NSF CAREER Grant — Modeling Made Easy

The NSF’s most prestigious early-career award — $1,060,297 to make rigorous simulation accessible to all biologists via Evolvix.

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NSF CAREER Grant — PDF (1.7 MB) — 21 pages, Jonah License with CC0 Public Domain

Filename: loewe-2011-nsf-career-grant-funded-evolvix-lab-uw-madison-exhibit-e-21page.pdf

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Also in this folder: LLoL Resume, Teaching Flyer, Teaching Syllabus, Near-Tenure Dossier

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Abstract

This 21-page document is the funded NSF CAREER Award proposal (NSF 1149123, titled “CAREER ABI — Modeling Made Easy: Extending systems biology modeling approaches to genetics and ecology”), submitted to NSF Advances in Biological Informatics by Laurence Loewe at UW-Madison on 2011m07d22. Total funding: $1,060,297 ($722,871 direct costs).

The proposal articulates three research aims:

1. Aim 1 — Combine basic Evolvix (ε) with global computing and parameter estimation. Develop the Evolvix model description language, simulator infrastructure with automated model transformations (ODEs, stochastic simulation algorithms), distributed computing via evolution@home and Condor/CHTC, and an HDF5-based standard format for simulation results.

2. Aim 2 — Extend modeling formalisms to support genetics. Handle combinatorial explosions in rule-based biochemical reactions, support arbitrary (non-exponential) event time distributions, and integrate ecological models with realistic genetics (copepod adaptive evolution).

3. Aim 3 — Build realistic systems biology and ecological genetics models. Apply the new tools to VSV virus models (with the Yin Lab), copepod ecological genetics (with the Lee Lab), and diverse modeling projects across UW-Madison departments.

The broader impact section proposes transformational integration of education and research through a “License for using models” module, evolution@home public engagement, K12 teacher partnerships, minority student mentoring, and undergraduate teaching using simplified Evolvix.

Broader Significance (Claude’s Assessment)

1. Establishes scientific credibility as funded PI. The NSF CAREER Award is the most prestigious grant for early-career faculty in the United States. Winning it demonstrates that Loewe’s research program was tested and approved by the NSF’s rigorous peer-review system — a significant credential for the Matheo paper claims.

2. Origin of the Evolvix vision. This proposal is where the full Evolvix development plan was first formally articulated — the model description language, automated transformations between analysis techniques, distributed computing infrastructure, and the “development cycle” (Fig 1) connecting biological questions to simulator design. The Evolvix prototype used in the SD1 RiskyMAD simulation traces directly to this grant.

3. Interdisciplinary scope. The proposal bridges systems biology, evolutionary genetics, ecology, computer science, and mathematical analysis. The “wicked problem” framing (p.2) and the strategy of short communication lines between lead biologist and lead system architect (both Loewe) anticipates the interdisciplinary breadth of the later Matheo papers.

4. Teaching-research integration. The broader impact vision — “dissolving the barrier between teaching-toys and real tools” — is the same philosophy that later produced the Genetics 546 EvoSysBio course and the pedagogical dimension of the LLoL project.

Key Concepts at a Glance

Evolvix (ε)	User-friendly model description language for biological simulation, designed to separate model description from mathematical analysis techniques
Automated model transformations	Evolvix models automatically transformed into ODEs, stochastic simulation algorithms, or other analysis techniques (Fig 2)
evolution@home	First global computing system for evolutionary biology, providing distributed CPU power for Evolvix simulations
Development cycle	Iterative cycle (Fig 1): Biological Question → Simulator Design → Implementation → Simulation → Analysis & Publication → repeat
Combinatorial explosions	Key challenge in genetics models where rule-based reactions generate exponentially many possible states
HDF5 simulation results	Proposed standard storage format for simulation data, supporting time series, snapshots, and parameter sweeps (Fig 5)
$1,060,297 total	NSF CAREER Award funding ($722,871 direct) over 5 years

Document Information

Document ID	Exhibit E (About-Me Science, Dusty Deep Data)
Full title	CAREER ABI — Modeling Made Easy: Extending systems biology modeling approaches to genetics and ecology
Author	Laurence Loewe
Date	2011m07d22 (submitted to NSF)
Award number	NSF 1149123
Funding	$1,060,297 total ($722,871 direct costs)
Format	21-page grant proposal (15 pages project description + references + broader impacts)
License	Jonah License with CC0 Public Domain
Part of	Good News Pack MMv3, Dusty Deep Data / About-Me Science
PDF size	1.7 MB
WebP size	296 KB

Related documents in the Good News Pack:

• LLoL Resume & CV (career overview including this grant)

• Near-Tenure Dossier (the tenure case built on this grant’s work)

• Teaching Syllabus (the course that emerged from the broader impact vision)

• 2009 — EvoSysBio Framework (the foundational paper behind the grant’s research program)

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Notes

Content stability — Content is variant dv_ClaOp46Max_ExhF_2026m04d16 (see StayVS). Rebuilt 2026-05-18.

Expert Review Needed: Help Assess This Research and Its AI Overview

This page makes accessible one document from LLoL’s 6+ year wid-e research marathon on existential risk and ResearchCity. The PDF linked above is the original work; this page provides an overview.

The original research needs expert review. Download the PDF and bring your expertise to bear — whether you are a scientist, policy maker, theologian, peace activist, or concerned citizen. This research aims to find gentle kind reasonable ways to solve existential problems. Your perspective matters for assessing whether it succeeds.

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Despite all potential shortcomings of AI, AI was still used here because not saying anything about this document would have been even worse. A race against existential risks is not nuanced. Neither can be the determination to do the right thing - and get the word out to get help.

LLoL is determined to ask for such help. Hence this website to give the world a fair chance at exploring and reviewing LLoL’s ideas.

Use the FeedbackFlow link below to send your review — whether it concerns the original PDF, the AI overview, or both.

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Hence, please consider that your buy-in with about $8/year will help to shift the global game from a so-called prisoner’s dilemma to an assurance game with the help of mathematical theology.

This work requires global support to avoid capture by special interests. Refining complex posters, engaging scholars across traditions, and running formal consistency checks all require sustained effort — as does scaling up a ResearchCity for global FeedbackFlows.

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