SINAPSE will create an environment conducive to interdisciplinary collaborations by offering internal and external fellowships that will provide release time for UCLA faculty to pursue their research. The fellowships will be announced as a competition for which all UCLA faculty are eligible. A small interdisciplinary committee of faculty associated with SINAPSE, whose members will serve for three-years terms and then rotate off, will evaluate the fellowship applications and decide upon the winners. These faculty will then be offered one-year fellowships at SINAPSE during which they can pursue their research. They will be expected to take up residence at the SINAPSE Institute and to participate in SINAPSE activities as specified below. To enhance the research community, each year there will also be a competition for an External Fellowship, the winner of which will also be given a one-year tenure at the Institute. Further enrichment will be achieved by offering a limited number of Graduate Institute Fellowships, which will carry no monetary award but will offer an office, staff support, and the intellectual stimulus of being part of the SINAPSE community. Additional enrichment will be achieved by offering office space and support staff for Visiting Fellows who will have their own funding but who will come to the SINAPSE Institute for its intellectual excitement and research resources, operating in this respect much as the Santa Fe Institute does.

SINAPSE will foster collaborations within this community and between this community and other UCLA researchers through a number of structural features. First is the weekly luncheon that all SINAPSE fellows will be expected to attend, which will provide the opportunity for conversation and exploration of common interests. Second is the lecture series at which all SINAPSE fellows will be expected to make presentations, along with presentations by other UCLA faculty and by visiting researchers who will be invited for this purpose. Third is the streaming-in of events at other UCLA Centers relevant to research in digital media, along with the streaming-out of SINAPSE lectures and presentations to partner Centers and to remote viewers on the Web. Fourth are annual conferences that will be organized by SINAPSE fellows around topics relevant to digital media. Finally, some portion of SINAPSE funds will also be made available to sponsor two-day intensive workshops at Lake Arrowhead or equivalent facilities for a small group of UCLA faculty who want to develop grant proposals for interdisciplinary research in simulations, interfaces and networks in digital media. These workshop events will be announced as competitive awards for which any group of UCLA faculty may apply. Additionally, SINAPSE will attract the attention of commercial partners and donors. Commercial and donor partners will be interested in how IT facilities are used to facilitate effective collaboration and interaction. As a campus point of presence, SINAPSE will provide the anchor to a spectrum of applications focusing on societal impact and opportunity.

The role of the Director will be to coordinate all the diverse activities of SINAPSE, to network with UCLA faculty who may be interested in being associated with SINAPSE, to actively and aggressively pursue grants in the area of digital media, to direct the staff, and pursue outreach activities that increase the visibility and prestige of SINAPSE.

> > > Technical Infrastructure