Network for Computational nanotechnology, Solicitation NSF 12-504, Description of Figure 1.

Figure 1 illustrates the construct for the NCN. There will be a Cyber Platform funded through one award, which will be linked to this network of three content-providing Nodes funded separately and directly funded by NSF. These Nodes will support interdisciplinary research and education teams to develop user-tested new simulation tools and educational content to deliver to the Cyber Platform for delivery to the broader community. The Cyber Platform will serve as the service delivery arm of the NCN providing a suite of user-friendly tools and state-of-the art middleware to enable high-speed, interactive tool use. The Cyber Platform team will make node-delivered content user friendly and post it on the platform for public access; carry out special tasks to improve the educational utility of the educational materials provided by the Nodes; study the utility of the site for users; and the assessment team will study patterns of use, gain input from users to improve the services provided.

Each of the three new content development Nodes will be separately funded, through separate cooperative agreements, and will be linked to the platform through requirements in their separate cooperative agreements. Each Node will be required to deliver user-tested content to the Cyber Platform. The Cyber Platform also will be responsible for determining areas where the content development Nodes could collaborate to improve the overall effectiveness of the NCN.

This figure appears in NSF 12-504, Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN)