Meetings and Events

January 2023 Virtual Office Hours Recap:  Catalyzing Across Sectors to Advance the Bioeconomy (CASA-Bio) 

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On January 8, 9, and 18, 2024, BIO Divisions hosted Virtual Office Hours to present information on opportunities for the BIO research communities to get involved in sharing their research ideas on the bioeconomy.  Karen Cone and Brent Miller, science advisors from the Directorate for Biological Sciences Office of the Assistant Director and CASA-Bio organizers, provided highlights.   

Slides are available to the right.

casa-bio-slides-for-voh_011824Download

These sessions were part of ongoing office hours series on topics of relevance to the biological sciences community from DEB, MCB, and IOS. 

Some key takeaway points: 

  • Catalyzing Across Sectors to Advance the Bioeconomy (CASA-Bio; www.casa-bio.net) is a collaborative, facilitated activity, inspired by the Executive Order (EO) on was inspired by the Executive Order (EO) on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy.
    • Released by the White House in September of 2022, the EO laid out a grand vision to advance biotechnology and biomanufacturing through foundational and use-inspired research and development in five thematic areas (Bioeconomy EO Themes): climate change, food and agriculture, supply chain resilience, human health, and cross cutting areas to advance all these areas.
    • Moreover, the EO called for this vision to be enabled by collaboration among government, industry, the private sector, and public sector researchers. 
  • In December 2023, stakeholder representatives from Federal agencies, industry, and non-profits met to identify their shared interest in a group of Subtheme Challenges that span the five Bioeconomy EO Themes.  You can view these at www.casa-bio.net.  
  • Now, there is an opportunity for the research community to provide input for the next step in the CASA-Bio activity!  

Some representative questions from Q&A sessions: 

How can I participate in CASA-Bio? 
There are two ways to participate.  1) Attend a Virtual Town Hall in February (Feb 12, 15, 20, or 22) to share your ideas about bioeconomy-relevant research, and/or 2) Share your research ideas online.   

What is the bioeconomy, and what kinds of research would benefit the bioeconomy?
Bioeconomy is defined as economic activity derived from biotechnology and biomanufacturing.  Biotechnology, in turn, is defined as technology that applies to and/or is enabled by life science innovation or product development.  Biomanufacturing is the use of biological systems to produce goods and services at a commercial scale.   

Many kinds of research could benefit the bioeconomy, ranging from basic, fundamental research all the way to applied research that is ready for commercialization.  Collaborative research across many disciplines and subdisciplines is needed to contribute to the bioeconomy, including, but not limited to: biology at all scales (molecules, organisms, communities, ecosystems), biomedicine, biotechnology, agriculture, food technology, genetics, microbiology, engineering, chemistry, materials science, robotics, environmental science, renewable energy, geology, mathematics, computational science, data science, economics, and social and behavioral sciences. 

I like to interact with others while generating ideas. Can I do this with CASA-Bio?
The Virtual Town Halls will be perfect for you!  Most of the time will be devoted to small-group discussions where you can find synergy through brainstorming with others. 

If I share my ideas, how is intellectual property handled?
Ideas discussed in the context of CASA-Bio are meant to be shared.  Patentable ideas, trade secrets, privileged or confidential commercial or financial information, disclosure of which may harm the submitter, should not be included when sharing ideas. Check out the how we will use  your input link on www.casa-bio.net.  

Will I be able to get research funding through CASA-Bio?
There is no funding stream dedicated to CASA-Bio and no planned call for proposals through CASA-Bio.  The research ideas shared online and through the CASA-Bio Town Halls will be used to provide insights into the research topics you as the community are poised to contribute to for advancing the bioeconomy.   

Can I attend more than one Town Hall?
Yes.  Each Town Hall will have the same format, but participating in more than one will permit you to interact with and brainstorm with multiple groups of researchers.  That said, you are welcome to attend just one Town Hall. 

What comes after the Town Halls?
The ideas shared by the research community online and at the Town Halls will be analyzed using text mining and AI to identify common themes, trends, and topics.  This aggregate view will be evaluated by stakeholders from funding agencies, industries, and non-profits to converge on a subset of research ideas for which there is shared interest.  Then, those ideas will become topics for additional research community engagement through future workshops and roadmapping aimed at developing an bigger and more robust picture of how research can advance the U.S. bioeconomy.  Check out the Action Plan on www.casa-bio.net. 

Share Your Creative Idea to Spur the Bioeconomy

NSF_BIO2 Comments

To work towards creating a unified, collaborative strategy to advance the U.S. bioeconomy, Catalyzing Across Sectors to Advance the Bioeconomy (CASA-Bio; www.casa-bio.net) was created.

As a first step, representatives from government, industry, and non-profit organizations met in early December to identify R&D areas of possible synergy.

Now we need your input!!!

To learn how members of the research community can participate in CASA-Bio, please plan to attend one of the following virtual office hours. The office hours will be identical but are being offered on different dates/times to accommodate diverse schedules. Choose the day and time that works best for you.

Following the Virtual Office Hours, there will be several virtual town halls where the community (that’s you) can provide ideas on research and development possibilities within the areas of synergy identified by representatives from government, industry, and non-profit organizations. The tentative dates for the the first couple of town halls are listed below. More information is and will be available at www.casa-bio.net.

  • February 12, 2024 from 7-8:30 PM ET
  • February 15, 2024 from 9-10:30 AM ET
  • February 21, 2024 from 12-1:30 PM ET
  • February 22, 2024 from 5-6:30 PM ET

CASA-Bio is facilitated by KnowInnovation under contract No. 49100423P0058 from the National Science Foundation.​

New Funding Opportunity: Predicting future pandemics to protect our health, communities, and economy

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Predicting and preventing pandemics that have not yet happened is the focus of a new funding opportunity from the U.S. National Science Foundation. Researchers from a broad range of scientific disciplines — including those across the biological sciences — are invited to submit proposals to develop multidisciplinary research centers that can address the complex challenges involved in forecasting and avoiding future pandemic-scale outbreaks.

The Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention initiative, is aimed at better understanding the dynamic nature of pathogen and disease emergence, which poses a continuing risk to our national security, health, and economic stability. The solicitation builds on a series of interdisciplinary workshops held this past year, and provides support for planning activities that identify interdisciplinary grand challenges that can only be overcome through the integration of computational, biological, engineering, and social/behavioral approaches; propose novel conceptual research and technology developments aimed at overcoming those challenges; and formulate interdisciplinary teams to conduct that work.

Phase I proposals are due on Oct. 1, 2021. A solicitation for Phase II Center Grants is expected to be released in FY 2022.

An informational webinar will be held on July 13. Visit NSF Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention webinar for log-in information.

For additional information and the full proposal solicitation, visit Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention Phase I: Development Grants (PIPP Phase I).

If you have questions, please contact the cognizant Program Officers at PIPP@nsf.gov.  

Reintegrating Biology Workshop Series Outcomes

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The BIO Directorate considers integrative approaches to understanding life’s key innovations as essential for understanding the full diversity of mechanisms regulating fundamental biological processes.

The Reintegrating Biology series of workshops (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1940791&HistoricalAwards=false) included a combination of virtual and in-person events and provided a venue for the broader biological community to discuss the opportunities and challenges for integrating across the biological sub-disciplines. As part of this series of workshops, a total of 318 researchers participated in four concurrent jumpstart meetings in Atlanta, Austin, San Diego and virtually during December 4-6, 2019.  Participants collaborated on a series of vision papers describing what could be accomplished by reintegrating across the subdisciplines of biology, and some of the obstacles preventing such a reintegration from happening. So far, 60 vision papers have been received and can be viewed at: https://reintegratingbiology.org/vision-papers/. Other vision papers have already been submitted for publication. The next Reintegrating Biology event will be a virtual Microlab on January 16 where participants from the four jumpstart meetings will discuss similar themes that emerged during the different events.

NSF would like to thank the participants of the four jumpstart meetings and the broader biological research community for helping make the series of reintegrating biology workshops such a success. These discussions will inform both current integrative biology funding opportunities such as the Rules of Life track in each of the divisional solicitations and the Biology Integration Institutes program (https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505684&org=BIO&from=home), as well as future activities.

From the AD: Save the Date for BIO’s 2020 Distinguished Lecture Series

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Image of the world with

Dear Colleagues,

Please join the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) for the 2020 Distinguished Lecture Series.

BIO’s Distinguished Lecture Series brings eminent researchers to NSF Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia to speak to BIO scientists, other scientists in the agency, staff members, and a broader Washington-area audience about their research.

Below is more information about the 2020 Distinguished Lecture Series Speakers. Refer to BIO’s homepage for updated information as the lecture dates get closer.

If you wish to attend in person at NSF Headquarters (2415 Eisenhower Ave, Alexandria, VA 22314), please contact Nick Hunt (jamhunt@nsf.gov). Advance sign-up requests are required, and guidelines for visiting NSF are at https://www.nsf.gov/about/visit/

I hope you will be able to attend what are sure to be stimulating and thought-provoking lectures.

Sincerely,

Image of the signature of Dr. Joanne Tornow, Assistant Director for Biological Sciences

Joanne Tornow, PhD
Assistant Director for Biological Sciences

 

BIO’s 2020 Distinguished Lecture Series

Image of Dr. Michael Lynch Dr. Michael Lynch

Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution

Arizona State University

January 22

11-12pm

E3410
Image of Dr. David Micklos Dr. David Micklos

Dolan DNA Learning Center

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

March 5

3-4pm

E3410
Image of Dr. Jef Boeke Dr. Jef Boeke

Institute for Systems Genetics

New York University Langone Medical Center

May 21

11-12pm

E3410
Image of Dr. Hopi Hoekstra Dr. Hopi Hoekstra

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Harvard University

September 24

11-12pm

TBA

 

Upcoming Biology Integration Institutes Webinar

NSF_BIO2 Comments

Please join us for the upcoming webinar about the Biology Integration Institutes (BII) on November 18th, 2019 at 2pm EST!

During this webinar, program directors from the BIO BII Team will address questions about the recently released solicitation (NSF 20-508).

Use the registration link below to register for our November 18th webinar.

Click here to register

The BII is a new funding opportunity to strengthen the connections between biological subdisciplines and encourage a reintegration of biology. This funding opportunity is a part of BIO’s larger efforts to stimulate integrative thinking in the biological research community.

To learn more about the Biology Integration Institutes, visit the solicitation and program website.

Letters of Intent for Implementation Proposals are due December 20, 2019. The deadline for full proposals, in both the Design and Implementation tracks, is February 6, 2020.

INCLUDES Virtual Office Hour

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Please join us for the upcoming information session on the Inclusion Across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES) program on October 17th, 2019 from 1pm-2pm EST!

During this Virtual Office Hour, program directors from the NSF INCLUDES Implementation Team will discuss the program’s history and new planning grants solicitation (NSF 19-600). Following the discussion, program directors from NSF INCLUDES and the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) will answer questions from attendees during an open question and answer period.

Join us remotely and bring questions, comments and concerns! Please use the registration link below to register for our October 17th Virtual Office Hour.

Click here to register

NSF INCLUDES is one of the 10 Big Ideas and is a comprehensive national initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in STEM discoveries and innovations focused on NSF’s commitment to diversity, inclusion and broadening participation in these fields. These planning grants support efforts necessary to build capacity to establish future centers, alliances or other large-scale networks endeavoring to address a broadening participation challenge in STEM at scale.

The first deadline for full proposals is December 3, 2019.

For more details, refer to the full solicitation: NSF 19-600

NEON Webinar

NSF_BIO

Learn about the upcoming NEON Webinar from our colleagues in the Division for Biological Infrastructure here or below.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently announced its intention to carry out a competition to manage the Operations and Maintenance of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). The Dear Colleague Letter (NSF 19-080) announcing this decision:

  • provides general information on NEON,
  • communicates that NSF anticipates initiating the competition,
  • provides information on provisional goals,
  • outlines a timeline for the competition, and
  • invites comments and questions from eligible organizations interested in this competition (submit via neon-bot@nsf.gov).

NSF will be hosting a webinar on September 11th at 2pm regarding the planned competition for operation and management of NEON. Individuals, teams, and organizations interested in submitting proposals should try to participate.

This webinar will discuss the timeline for executing the competition for the management of NEON Operations and Maintenance. It will highlight key decision points by NSF and identify critical dates for activities related to the competition. The webinar will also provide information on the post-award oversight requirements for awards managed through cooperative agreements (CAs). Following the presentation, there will be a question and answer period.

For further details about the competition, please consult the NEON Program webpage and DCL (NSF 19-080).

For more details about NEON, please consult the NEON Project webpage.

Integrating Biology

NSF_BIO5 Comments

Biology has the goal of understanding the processes that generate and sustain life.  Despite this unifying principle, the actual practice of modern biology has become increasingly fragmented into subdisciplines due, in part, to specialized approaches required for deep study of narrowly defined problems.  BIO aims to encourage a unification of biology. Our goal is to stimulate creative integration of diverse biological disciplines using innovative experimental, theoretical, and computational approaches to discover underlying principles operating across all hierarchical levels of life, from biomolecules to organisms, species, ecosystems, and biomes.

Earlier this year we asked you, as members of the biological sciences community, for high-level ideas on the research questions and topics that would benefit from NSF investment in a truly integrated research environment. The responses from across the country offered a broad range of fundamental biological questions spanning the scales of biological organization. BIO now wants to grow and enrich the conversation with a view to priming the formation of new NSF-supported research teams around these questions.

To that end, we invite you to register for one of several Virtual Town Hall discussions, which will take place the week of September 16, 2019. These events will help identify themes for more focused, in-person discussions that will take place later in the fall – fertile soil for germination of new, foundational cross-disciplinary ideas that will unify and advance the biological sciences.

More details can be found at https://reintegratingbiology.org/.

Special BIO Advisory Committee Meeting to be held 11/16

NSF_BIO3 Comments

The BIO advisory committee will hold a special meeting on Friday, November 16th from 2:30-4:30 PM to discuss immediately establishing a subcommittee to consider different options for addressing community concerns with the BIO proposal submission limits.

This meeting will be held via teleconference among the Advisory Committee members. Public visitors will be able to attend the meeting in person at NSF headquarters; please contact Alexis Patullo at apatullo@nsf.gov to request a visitor badge.

For more information on this meeting, please visit the NSF BIO Advisory Committee page.