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Text by Dean Olian follows.
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Background
The overarching concept is for an inter-disciplinary research center on
electronic interchange (e.g., auctions) involving game theorists,
experimental and theoretical economists, and researchers in computer
sciences, OR and modeling, negotiation, financial auction markets,
marketing and electronic channels, and human-computer interface.
Scope and Purpose of Center
·       Development and dissemination of knowledge about the theory and 
practice of electronic markets, including the study of mechanisms for price 
discovery and matching (e.g., auctions, exchanges)
·       Aggregation of information across participants
·       Establishment of trust and reputation
·       Creating a legal and technological infrastructure to facilitate trade
·       Bidding and negotiation strategies in an electronic medium (e.g., 
theory, modeling, and behavioral research)
·       New market structures emerging from real-time, direct, electronic 
exchanges
Some Areas of Research Inquiry
·       Impact of the online environment on market characteristics e.g., 
impact of monitoring costs on bidder strategy in Internet auctions
·       Design of complex market formats (such as auctions that incorporate 
multidimensional or combinatorial bidding)
·       modeling of bidder behavior
·       design and analysis of algorithms for price discovery and matching 
design
·       evaluation of the user interface
·       design of (possibly multilateral) negotiation forums
Role of information in Online Markets, e.g.,
·       effect of increased information sharing on the design of supply chains
·       effect of increased communication on development of trust 
relationships
·       role of information revelation in creating/removing incentives for 
collusion
·       role of information and communication medium in facilitating 
negotiations
·       effect of different forms of information asymmetry on auction 
behaviors, relationships, and market structures
·       innovative applications of electronic markets, including 
inter-organizational and intra-organizational marketplaces.
Structure and Support
Initial funding and startup activities are already implemented at Smeal,
through the auction lab funded by an IBM-SUR grant, and by College
internal seed funding. The Center could be a candidate for intergroup
funding from NSF, ballpark 500K annually. Deadline for pre-proposal
document - November 27. If invited to submit a full proposal, the
deadline is sometime in February. Significant industry support (dollars
and in-kind) would be sought.
The Center is conceived as an exciting, most timely, inter-College
collaboration among Smeal, Liberal Arts, IST, Engineering, and possibly
the Sciences. The strength of the individual researchers, and the breadth 
of the
proposed inter-college collaboration, are the sources of competitive
advantage which will attract visibility and funding. Smeal will take a
leadership role, with collaboration of all interested individuals and
units.