Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure: Network Coordination Office

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The Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) will be supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as a distributed, multi-user national facility that will provide the natural hazards engineering research community with access to research infrastructure. NHERI will be comprised of separate research infrastructure awards for a Network Coordination Office (NCO)-this award, Cyberinfrastructure, Computational Modeling and Simulation Center, and Experimental Facilities for earthquake and wind hazards engineering research, including a post-disaster, rapid response research (RAPID) facility. NHERI awards will contribute to NSF's role in the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program. NHERI continues NSF's emphasis on earthquake engineering research infrastructure previously supported under the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation as part of NEHRP, but now broadens that support to include wind and coastal hazards engineering research infrastructure. NHERI has the broad goal of supporting research that will improve the resilience and sustainability of civil infrastructure, such as buildings and other structures, underground structures, levees, and critical lifelines, against the natural hazards of earthquakes and windstorms, in order to minimize loss of life, damage, and economic loss. Information about NHERI resources will be available on the DesignSafe-ci.org web portal.This award will provide the NCO component for NHERI. The NCO will serve as the leader and focal point for NHERI, building a global, multi-hazard, collaborative research community and research infrastructure focused on mitigating the impacts of earthquakes, windstorms, and related hazards of tsunamis and storm surge on civil infrastructure. The NCO will provide the following activities for NHERI: (a) convene and support the governance groups, (b) schedule NSF-supported users at the NHERI Experimental Facilities, including the RAPID facility, (c) coordinate an annual NHERI-wide work plan, (d) develop and maintain the NHERI Science Plan, (e) form national and international strategic partnerships that can leverage and broaden NHERI resources, and (f) implement an education and community outreach (ECO) program. The ECO program will include an annual NHERI-wide research experiences for undergraduates (REU) site program, an annual NHERI Summer Institute, broadening participation of groups underrepresented in natural hazards engineering research, and dissemination of information about NHERI accomplishments and impact. The NHERI Science Plan will incorporate the Science Plans of the individual NHERI components, as well as contributions from the broader stakeholder community, to identify the grand challenges, key questions, and objectives for earthquake and wind hazards engineering research. Through the NCO's community coordination of NHERI's human, experimental, and cyber resources, researchers will be empowered to build new knowledge and innovation for national resilience and sustainability of civil infrastructure with fewer fatalities, less interruption to societal functions, and reduced economic loss.