Center for Human Culture and Behavior
Description
The Center for Human Culture and Behavior brings together some of the world’s leading researchers to form a collaborative nexus of scientists dedicated to the study of human culture and behavior. The researchers will form a coalition of scientists from government and academia who will be networked in a virtual work environment. Collectively, they will seek and identify funding opportunities for research in the group’s collective areas of expertise; cooperate in the writing and production of competitive external funding proposals; and collaborate in the conduct of funded research. We do not anticipate that all Center Faculty will be involved in all proposal submissions; rather, selected faculty will participate on submissions on a case by case basis, depending on the specific technical and area requirements of each Request for Proposals (RFP).
Significance
To date, the proposed Center Director (Matsumoto) has worked with most of the Center Faculty in an informal, adhoc manner until now, not only in the conduct of research, but also in the writing of manuscripts and the submission of proposals for external funding. They come together now to formalize their relationship under the banner of the Center, with San Francisco State as the prime contract vehicle for future funding activities. The formalization of their relationship not only serves to crystallize their relationships; it also serves as a mechanism by which information is shared in a more systematic fashion, work is done more efficiently and competently, better funding opportunities are identified, and more competitive proposals are submitted to more agencies. The Center also provides an important support mechanism for all faculty in their scholarship efforts. Moreover, the Center also provides an important degree of legitimacy to the work of the Center Faculty to the external world.
The formation of this center is significant because it overcomes three major hurdles to maximizing the competitive edge in external grantspersonship. The first is the search and identification of all possible, relevant funding opportunities that exist. Despite the advent of electronic search capabilities, nothing substitutes for an accurate eye and sheer effort in search for potential funding sources and developing them. To this end, the Center Director will work closely with an Executive Assistant whose primary responsibilities will be to seek and identify funding opportunities relevant to the Center’s interests. Center Faculty will also be encouraged to do so. Potential opportunities will be brought to the Director, who will triage all opportunities and coordinate proposal creation efforts among Center Faculty. The Executive Assistant will also aid in managing proposal writing and assembly projects in order to ensure timely and efficient work by Center Faculty and the on-time submission of proposals. This individual will also work closely with ORSP to ensure coordination between the Center’s proposal generation and the university’s proposal submission process.
The second hurdle to overcome in obtaining funds is the ability to create proposals, which tends to suck all available time and effort from individuals, and stifle creativity. Essential to the Center’s success, therefore, is an individual(s) whose primary responsibility is in the writing of proposals. Thus, a professional grant writer will be essential to the Center’s success. The primary responsibility of this individual will be to draft proposals, based on direction from the Center Faculty, for review by Center Faculty, and the editing and final preparation of those proposals for submission.
A third hurdle to being successful in obtaining funds is the time and effort required in creating relationships with program managers in funding sources. For this effort the Center Director will make four trips to Washington DC to develop and/or maintain relationships with program managers at funding agencies. Additionally, funds are requested to free the Center Director from other obligations in order to focus efforts on Center work.
The formation of this Center will allow this group of faculty to address these three major roadblocks to successfully seeking and landing external funding for research. Put another way, the lack of this Center will relegate all of the Center Faculty to merely continue on as we have – find granting agencies on an adhoc basis (sometimes entirely by chance), draft proposals if we can, and hope for the best. The Center will consolidate activities under one roof, coordinate and orchestrate grant proposal creation among many individually successful individuals, allow for the formation of strategic alliances with faculty and funding agencies, all of which will maximize the potential for obtaining external funds for research.
Innovation
The wave of the future in terms of funded research involves interdisciplinary teams of scientists bringing their respective areas of expertise to create exciting, new areas of research and findings that have implications not only for basic science knowledge but also for application. This is especially true for research funded by the government, as hundreds of millions of dollars is being invested in research on biometrics, behaviors, sensor technology, and culture, as these areas of science and technology have important implications to national security. Indeed, several of the proposal Center Faculty are already funded by various government initiatives in these areas.
The proposed Center Faculty brings together an interdisciplinary team of scientists who collectively comprise some of the world’s foremost authorities in several areas related to computer vision (Govindaraju, Bartlett, and Movellan), biometrics (Robinette, Frank), emotion and behavior (Frank, Matsumoto, Keltner, Hogg, O’Sullivan), and culture (Matsumoto, Abbe, Moghaddam, Pierce, Sutton, Yamaguchi). Most importantly, they comprise a team of scientists whose areas of expertise match exactly those of funding sources for the next decade, and are thus well positioned to leverage the existing and short-term future needs and requirements of many government agencies. They will create exciting, new proposals that focus on interaction, behavior, emotion, and culture, cutting these various areas at their joints to produce knowledge and algorithms that can be used by computer scientists and engineers to produce scalable and usable tools. This allows for SFSU to be at the forefront of such knowledge and technology development in the years to come.
Project/Performance Site Locations
San Francisco State University will be the prime contractor for all Center proposals. On an ad hoc basis, the Center or Center Faculty may participate as a subcontractor to other prime contracts through Center Faculty. Research is intended to be conducted primarily at SFSU, and at institutions that are part of each proposal. New space is definitely required to house the activities of the Center, in order to accomplish daily work, manage work flow, have team meetings with Center Faculty, and have VTC meetings with networked faculty.
List of Key Persons
David Matsumoto will be the Center Director. He has considerable experience in identifying funding opportunities and submitting competitive proposals for consideration. He has a solid track record in conducting both funded and unfunded research, managing large numbers of staff and projects, and completing projects. His activities have resulted in the production of an outstanding publication record that is second to none in this area of research within the field of psychology (see below for sample listing). He is well acknowledged as one of the world’s leading experts in the areas of culture, emotion, nonverbal behavior, and facial expressions of emotion.
Many of the proposed Center Faculty are world-renowned leading scientists in their respective fields (mentioned above). Frank, for example, is the world’s leading research on emotion, deception, and nonverbal behavior. Yamaguchi and Moghaddam are two of the world leaders in research on culture and behavior. Robinette is a leader in the area of anthrobiometrics. Hogg is a leading scientists in the area of culture and interaction, while Keltner is a foremost authority on emotion. Abbe, Pierce, and Sutton are all government researchers with expertise in culture and behavior (and are positioned within funding agencies). Confirmations from all of these individuals have been received (and are available upon request).
The proposal also includes the involvement of junior and mid-level faculty in psychology at SFSU – Ben-Zeev, Geisler, Howell, Morsella, and Yoo. Their participation addresses several needs, the first of which is to get them on funded projects! The Center will allow a way for these bright, young scholars to participate in the search and attainment of funds for their studies leveraging the collective power of those more senior to them who have been successful. Right now there is no mechanism to support these young scientists, and the Center would be an investment in their future. Moreover, I anticipate that one of this group will eventually move to take on more administrative duties concerning the Center, replacing Matsumoto in the future. This will allow not only for individual scholarly growth but will also allow for the sustainability of the Center in the future as a vibrant and exciting place of scholarship at SFSU.
Additionally the Center may need to evolve to having an Assistant Director, depending on work and work flow. An Executive Assistant and Grant Writer are essential to the success of the Center. The Center Faculty may be a fluid entity, with individuals dropping off and new experts becoming members as the Center evolves in its first few years.
Communication will be critical, and one of the first tasks of the Center will be to create a communication protocol that leverages the virtual reality of the Center Faculty and staff. Videoteleconferencing (VTC) capability is a must, along with email list serves and a dedicated and secure network storage system and work flow for Center Faculty and Staff. In addition, we propose the funding of an organizational meeting of all Center Faculty early on to orient everyone to the process, procedures, and goals of the Center. Decisions to apply for funding will be made on a consensus basis by Center Faculty whose expertise and participation are identified as crucial to the proposal and area requirements.
Note: Page last updated March 16, 2010
