Expedited Award for Novel Research:  The Nematode as a ModelComplex System-Exploratory Studies
{'Code': '07010000', 'Directorate': {'LongName': 'Directorate For Engineering'}, 'Division': {'LongName': 'Div Of Electrical, Commun & Cyber Sys'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Radhakisan S. Baheti'}
A basic engineering issue is the organization of "complex" systems.             Such systems require the coordinated interaction and communication of           many components, and may involve highly concurrent and distributed              computation and control.  These systems must generally interact with            and adapt to a changeable environment.  At the present time, however,           there is not even a suitable language to discuss the organization of            such systems, let alone a proper theoretical or mathematical                    framework.                                                                                                                                                      To develop such a framework, it is proposed to focus on a "simple"              biological organism, the nematode worm C.elegans, as a small but                essentially self-contained model universe.  PI's intend to incorporate          experimental data and theoretical constructs into a coordinated set of          concurrent partial models, with varying degrees of mutual influence.            These models may differ as to type, level of organization, degree of            abstraction, and level of resolution.  Over the long term, they should          incorporate the various stages of development, structure, function,             and behavior of the organism.  Initially, however, the focus will be            on the function of the nervous system in the control of behavior.  The          approach will comprise three interacting components:  computer                  modelling and simulation, mathematics and theory development, and               laboratory experimentation.
[{'FirstName': 'Sanjoy', 'LastName': 'Mitter', 'EmailAddress': 'mitter@mit.edu', 'StartDate': '04/01/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}, {'FirstName': 'Charles', 'LastName': 'Rockland', 'EmailAddress': None, 'StartDate': '04/01/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Co-Principal Investigator'}]
{'Name': 'Massachusetts Institute of Technology', 'CityName': 'Cambridge', 'ZipCode': '021394301', 'PhoneNumber': '6172531000', 'StreetAddress': '77 MASSACHUSETTS AVE', 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'Massachusetts', 'StateCode': 'MA'}
[{'Code': '1454', 'Text': 'SYSTEMS THEORY'}, {'Code': '1494', 'Text': 'NEUROENGINEERING'}]
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1988&All=true', 'xml': '8809746.xml'}