The BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action is a

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

center in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, focused on experimental and applied research on

evolutionary dynamics Evolutionary dynamics is the study of the mathematical principles according to which biological organisms as well as cultural ideas evolve and evolved. This is mostly achieved through the mathematical discipline of population genetics, along with ...

, sponsored by the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

.
MSU Press release, Feb 17, 2010: MSU awarded $25 million for NSF center to study evolution in action The consortium of universities that make up BEACON is led by

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

with partner institutions of

North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public university, public, Historically black colleges and universities, historicall ...

, the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

, the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. BEACON stands for Bio/computational Evolution in Action CONsortium. BEACON's mission is illuminating and harnessing the power of evolution in action to advance science and technology and benefit society. Members of the center conduct research on evolution in both biological and digital realms, and also use evolutionary computing for engineering applications. At latest count in 2016, BEACON had 583 members, including faculty, postdoctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students. The director of the center is Charles Ofria. The other principal investigators are Erik D. Goodman,

Richard Lenski Richard E. Lenski (born 1956) is an American evolutionary biologist who is the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a MacArthur Fellow. ...

, Robert T. Pennock, and Kay Holekamp.

References

External links

BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beacon Center Science and technology in the United States