Conference Proposal to Support US Participation in ICMMES-2010

国际工程与科学介观方法会议（ICMMES）系列的创建是对纳米或微系统和生物系统中观察到的多尺度和多物理现象日益增长的兴趣的直接回应，以及计算科学对所有学科研究的重要性日益增加，特别是对上述领域。ICMMES会议系列的焦点是最广泛意义上的计算力学的介观/动力学方法（例如，晶格玻尔兹曼方程，晶格气体细胞自动机，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）。具体的兴趣领域包括，但不限于，介观/动力学方法应用于：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，和特殊的计算机硬件。NSF的资金将用于支持来自美国机构的学生、博士后研究人员和初级教师积极参与ICMMES。特别考虑到代表性不足的少数民族、妇女、残疾人和传统黑人学院和大学（HBCU）的学生。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。，与业界交流和传播最新资讯，并探索该领域的新机会；(2)通过短期课程和与该领域知名专家的互动，使年轻和新的研究人员接触到该领域的最新技术；(3)积极鼓励弱势群体、女性、残障人士和HBCUs学生通过参加ICMMES会议探索研究前沿。尽管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，而欧洲和亚洲国家在该领域的资金水平显著提高。在同行评议期刊上发表的论文中，美国作者所占比例很小，而且还在不断下降，这一事实表明了美国的相对弱势。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美国国家科学基金会的支持，以增加美国对ICMMES会议的参与，并加强美国在这一快速发展的研究领域的地位。该提案的主要知识价值在于，它旨在通过积极参与ICMMES会议，使新的或年轻的美国科学家接触到一个重要且快速发展的领域的研究前沿，这些会议构成了鼓励对话和探究的理想环境。该提案的更广泛影响包括改善美国和国际研究人员之间的网络；通过会议、短期课程、论文集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建一个更具包容性和多样性的社区；促进不同学科和机构的研究人员之间的协同作用；加强美国在这个快速发展的研究领域的地位。我们注意到，NSF的支持对处于职业生涯早期的年轻科学家来说尤其重要，因为他们中的大多数人没有外部资金支持就负担不起参加国际会议的费用。

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.