richard Lane

Program Director, Geology and Paleontology Program

Earth Science Division

National Science Foundation

4201 Wilson Blvd., Room 785,

Arlington, Virginia 22203 USA

Ph: 703-292-4730; Fax: 703-292-9025

hlane@nsf.gov

NOTE: Geology and Paleontology Program deadline has changed to January 16 and July 16 of each year.

Submitting a proposal?

See the new Grant Proposal Guide (NSF 03-2) at http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?gpg. Note that proposals without a separate statement of broader impacts will be returned. Discussion and examples available at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2002/nsf022/bicexamples.pdf.

Got some exciting results to report from NSF supported research?
Send a message to our press officer at cdybas@nsf.gov.

If Bach continues to play in this way, the organ will be ruined in two years and most of the congregation will be deaf. (Member of the Arnstadt Town Council in 1705)