ACADEMIC RESEARCH FUND (ACRF) TIER 1 (SEED FUNDING)
GRANT CALL 2014 ON COMPLEXITY
Call for Proposals
The Complexity Institute solicits for research on complex adaptive systems at large, with a
focus on:
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Critical Transitions in man-made and Natural Systems
Theory of complex systems
Urban Adaptive Dynamics
Dynamics of Pattern Formation in Biofilms
Large Scale Agent Based models and Cellular Potts Models
The seed proposals should:
 Explore an original / risky idea of which it is not clear that it is feasible.
 Be truly interdisciplinary in nature
 Have to potential to lead to a larger program
Ideas must be relevant to understand complexity or apply such understanding. Annex B
gives some examples of challenges, one-liners and questions that may lead to ideas for
projects.
Risk is related to impact: The higher the risk of a project, the higher the uncertainty of its
feasibility, and the bigger the impact if it is feasible. A risky project that demonstrates that the
idea is not feasible is considered to be a meaningful failure and is evaluated positively, as
much as the outcome that the idea is feasible.
Impact may be: opening up new areas of research or applications, providing the basis for a
large(r) scale research program at NTU.
Truly interdisciplinary means: the idea for the project is based on a combination of insights
from at least two different scientific disciplines and requires the combined efforts of
researchers from each of these disciplines to explore.
Details of Research Proposal
The proposal should be no more than 5 pages and:
 Clearly describe the idea, and argue why it is a good idea
 Show the interdisciplinary basis
 Describe the research that will be done to explore the idea and prove its feasibility
 Indicate what the follow up (impact) might be (if feasibility is proven)
 Name the research team, and indicate how each member will contribute
 Indicate how the idea might lead up to a larger research program
The proposal should detail how much money is needed and what it will be used for and
provide a time schedule both for the activities to be carried out in the project and for the
expected expenditures of the funds.
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Review process
A panel of five reviewers will review each of the proposals and rank them in relation to each
other, based on the following questions and criteria:
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Originality / risk of the idea
Impact that may be expected if the idea proves feasible
Relevance to the understanding or applying the understanding of complexity
Interdisciplinarity of the research
Can the proposed research lead to an answer to the question whether the idea is
feasible?
Can the team do the research?
Are the required funds adequate for the research proposed?
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