The MARGINS Office and Steering Committee aim to support efforts that expedite synthesis of results from MARGINS science in the various focus areas and initiatives. To that end, the MARGINS Office is offering to help MARGINS funded investigators organize and fund mini-workshops held at national meetings for the purpose of bringing together a group of multi-disciplinary investigators to synthesize results to date. Such mini-workshops could be associated with GSA, AGU, or other national meetings at which your research area is well represented. They could be 3-4 hour workshops one evening after sessions, or half-day to day-long sessions before or after the meeting. They could bring together multiple investigators from a single focus site, from both focus sites within an initiative, or could address a theme that transcends initiatives, according to what makes the most scientific sense and where there is the greatest need.

There are some ground rules for such mini-workshops, as discussed below. The rules are intended to maximize the benefit of such a workshop to a larger scientific community and emphasize opportunities for interdisciplinary integration, as opposed to providing a venue for a single or few proponent groups to meet. If the initial workshops work well, the MARGINS Office would expect to make this a routine activity.

1. The MARGINS Office will provide the cost of a meeting room, presentation equipment and non-alcoholic refreshments, and will work with the meeting conveners and local hotels to make logistical arrangements. Regretfully, the MARGINS Office CANNOT afford to provide travel or lodging costs for participants. Alcoholic refreshments may be served as a goodwill gesture from another appropriate organization (a convener's home institution, for example), but CANNOT be subsidized using MARGINS Office funds.

2. Workshop conveners are responsible for developing the science program, communicating with workshop participants on scientific matters and working with the MARGINS Office to arrange logistics.

3. Any MARGINS Office supported mini-workshop will be open to all interested parties and will be advertised via the MARGINS mailing list, MARGINS website, and meeting program.

4. Workshop conveners will provide a brief write-up of the major results of the workshop for dissemination via the MARGINS website and newsletter, so that important outcomes may be shared with the larger community.

If you are interested in hosting a mini-workshop, coordinate with your colleagues, and then send the MARGINS Office a 1-2 page outline of your meeting plan as soon as possible. Requests should generally come not later than 3 months ahead of the meeting, except where prevented by the timing of this initial announcement. The MARGINS Steering Committee will review the submitted proposal before the MARGINS Office will agree to support a synthesis mini-workshop. Your write-up should include:

       * Scientific rationale for the meeting and reasons for its timeliness

       * Evidence that a wide group of interdisciplinary researchers would be able to attend.

       * A draft scientific program for the mini-meeting.

       * The national meeting with which the mini-meeting would be associated.

       * The format (evening, half-day or full day, pre- or post-meeting) desired and acceptable dates.

       * Size of meeting envisioned.

       * Anticipated cost items (meeting space, refreshments, A/V equipment, etc.). Note that a detailed budget for these costs is not initially required.

Thank you for considering such an undertaking, and we look forward to hearing from you.

With best regards,

The MARGINS Office and Steering Committee