IGERT: Integrative Geographic Information Science Traineeship Project

该IGERT项目将继续布法罗大学地理信息科学(GIScience)的博士教育和研究培训计划，并将其扩展到新的研究领域。地理信息科学是一个新兴的交叉学科领域，它试图理解地理现象和地理信息的本质，为地理信息系统(GIS)提供理论基础。GIScience寻求使用逻辑和数学来形式化地理原理，探索地理信息的科学、教育和与政策相关的用途，并阐明个人和社会与地理信息系统之间的复杂关系。它还为物理和社会现象的科学和工程研究提供了一个框架。GIScience支撑着美国价值数十亿美元的地理信息系统产业，包括与国家安全、经济、科学和工程相关的许多应用程序。该项目的科学核心集中在三个主要相互关联的领域的研究。第一个研究主题是基础地理信息科学，包括地理领域的本体论，认知地理学和地理认知，人类与地理信息和技术的互动，以及地理信息、机构和社会。第二个研究主题是地理环境科学，它将空间数据库与区域模型相结合，以预测地下水污染和火山流动等现象的环境影响。地理社会科学是第三个研究主题，以空间分析和空间统计与地理信息系统相结合为基础，涉及开发新的方法来探测疾病或犯罪等现象模式中的热点，以及为智能公路系统开发更好的方法。该方案的教育和培训方面以四门核心课程为中心，包括一门新的必修核心课程--道德和专业精神。学生还将被要求具有使用地理信息系统软件的能力，并对该领域的数学基础有基本的了解。该计划还包括跨部门研究经验、实习(包括国际研究实习)和国际暑期学校。国际暑期班将向来自其他美国机构的GIScience早期就业学者开放，扩大IGERT资助的研究生研究培训的影响范围，超出该机构的范围。在接下来的五年里，该计划将有一个新的资助模式：学员将以NSF研究员的身份获得两年的资助，并获得两年的大学丰富的助学金。这是走向制度化的重要一步，因为在这一资助期接近尾声时，我们将主张长期继续为大学提供支持。另外五年的外部支持将使该方案完成制度化，对参与部门内外的研究生教育文化产生持久的影响。拟议活动的智力价值在于它关注环境科学、社会科学、信息科学和工程学的创新研究。该项目将继续促进跨学科的思想和研究方法的共享，并继续影响参与该项目的教职员工和学生的工作。随着受训者进入劳动力大军，这种影响将延伸到未来。拟议活动的更广泛影响将来自社会科学和自然科学研究的整合，以便为决策者提出政策建议。该计划将培养具有多学科背景的经过广泛准备的博士，他们将对国内和国际学术界、政府和工业领域的进一步发展产生重大影响。IGERT是一个NSF范围的计划，旨在应对培养具有跨学科背景、选定学科的深厚知识以及未来职业需求所需的技术、专业和个人技能的美国博士科学家和工程师的挑战。该项目旨在通过建立创新的研究生教育和培训新模式，在超越传统学科界限的合作研究的肥沃环境中，催化研究生教育的文化变革。在该计划的第六个年头，由NSF支持的共同跨越科学和工程领域的项目将被授予机构奖项。

This IGERT project will continue the doctoral education and research training program in Geographic Information Science (GIScience) at the University at Buffalo, and expand it into new research areas. GIScience is an emerging interdisciplinary field that seeks to understand the nature of geographic phenomena and of geographic information, providing theoretical foundations for Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIScience seeks to formalize geographic principles using logic and mathematics, to explore scientific, educational, and policy-related uses of geographic information, and to elucidate the complex relationships that individuals and society have with GIS. It also provides a framework for scientific and engineering studies of physical and social phenomena. GIScience underpins the multi-billion dollar GIS industry in the United States, including its many applications relevant to national security and to the economy, and to science and engineering.The scientific core of the project focuses on research in three major interlocking areas. The first research theme is basic geographic information science, which includes ontology of the geographic domain, cognitive geography and geographic cognition, human interaction with geographic information and technology, and geographic information, institutions, and society. The second research theme is geographic environmental science, which integrates spatial databases with regional models to forecast the environmental effects of phenomenon such as groundwater contamination and volcanic flows. Geographic social science is the third research theme, and is based on the integration of spatial analysis and spatial statistics with GIS, addressing topics such as the development of new methods for the detection of hot spots in patterns of phenomena such as disease or crime, and of better methods for intelligent highway systems. The educational and training aspects of the program are centered on four core courses, including a new required core course in ethics and professionalism. Students will also be required to have competence in the use of GIS software, and a basic understanding of the mathematical foundations of the field. The program also includes cross-department research experiences, internships (including international research internships), and an international summer school. The international summer school will be open to early-career scholars in GIScience from other US institutions, broadening the impact of the IGERT-funded graduate research training beyond this institution. Over the next five years, the program will have a new funding pattern: trainees will be funded for two years as NSF Fellows, and for two years on university-based enriched assistantships. This is an important step toward institutionalization, since toward the end of this funding period we will argue for the long-term continuation of university support. Five additional years of external support will allow completion of the institutionalization of the program, producing a lasting effect on the culture of graduate education within the participating departments and beyond. The intellectual merit of the proposed activity lies in its attention to innovative research in environmental science, social science, information science, and engineering. The project will continue to foster interdisciplinary sharing of ideas and research methods, and continue to influence the work of both faculty and students involved in the program. This influence will extend well into the future as the trainees enter the workforce. The broader impacts of the proposed activity will come from the integration of social and natural science research to produce policy recommendations for decision-makers. The program will develop broadly prepared Ph.D.s with multidisciplinary backgrounds who will have a significant impact on the further development of the field both nationally and internationally, in academia, government, and industry.IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. In this sixth year of the program, awards are being made to institutions for programs that collectively span the areas of science and engineering supported by NSF.