Conference Proposal to Support US Participation in ICMMES-2010

工程与科学中的介观方法国际会议（ICMMES）系列的创建是对在纳米或微米系统和生物系统中观察到的多尺度和多物理现象的日益增长的兴趣的直接响应，以及计算科学对所有学科研究的日益增长的重要性，特别是对上述领域。ICMMES会议系列的重点是介观/动力学方法（例如，格子Boltzmann方程、格子气元胞自动机、离散速度模型、气体动力学方案、耗散粒子动力学、光滑粒子流体动力学和各种混合方法）。感兴趣的具体领域包括但不限于应用于以下方面的介观/动力学方法：计算流体动力学，复杂流体和软物质的流变学，宏观，纳米或微观系统中的多尺度/多物理现象，热化学非平衡系统，化学反应流，新算法和特殊计算机硬件。NSF的资金将用于支持学生，博士后研究人员，来自美国院校的青年教师积极参与ICMMES。特别考虑到代表性不足的少数民族，妇女，残疾人，以及那些在历史上黑人学院和大学（HBCU）的ICMMES会议的目标如下：（1）汇集来自学术界，政府实验室的研究人员。（2）透过短期课程及与业内知名专家的交流，让年青及新入职的研究人员接触该领域的最新科技;（3）积极鼓励代表性不足的少数群体、妇女、残疾人，和HBCU的学生通过参加ICMMES会议探索研究前沿。虽然美国在介观方法的早期发展中发挥了关键作用，但由于缺乏资金，其实力在过去十年中一直在减弱，而欧洲和亚洲国家则大幅增加了该领域的资金水平。美国的相对弱势表现在一个事实上，即在同行评审期刊上发表的论文中，美国作者所占的比例很小，而且还在下降。鉴于介观方法的科学重要性，美国迫切需要增加对该领域研究的资金支持。本提案的目的是寻求NSF的支持，以增加美国在ICMMES会议上的参与，并加强美国在这一快速发展的研究领域的地位。本提案的主要智力价值是，它寻求通过积极参与ICMMES会议，使新的或年轻的美国科学家接触到一个重要和快速发展的领域的研究前沿，这一建议的更广泛影响包括改善美国和国际研究人员之间的网络联系;通过会议、短期课程、会议记录和互联网向广大科学界传播最新信息;帮助为年轻科学家创造一个更具包容性和多样性的社区;促进来自不同学科和机构的研究人员之间的协同作用;并加强美国在快速增长的研究领域的地位。我们注意到，NSF的支持对于处于职业生涯早期阶段的年轻科学家尤其重要，他们中的大多数人在没有外部资金支持的情况下无法参加国际会议。

AbstractThe creation of the the International Conference for Mesoscopic Methods in Engineering and Science (ICMMES) series is a direct response to the growing interest in multi-scale and multi-physics phenomena observed in nano- or micro-systems and biological systems, and the increasing importance of computational science to research in all disciplines, especially to the aforementioned areas. The focus of the ICMMES conference series is mesoscopic/ kinetic methods (e.g., lattice Boltzmann equation, lattice gas cellular automata, discrete velocity models, gas-kinetic schemes, dissipative particle dynamics, smoothed particle hydrodynamics, and various hybrid methods) for computational mechanics in its broadest sense. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to, mesoscopic/kinetic methods applied to: computational fluid dynamics, rheology of complex fluids and soft matter, multi-scale/multi-physics phenomena in macro-, nano- or micro-systems, thermo-chemically nonequilibrium systems, chemical reactive flows, new algorithms, and special computer hardware.The funding from NSF will be used in support of students, post-doctoral researchers, and junior faculty from US institutions actively participate in ICMMES. Special consideration is given to under-represented minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and those in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).The objectives of the ICMMES Conferences are as follows: (1) To bring together researchers from academia, government labs., and industry to exchange and disseminate up-to-date information, and explore new opportunities in the field; (2) To expose young and new researchers to the state-of-the-art in the field by means of short courses and interactions with renowned experts in the field; and (3) To actively encourage underrepresented minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and students in HBCUs to explore frontier of research by attending the ICMMES Conferences. Although the United States played a key role in the early development of mesoscopic methods, its strength has been weakening throughout the past decade due to lack of funding, while European and Asian countries have significantly increased their funding level in the field. The relative weakness of the US is indicated by the fact that a small and decreasing percentage of papers published in peer reviewed journals are by US authors. Given the scientific importance of mesoscopic methods, it is urgent and imperative for the US to increase funding support for research in the field. The objective of this proposal is to seek NSF support to increase US participation in ICMMES Conferences and to strengthen the US position in this fast-growing research field.The main intellectual merit of this proposal is that it seeks to expose new or young US scientists to research frontiers in an important and rapidly growing field through active participation in ICMMES Conferences, which constitute an ideal environment for encouraging dialog and inquiry.Broader impact of this proposal includes improving networking between US and international researchers; disseminating up-to-date information to the scientific community at large through conferences, short courses, proceedings, and internet ; helping create a more inclusive and diverse community for young scientists; fostering a synergy among researchers from different disciplines and institutions; and strengthening the US position in a fast-growing field of research. We note that NSF support is particularly crucial to young scientists in the early stage of their careers, most of whom cannot afford to attend international conferences without external funding support.