Reintegrating Biology Jumpstarts

为了充分了解生物系统并充分发挥其潜力，整合生物学不同分支学科（包括行为学、生物物理学、分子和细胞生物学、发育生物学、生态学、进化学、遗传学、神经生物学、生理学、系统学和系统生物学）的研究方法和观点至关重要。然而，如何整合这些分支学科尚不清楚，因为在不同的生物学领域中使用的分析和方法方法的多样性日益专业化的培训。同样，要实现真正的一体化，需要什么样的新基础设施——物质和劳动力——也不确定。大学大气研究公司（UCAR）促进地球系统科学合作计划将在Knowinnovation的推动下，召集一个雄心勃勃的虚拟市政厅、微型实验室和启动会议的组合，以吸引更广泛的生物界，并征求关于以下方面的意见：1)结合生物学不同分支学科的方法和观点可以解决的令人兴奋的新研究问题；2)回答这些问题必须解决的关键挑战和科学差距；3)所需的物理基础设施和劳动力培训。参加研讨会的邀请将发布在跨越生物学分支学科的专业学会的网站上，选择参与者的目标是在专业知识、职业阶段、性别和科学中代表性不足的群体成员方面实现广度。研讨会的成果将包括一系列出版物，这些出版物确定了跨生物学分支学科整合的机遇和挑战，以及解决一些最具挑战性的生物学问题的新方法。研究结果将激发新的发现和方法，以解决下一代生物学家培训中的重大社会挑战，生命系统对不断变化的环境的响应，以及支持人类种群的可持续生物资源的开发。成功地确定如何最好地整合生物学的分支学科需要跨科学分支学科、职业水平和专业知识的广泛研究人员的投入和参与。两个虚拟市政厅将首先确定一系列广泛的共同主题，每个市政厅最多有500名来自生物学分支学科的参与者。在这些虚拟市政厅之后，将有四个虚拟微实验室，每个实验室最多有100名参与者（总共400人），以继续完善主题，这些主题将在面对面和虚拟Jumpstart会议的结合中得到解决。这些研讨会将产生新的思维和创新的方法，将促进对生命系统的关键特性如何从基因组、表型和环境的相互作用中产生的理解和进一步的预测能力。确定整合生物学的跨学科研究需求有望解决生物系统基本理解中的关键空白，并对地球上生命多样化、维持和消失的调节机制产生新的见解，以及研究跨组织和物种层次的生物相互作用的新方法。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。

To fully understand biological systems, as well as realize their full potential, it is essential to integrate research methods and perspectives from the different subdisciplines of biology (including behavior, biophysics, molecular and cellular biology, developmental biology, ecology, evolution, genetics, neurobiology, physiology, systematics, and systems biology). However, how to integrate these subdisciplines is unclear, given the increasingly specialized training in the diversity of analytical and methodological approaches used in different biological fields. Similarly, it is uncertain what new infrastructure - physical and workforce - is needed to achieve a true integration. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science will convene an ambitious combination of virtual town halls, microlabs and jumpstart meetings, facilitated by Knowinnovation, to engage the broader biological community and solicit input regarding: 1) the exciting new research questions that could be addressed by combining approaches and perspectives from different subdisciplines of biology, 2) the key challenges and scientific gaps that must be addressed to answer these questions, and 3) the physical infrastructure and workforce training needed. Invitations to participate in the workshops will be posted on the websites of professional societies that span the biological subdisciplines, and participants will be selected with the goal of achieving breadth in expertise, career stage, gender, and members of groups underrepresented in the sciences. Products from the workshops will include a series of publications identifying the opportunities and challenges for integrating across biological subdisciplines and new ways to tackle some of the most challenging biological questions. Results will stimulate new discovery and approaches addressing major societal challenges in the training of next-generation biologists, the response of living systems to changing environments, and the development of sustainable biological resources supporting human populations.The successful identification of how best to integrate the subdisciplines of biology requires the input and participation of a broad range of researchers across scientific subdisciplines, career levels, and expertise. Two virtual town halls, each with a maximum of 500 participants spanning the biology subdisciplines, will first identify a broad set of common themes. These virtual town halls will be followed by four virtual microlabs of up to 100 participants each (400 people total) to continue refining themes that will be addressed in a combination of in-person and virtual Jumpstart meetings. The fresh thinking and innovative approaches that will emerge from these workshops will advance understanding and further predictive capability of how key properties of living systems emerge from the interaction of genomes, phenotypes, and environment acting over space and time. Identifying the interdisciplinary research needs for integrating biology promises to address key gaps in the basic understanding of biological systems and lead to new insights into the mechanisms regulating the diversification, maintenance, and loss of life on earth, plus novel ways of studying biological interactions across hierarchical levels of organization and species.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.