The Center for Interdisciplinary Scientific Computation will host a seminar featuring Anita Nikolich on Thursday, October 25 from 12:45–1:45 p.m. in the John T. Rettaliata Engineering Center, Room 102.  Nikolich will give a talk titled “A Look Inside the Federal Funding Machine.” Lunch will be provided for those that RSVP at least 24 hours prior to the seminar.

Scientific discovery has become more interdisciplinary and collaborative, necessitating cooperation within and between universities and partner organizations. The priorities of federal funding agencies and the rationale behind grant decision-making is sometimes confusing or mysterious. Nikolich offer observations from four years as an NSF program director and suggestions on what makes both small and large grants successful at NSF and across federal agencies.

Nikolich served as program director at NSF, worked on scientific cyberinfrastructure at the University of Chicago, and has held a variety of roles in industry and government. While at NSF she expanded the Transition to Practice program to draw upon innovative basic computer science and security research to solve complex, real-world problems. She currently does work in cryptocurrency security and large-scale network measurement.