9729630 Lee The overall objective of the US-PRC Protocol for Cooperative Research in Earthquake Engineering is the continued collaboration between the National Science foundation and the People's Republic of China for the advancement of earthquake engineering and consequently earthquake hazards reduction. The purpose of this request is to seek NSF support to allow the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (NCEER) to assist NSF in organizing its annual protocol coordination meetings between US and Chinese representatives. NCEER proposes to provide administrative and logistical support, and participant support, toward coordination and implementation of three (3) US meetings, and participant support for two (2) meetings in China under this program. These meetings will take place over a five year period, beginning in the fall of 1997. Through the implementation of this agreement, NCEER will act as an agent for NSF, assuming responsibility for organizing annual protocol coordination meetings between the US and the People's Republic of China. As such, NCEER proposes to effectively coordinate all logistical details as required by NSF for the organization and conduct of three US meetings during years 1, 3, and 5 of this agreement. In addition to organizing the three US meetings, NCEER will coordinate US and Chinese participation, accounting for participant expenses for approximately six Chinese participants, with an additional four US participants to be supported at the US hosted meetings. NCEER's technical focus and international reach has allowed the Center to become recognizable worldwide, with international cooperation becoming a more prominent component of its research program with each additional year of operation. NCEER continues to strengthen its international ties, and handles a myriad of details, in both the technical and logistical sense, while hosting and visiting its many international partners. The current administrative infra structure facilitates the execution of the programs that are currently in place and embraces new opportunities to expand on this strong capability and assist NSF. ***
