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Questionnaire for PIs of NSF Understanding the Rules of Life Program Awards

Principal Investigator Questionnaire
A Retrospective Analysis of the Understanding the Rules of Life Program: Scientific Advancements and Future Opportunities


Goals and Purpose:
In 2016, the National Science Foundation (NSF) established a five-year program on Understanding the Rules of Life (URoL) to identify generalizable rules that govern biological systems at micro and macro levels. The goals of the URoL program are:
  • Enable discoveries that inform causal and predictive relationships within biological systems and across scales;
  • Develop the tools and infrastructure to further research on complex systems and address complex problems;
  • Foster collaboration and convergence across disciplines; and
  • Train the next generation of researchers to conduct multi-disciplinary research.
As the end of the URoL program approaches, NSF has requested that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies) conduct a retrospective analysis of the URoL program.


What will the questionnaire responses inform?
This questionnaire was developed to learn more from URoL PIs about the research being done under the URoL program, including multi-disciplinary approaches, broader societal impacts, and the rules of life that are evident from the research being conducted. All submitted responses to this questionnaire will be evaluated by the National Academies staff team (listed below) and volunteer members of a to-be-appointed planning committee to inform the design and facilitation of a virtual workshop series (to be held between September 2022 and May 2023).

Anonymized, aggregated responses will be discussed during the virtual workshop series and included in a proceedings, which will be peer-reviewed through the established National Academies’ processes. An infographic for policy and public audiences will be prepared based on the proceedings.

The workshops will feature discussions among URoL PIs to understand the URoL program’s:
  • Achievements; 
  • Integration of multi-disciplinary, systems-level approaches;
  • Broader implications for studying highly-complex systems, future scientific questions, and future societal needs; and
  • Rules that may be generalized and applied to different fields, systems, and scales.
Please provide detailed answers to the questions below, focusing on critical lessons and rules of life learned from your URoL-awarded research. Some of this information may be contained in your annual reports to the National Science Foundation.

This questionnaire will remain open from August 25 to October 31. The questionnaire will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. 

You can use the “Save and Continue” button in the top right corner of page 2 to save your progress and return to edit and submit your response at a later time.


Have questions?
Contact: Jessica De Mouy, jdemouy@nas.edu, 202-334-3365


Are you interested in elaborating on your perspective?
National Academies staff will also hold brief 30-minute calls in September 2022 with PIs who are interested in delving deeper into the answers provided and similar follow up questions. Ideas from these conversations may similarly be used for planning the workshops, in summary at the workshops, and/or in the proceedings and infographic created from the workshop discussions.

Please mark “yes” on question 4 if you would like for National Academies staff to reach out to you for scheduling and more information.


National Academies Staff:
Camilla Yandoc Ables, Responsible Staff Officer
Kavita Berger, Board Director, Board on Life Sciences
Jessica De Mouy, Research Associate
Christl Saunders, Program Assistant
 
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