This award supports the outreach activities of the Merriam Program in Formal Theory. The goal of this program is to create a unique environment for social science scholars that combines training and research opportunities in mathematical modeling. NSF support is provided for the following communication bridging activities of the Merriam Program: The Junior Master Classes and a conference on the empirical evaluation of mathematical models. The Junior Master Class is an opportunity for young modeling scholars from across the U.S. to present their research before a panel of `masters ` or senior mathematical modelers from their research field. The concentrated interaction of these seminars permits the participants to explore new modeling directions and leads to an enhanced understanding of the modeling process. The conference on the empirical evaluation of mathematical models will bring together data-oriented and statistically-trained researchers and mathematical modelers from different modeling traditions to address the issue of what it means to gain confidence in a mathematical model and how this can be accomplished in the context of different types of models.
