Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Materials for Agriculture Resource Imaging Analytics at High Resolution (MARIAH)

工程研究中心规划奖助金竞赛是作为ERC计划的试点征集活动进行的。计划拨款并不是整个ERC竞赛的一部分，而是为了在团队之间建立能力，以计划集中的、中心规模的工程研究。在干旱、极端温度和虫害日益加剧的情况下，全球对粮食的需求不断上升，使宝贵的土地、水和能源资源紧张。拟建的高分辨率农业资源成像分析材料工程研究中心(MARIAH)的规划拨款将吸引农业和其他科学、工程和管理方面的专家，开发创新的方法来提高作物产量，同时减少杀虫剂、除草剂和化肥的使用。来自不同学科、视角和背景的人才将利用网络和创业的新方法聚集在一起，催化大胆的新创新，在保护自然资源的同时可持续地提高农业生产率。将寻求创新的材料、设备和方法，以增强我们对植物抗逆性的理解，以确定更好的作物品种和作物管理策略。获奖的指导、创业和团队建设方法将培训未来数据驱动的可持续农业领域的领导者。我们的目标是“携手培育一个更健康的世界”。在干旱、极端气温和虫害日益严重的情况下，全球对粮食的需求不断上升，使宝贵的土地、水和能源资源变得紧张。拟建的高分辨率农业资源成像分析材料工程研究中心(MARIAH)的规划拨款将吸引农业和其他科学、工程和管理方面的专家，开发创新的方法来提高作物产量，同时减少杀虫剂、除草剂和化肥的使用。将与专业学会的会议一起举办一系列会议、讲习班和竞赛，以确定(1)研究个别植物抗逆性的新材料(如纳米天线)；(2)成像作物表型和环境的新型装置(如基于II-VI和IV合金半导体和量子点的探测器)；(3)先进的高通量植物表型鉴定系统和数据分析技术，以减轻干旱、极端温度和虫害的影响(如无人机获取的超高空间分辨率多光谱图像)。新型高分辨率传感/成像平台将与自主收集和先进的数据分析相结合，以合理选择作物品种和作物管理战略，以提高作物对压力的适应能力，改善食品和水质量，并减少能源消耗和养分污染。广受好评的创新、指导和交流方法将吸引来自不同背景和学科的参与者，并培训数据驱动的可持续农业方面的下一代领导者。通过确定大胆的新方法来提高作物产量并可持续地使用土地、水和能源资源，同时为未来的劳动力做准备，我们将推动美国农业经济的发展。我们的目标是‘携手培育一个更健康的世界’。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Planning Grants for Engineering Research Centers competition was run as a pilot solicitation within the ERC program. Planning grants are not required as part of the full ERC competition, but intended to build capacity among teams to plan for convergent, center-scale engineering research.A rising global demand for food amidst increasing drought, extreme temperatures, and pest damage is straining precious land, water, and energy resources. The Planning Grant for the proposed Engineering Research Center for Materials for Agricultural Resource Imaging Analytics at High Resolution (MARIAH) will engage experts in agriculture and other sciences, engineering, and management in developing innovative approaches to increase crop yields while reducing insecticide, herbicide, and fertilizer use. Talented people from diverse disciplines, perspectives, and backgrounds will come together using novel approaches to networking and entrepreneurship to catalyze bold new innovations that will sustainably increase agricultural productivity while preserving natural resources. Innovative materials, devices, and methods that enhance our understanding of plant resilience to stress will be pursued to identify better crop varieties and crop management strategies. Award-winning approaches to mentoring, entrepreneurship, and team building will train tomorrow's leaders in data-driven, sustainable agriculture. Our goal is 'partnering to nourish a healthier world.' A rising global demand for food amidst increasing drought, extreme temperatures and pest damage is straining precious land, water, and energy resources. The Planning Grant for the proposed Engineering Research Center for Materials for Agricultural Resource Imaging Analytics at High Resolution (MARIAH) will engage experts in agriculture and other sciences, engineering, and management in developing innovative approaches to increase crop yields while reducing insecticide, herbicide, and fertilizer use. A series of conferences, workshops and contests will be held in conjunction with meetings of professional societies to identify (i) new materials to examine stress tolerance in individual plants (e.g., nanoscale antennas); (ii) novel devices to image crop phenotypes and environment (e.g., detectors based on II-VI and IV-alloy semiconductors and quantum dots); and (iii) advanced high throughput plant phenotyping systems and data analytics to mitigate effects of drought, extreme temperature and pest damage (e.g., drone-acquired ultra-high spatial resolution multispectral imagery). Novel, high-resolution sensing/imaging platforms will be integrated with autonomous collection and advanced data analytics to rationally select crop varieties and crop management strategies that increase crop resilience to stress, improve food and water quality, and decrease energy usage and nutrient pollution. Acclaimed methods for innovation, mentoring, and communications will attract participants from diverse backgrounds and disciplines and train next-generation leaders in data-driven sustainable agriculture. By identifying bold new approaches to increase crop yield and sustainably use land, water, and energy resources while preparing tomorrow's workforce, we will advance the U.S. agriculture economy. Our goal is 'partnering to nourish a healthier world.'This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.