Bottom Up Strategy Projects

The seven Knowledge Gaps (KGs) provide a unifying structure for the CENT-EFRC where all of the efforts of the center participants are to inform or elucidate these gaps.  Philosophically, we recognize that no one member of CENT possesses the comprehensive information and domain expertise to list all of the research opportunities available to advance the gaps.  Furthermore, this information will be constantly refined as the Center advances its goals of addressing the KGs.  Therefore, the CENT leadership has elected to institute a Bottom-Up Strategy (BUS) for advancing these gaps. The main principles of BUS are (i) elective team construction by CENT PIs, (ii) ratification through each Thrust sub-unit, and (iii) oversight and accountability provided by the CENT leadership.  As such, the three Thrusts serve as organizational units to split 16 PIs into three management groups. Every BUS project tackles a problem critical to one or two primary knowledge gaps.

Justification for the BUS Approach: This BUS approach ensures that CENT can quickly capture the research opportunities that arise to inform a particular KG.  We based it on the premise that CENT PIs are research leaders and world-renown subject matter experts in the sub-areas of their respective fields that were selected at the proposal drafting stage as a part of a rigorous and open process to participate in CENT. CENT aims to harness the collective expertise of its members to identify, assess, prioritize, and implement the optimal approaches to address the KGs for what will, in totality, constitute a gigantic leap in human understanding in the area of nanofluidic transport and thermodynamics.