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2023 CAHMP Mini Seed Funding

Overview and Purpose

The purpose of this mini seed funding is to enable pilot research that will lead to submissions to externally funded research programs in the broad area of “human machine partnership.” We seek to identify and support interdisciplinary teams planning to pursue novel convergent research. The seed grant can support new or existing teams to perform activities, such as faculty effort, preliminary research, team building, and project scoping, that are necessary to enable the submission of a competitive larger proposal in the future. Funded projects should lead directly to an external proposal submission as a next step.

Investigator Specification

Proposals should come from teams of at least two investigators from at least two different departments or disciplines. CAHMP Affiliate members must collaborate with a Core member to submit an application. In addition to listing the investigators, proposals should identify additional faculty members, disciplines, or external partners, if applicable, that the team will engage during the seed grant period.

Activities Eligible for Support

The mini seed grants aim to support a range of planning activities intended to foster a convergent research team that can effectively integrate multiple disciplinary perspectives, explore the research theme in depth, build collaborations with relevant stakeholders, and hone specification of research gaps, questions, and hypotheses. Activities within scope include, but are not limited to, workshops, stakeholder meetings, literature reviews, data collection, preliminary experiments, prototypes, and pilots. In all cases, the proposed activities should be designed as a step along the path to a future external grant.

Budget Guidelines

Teams should propose a budget commensurate with the scope of their proposed activities and their intended next steps. The maximum allowable budget for a proposal is $20,000. The total requested amount, as well as the individual line items, should be clearly justified in the budget section of the proposal.

Eligible budget categories include faculty time (summer salary and/or AY course buyout), student assistantships and/or wages, travel (for team building), equipment, materials & supplies, and participant support costs. There is no need to budget indirect costs.

Funds will be transferred to the PI’s home department. Unspent funds must be transferred back to CAHMP within 45 days of the project’s end date. Project periods should end before June 30, 2024.

Proposal Content

Proposals should be no more than three (3) single-spaced pages (please use the template provided attached), using Times New Roman 12-point font. Proposals should address the following topics:

  • Definition of the research theme/area and motivation for its importance
  • History and current status of the research theme (literature/conceptual review)
  • Vision for development of the research theme
  • Qualifications of the interdisciplinary team
  • Specific external grant objective and target source
  • Timeline (projects should not extend past June 30, 2024.)
  • Budget and budget justification

Review Criteria

  • Strength and potential of the interdisciplinary team
  • Importance and potential of the research theme
  • Opportunity for the team to create a distinct and compelling research niche
  • Clarity and feasibility of the plan to achieve external funding
  • Overall potential return on investment
  • Relevance of the theme to the vision and interests of CAHMP and Mason

Submission Process

Email a PDF copy of your submission to Peng Warweg at pwarweg@gmu.edu by 5:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 31, 2023.

Proposals will be reviewed, and funding decisions will be made by the CAHMP leadership team and external advisors by no later than June 30, 2023 (earlier if possible).

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2023 CAHMP Spring Mini-symposium

 

Please mark your calendar and come to join our 2023 spring mini-symposium next Wednesday (4/19) at 1-3pm. We have lined up four exciting talks by three new CAHMP members, Jonathan Auerbach, Erion Plaku, and Xiaokuan Zhang, as well as Matthew Steinberg, Director of EdPolicyForward here at Mason. Please check out their abstracts below. The symposium will end with a panel joined by all four speakers and moderated by CAHMP co-director, Sanmay Das.

Time: 4/19/23 Wednesday, 1-3pm

In-person Location: Research Hall 440A. Light refreshments will be served.

For online participants – Please contact Peng Warweg for joining information.

 

Speaker: Jonathan Auerbach, Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics, George Mason University 

Topic: Computer-Assisted Selection of Board Members to Improve Equity and Inclusion 

Abstract: From local governments to international corporations, there has been increased demand for diverse governing boards. In many cases, the number of members who identify as women and people of color have increased substantially. But diverse membership does not automatically mean inclusive or equitable participation. Members can be excluded from the conversation by procedures that favor the majority group or behaviors such as interruptions, bullying, and discriminatory harassment. 

In this presentation, we propose a methodology that models the interactions among board members. The model can be used to assess barriers to participation among current members and select new members to promote inclusion and equity. We demonstrate the proposed approach using more than twenty-four hours of video footage from meetings of Manhattan’s Community Boards in addition to an extensive follow-up survey. We find a large gap between nominal representation on boards and actual representation in terms of participation in activities (e.g., speaking time at meetings). We then show how a more thoughtful selection of board members can greatly reduce this gap. 

This is joint work with Catherine DeLazzero and Ashley Maria Garcia-Parra (Columbia University) and Eric Auerbach and Sidonia McKenzie (Northwestern University). 

 

Speaker: Erion Plaku, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, George Mason University 

Topic: Toward Supervised Autonomy: Enhancing Automation and Human-Robot Collaboration 

Abstract: Advances in AI and robotics are giving rise to systems that can see, hear, communicate, act, and learn, seeking to extend and enhance every aspect of human life.  This progress has been driven by the pursuit of fundamental questions that continue to drive much of our research: how do you enhance the autonomy and capability of robots to work alongside and collaborate with humans? Toward this goal, my group’s research brings together concepts from AI, robot motion planning, and logic, to develop planning frameworks that enable human supervisors to describe tasks in high-level structured languages and have the framework automatically plan actions and motions for robots to safely and effectively complete assigned tasks.  This line of research has the potential to establish a novel paradigm for supervised autonomy that increases productivity and capabilities. Applications in marine robotics will be highlighted. Finally, I will discuss emerging challenges and opportunities, as well as share my vision of the way forward. 

 

Speaker: Xiaokuan Zhang, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, George Mason University 

Topic: Security and Privacy Concerns in Computer Systems: Exploring the Human Connection 

Abstract: Computer systems have been rapidly evolving over the past several decades, with the emergence of new technologies such as smartphones and blockchains transforming the way humans interact with these systems. Since computer systems often need to process, transmit and store sensitive user data, it is crucial to ensure the security and privacy of such systems. However, these challenges are not solely technical, but are also impacted by human factors. This talk will delve into the security and privacy concerns in computer systems, and how human behavior and decision-making can affect these issues. The presentation will begin with an exploration of side-channel attacks, which can reveal otherwise protected information from computer systems by observing traces (e.g., timing, power, or resource usage). It will then move on to examine security issues in two emerging platforms, blockchain Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and virtual reality systems, while considering the impact of human factors on their security. The talk aims to highlight the importance of considering human behavior and decision-making in the development of secure computer systems. 

 

Speaker: Matthew Steinberg, Associate Professor of Education and Public Policy, George Mason University 

Topic: Ed Policy at Mason 

Abstract: Dr. Steinberg, Director of EdPolicyForward: The Center for Education Policy at George Mason University, will provide a high-level discussion of the Education Policy program at George Mason University and an overview of his education policy research projects. A few recent research projects will be highlighted, including: (a) What explains the race gap in teacher performance ratings? Evidence from Chicago Public Schools; (b) The effects of closing urban schools on students’ academic and behavioral outcomes: Evidence from Philadelphia; (c) Fiscal federalism and K–12 education funding: Policy lessons from two educational crises; and (d) Do suspensions affect student outcomes?