Verbal Description

Conceptually the National Knowledge and Research Center for Emergency Readiness is structured along two axes: the nature of the extreme condition and the time period. The relevant clusters of extreme conditions are:

• Man and Nature - natural (including fires, earthquakes, epidemics, hurricanes, and floods) and man-made disasters (including ecological, chemical, environmental, cyber, and nuclear); and 
• Belligerencies -  terrorism, rocket attacks, and cyber attacks. 

These extreme events are situated temporally:

Before (deterrence, mitigation, and preparation for response)
During (crises management), and
After the crisis (short and long term recovery). 

Coping with a disaster in each timeframe is approached through the multiple disciplines and their research frames, and a multidisciplinary lens.  The research goals include not only understanding and documenting the current situation (the 'what is') but also normative analysis – including critical and constructive evaluations and suggestions for improvement (the 'what ought to be'). 
The Center is comprised of 8 disciplinary research groups:  Social Science; Public Health and Emergency Medicine; Welfare and Social Work; Engineering, Technology, and Planning; Risk Assessment and Management; Environment; Law;  and Public Policy. The Law and Public Policy groups have a dual role: they receive the research outputs of the other six groups, assess their implications for law and policy and make recommendations, providing a built-in operational pipeline aspect to the research. This ensures the integrative dimension critical for the success of the Center.