THIS PROPOSAL IS TO RECEIVE A CO-INVESTIGATOR FUNDING THAT WAS SELECTED FROM 2016 NASA HELIOPHYSICS MAGNETOSPHERIC MULTISCALE GUEST INVESTIGATORS (H-MMSGI) PROGRAM. THIS PROPOSAL OUTLINES A 3-YEAR RESEARCH PLAN TO SUPPORT THE FUNDED H-MMSGI PROJECT TITLED "MOTION AND EVOLUTION OF TRANSIENT EVENTS OBSERVED BY THE MMS MISSION". THIS ORIGINAL PROJECT WILL STUDY THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF FLUX TRANSFER EVENTS (FTES) BY COMBINING MMS OBSERVATIONS AND NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS. IN PARTICULAR IT WILL DETERMINE WHICH CONDITIONS FAVOR THE OCCURRENCE OF BURSTY RECONNECTION AND FTE GENERATION ON THE DAYSIDE MAGNETOPAUSE AND WHICH (IF ANY) ON THE MAGNETOPAUSE FLANKS. FURTHERMORE IT WILL DETERMINE THE DIRECTION AND SPEED OF FTE MOTION AND HOW THE EVENTS EVOLVE OR DISINTEGRATE AS THEY MOVE DOWNSTREAM. DURING THREE PROJECT YEARS PROF. CONNOR WILL PROVIDE THE NUMERICAL SIMULATION SUPPORT FOR THE SUCCESSFUL SCIENCE CLOSURE OF THE HMMSGI PROJECT