Conference and Grantee's Meeting: Disrupting Operations of Illicit Supply Networks; Arlington, Virginia; February 4-5, 2019

该奖项支持召开一次会议，召集来自不同政府部门的研究人员、教育工作者和代表，讨论在破坏非法供应网络方面面临的挑战，并探索合作机会。非法贩运人口、毒品、人体器官和核材料的网络对美国的健康、繁荣和安全构成重大威胁。它们不受国界限制，将非法利润输送给犯罪组织，并助长跨国组织和恐怖主义组织。在2018财年，美国国家科学基金会发布了一封致同事的信（NSF 18-059），征求关于理解和减轻非法供应网络影响的创新、趋同方法的建议。9个新的早期概念探索性研究补助金（EAGER）奖被授予，代表了来自不同领域的29名研究人员，包括运筹学、社会科学、计算机科学和材料科学，他们致力于推进对这种非法供应网络如何运作以及如何破坏它们的科学理解。这次会议汇集了这些和其他感兴趣的研究人员，以及来自许多不同政府机构和联邦资助的卓越中心的NSF项目主任和代表，以培育这个新兴的研究社区。会议将汇集领域专家和定量研究人员，探索新的分析方法和工程方法，以破坏和禁用非法供应网络。会议的第一天包括主题演讲和受资助者简化会谈，以及关于特定非法供应网络领域（人口/器官/武器贩运；麻醉品/毒品/假冒产品贩运，金融欺诈）的同期会议。会议的第二天将包括一个主题演讲，促进分组会议和讨论与本研究领域相关的主题。这些讨论将包括来自许多其他政府机构的代表，他们的任务涉及在美国和国际范围内拦截非法供应网络的各个方面。会议还为学生提供了参与的机会。它将提供一个独特的论坛来交流各种利益相关者，以鼓励对这一重要社会话题的研究。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award supports a conference that convenes researchers, educators, and representatives from a variety of government sectors to discuss challenges and explore opportunities for collaboration in disrupting illicit supply networks. Networks that illegally traffic in everything from people and drugs to human organs and nuclear material pose significant threats to U.S. health, prosperity and security. Unencumbered by national boundaries, they funnel illicit profits to criminal organizations, and fuel transnational and terrorist organizations. In FY2018, the National Science Foundation issued a Dear Colleague Letter (NSF 18-059) that solicited proposals for innovative, convergent approaches to understanding and mitigating the effects of illicit supply networks. Nine new EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) awards were made, representing 29 investigators from diverse fields, including operations research, the social sciences, computer science and materials science focused on advancing the scientific understanding of how such illicit supply networks function and how to disrupt them. This conference brings together these and other interested researchers, along with NSF program directors and representatives from many different governmental agencies and federally-sponsored Centers of Excellence, to nurture this emerging research community.The conference will bring together domain experts and quantitative researchers to explore new analytical approaches and engineering methods to disrupt and disable illicit supply networks. Day 1 of the conference includes keynotes and grantee lightening talks, as well as concurrent sessions on specific illicit supply network domains (human/organ/arms trafficking; narcotics/drugs/counterfeit products trafficking, financial fraud). Day 2 of the conference will include a keynote speaker, facilitated breakout sessions and discussion on topics related to this research area. These discussions will include representatives from a host of other government agencies whose missions involve various aspects of interdicting illicit supply networks but in the US and internationally. The conference also provides opportunities for student involvement. It will provide a unique forum to commune a variety of stakeholders to encourage research on this important societal topic.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.