NSF/BIO National Synthesis Centers Judith A. Verbeke, Ph.D. Division Director (Acting) Division of Biological Infrastructure

What is Synthesis? Wikipedia – The combining of two or more entities to form something new WordNet (Princeton U) – The combination of ideas into a complex whole MedicineNet.com Putting together different entities to make a whole which is new and different

What is Synthesis? Vertical integration across different types of data within a discipline. Horizontal integration across two or more disciplines Objects of synthesis Methods Concepts Knowledge

NSF/BIO Synthesis Centers Community Resources Think tanks Conference centers Computing facilities Communities of Practice Knowledge exchange; generation of new ideas Seasoned and emerging investigators CI development, including workforce

Guiding Principles Cross-disciplinary, synthetic science Real-time and face-to-face interactions “Big Questions” Identified by community of practitioners Big Questions change Flexibly responsive High Risk/High Reward Logistical support and informatics resources

NSF/BIO Synthesis Centers National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis (NCEAS) National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) iPlant Collaborative Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESynC)

Operations Catalyze and nurturing collaborations Working Groups Catalysis Groups Thematic Workshops Post-doctoral Fellows Do not support collection of new data CI embedded with domain scientists

Impacts FY unique institutions; 63 non-academic partners; 1686 unique participants NCEAS – after 15 years 50% of total funding from UCSB, state & federal agencies, philanthropists NESCent – first 8 years > 500 publications; > 8000 citations; $34 M in additional funding iPlant – first 4 years > 7000 registered users; > 80,000 website hits; > 300 CI tools