Funding

Global Centers (GC) Office Hours

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The Global Centers (GC) program in FY2024 will support innovative collaborative international centers for interdisciplinary use-inspired research to address global bioeconomy challenges, in partnership with funding agencies in Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, Finland and the United Kingdom.

The GC Program Team is hosting a series of Virtual Office Hours aimed at giving potential PIs an opportunity to ask questions about the new solicitation starting March 29 and ending on May 22, during which any questions about the Program can be asked and discussed. Two of the sessions will have a special focus: Monday April 1 (Focus on Non-R1 Institutions), and Monday April 8 (Focus on Minority Serving Institutions). 

Session dates and times are outlined below. There are no restrictions on attending multiple sessions, so please feel free to attend the sessions which best fit your schedule. The zoom link is the same for all sessions: https://nsf.zoomgov.com/j/1619482232?pwd=blBiQWJwL2h5a0ZPeVpkWEFVWWRNZz09.

  • April 1, 2024, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET (Special Focus on Non-R1 Institutions)
  • April 4, 2024, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET
  • April 9, 2024, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET (Special Focus on Minority Serving Institutions):
  • April 12, 2024, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET
  • April 15, 2024, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET
  • April 23, 2024, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET
  • May 1, 2024, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET
  • May 10, 2024, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET
  • May 14, 2024, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm ET
  • May 22, 2024, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET

More information about the GC program, including the solicitation and deadline information, can be found on the program page: https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/global-centers-gc

Growing Convergence Research (GCR): A funding opportunity to support new forms of deep integration across disciplines

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An updated solicitation has been published for the NSF-wide Growing Convergence Research (GCR) program with a submission deadline of April 12, 2024 (NSF 24-527).

What is “Convergence Research” in this context?
GCR identifies Convergence Research as having two primary characteristics:

  • Research driven by a specific and compelling problem. Convergence research is generally inspired by the need to address a specific challenge or opportunity, whether it arises from deep scientific questions or pressing societal needs.
  • Deep integration across disciplines. As experts from different disciplines pursue common research challenges, their knowledge, theories, methods, data, research communities and languages become increasingly intermingled or integrated. New frameworks, paradigms or even disciplines can form sustained interactions across multiple communities.

Thus, the GCR solicitation targets multidisciplinary teams who are embracing convergence research as a means of developing highly innovative solutions to complex research problems. GCR proposals are expected to be bold and address scientific or technical challenges and bottlenecks which, if resolved, have the potential to transform scientific understanding and solve vexing problems. It entails integrating knowledge, methods, and expertise from different disciplines and developing novel paradigms that catalyze scientific discovery and innovation.

What are the components of a successful proposal?
Successful GCR projects are anticipated to lead to paradigm shifting approaches within disciplines, establishment of new scientific communities, or development of transformative technologies that have the potential for broad scientific or societal impact.

The proposing team should be comprised of researchers from different disciplines that do not typically work together in the proposed research areas and are crucial to catalyze the proposed scientific discovery and innovation. Proposers must make a convincing case that the research to be conducted is within NSF’s purview, integrates across NSF directorate or division boundaries, and is currently not supported by other NSF programs or solicitations.

Opportunities to learn more
There are several ways interested members of the community can learn more about the GCR program:

  • The GCR program will be holding office hours on Tuesdays or Wednesdays through the end of March 2024. To speak with a GCR Program Director about a newly planned or revised GCR proposal, an appointment may be made on the GCR Office Hours Calendar.
    • Principal Investigators seeking feedback on a planned proposal should send a one-page (maximum) synopsis to gcr@nsf.gov.
    • The synopsis must describe the specific scientific problem to be addressed, the project’s responsiveness to the GCR solicitation, and the new knowledge and changes in research paradigms that are anticipated.
  • All other inquiries should be addressed to gcr@nsf.gov.
  • You can always refer to the GCR program solicitation (NSF 24-527) for more details.

New DCL: Leveraging Innovations From Evolution (LIFE)

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Across millennia, life on Earth has solved challenges to innumerable biotic and abiotic pressures. In some cases, similar adaptations and innovations have arisen independently in separate lineages (i.e., convergent evolution). However, despite the remarkable proliferation of genomic resources, organismal and phylogenetic knowledge, and computational capabilities, most of life’s functional solutions remain poorly understood for the vast majority of species. Through this new DCL, NSF BIO is encouraging proposals that use comparative approaches to identify convergent adaptations to life’s challenges and the mechanisms that underlie them.

NSF BIO seeks to speed discovery and understanding of biological innovations that hold significant potential for applications in the bioeconomy, including industrial processes, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, energy production, nature-based solutions to climate change, and planetary sustainability and resilience. Proposals should include relevance of the proposed work to inform applications towards a sustainable global bioeconomy, interpreted broadly.

Read the full DCL on www.nsf.gov for further information and points of contact.

Process for Submitting Proposals relevant to LIFE

Proposals responsive to this DCL should be submitted to one of the following programs, and Principal Investigators (PIs) are strongly encouraged to reach out to a cognizant Program Officer (PO) (see the points of contact in the DCL linked above) to discuss the topic before submission.

  • Core Programs in any of the following divisions, including as part of the Integrative Research in Biology (IntBIO) track:
    • Division of Environmental Biology (currently NSF 23-549)
    • Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (currently NSF 23-548)
    • Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (currently NSF 23-547)
  • Infrastructure Innovation for Biological Research program (currently NSF 23-578)

New NSF Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention (PIPP) Phase II Centers Program Launched

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Will Support Fundamental R&D That Transforms Ability to Forecast Pandemic-scale Events, Detect Outbreaks Early, and Respond Efficiently

Despite decades of research, scientists do not fully understand the dynamic nature of pathogens and disease emergence. Effective responses to emerging pathogens will require sustained, global-scale efforts of researchers and organizations.

NSF’s Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention (PIPP) initiative focuses on fundamental research and development activities needed to tackle grand challenges in infectious disease pandemics through prediction and prevention. The PIPP Phase II Centers Program expands upon the Phase I Development Grant Program and is the NSF’s flagship program to establish a network of centers or large-scale awards/investments that will support interdisciplinary team-based approaches to accelerate research and development activities in emerging infectious diseases and pandemics.

The program invites proposals for Centers that have a principal focus in one of the following multidisciplinary themes: 

  • Pre-emergence – Predicting and detecting rare events in complex, dynamical systems.
  • Data, AI/ML and Design – Computing, manufacturing, and technology innovation for pandemics.
  • The Host as the Universe – Identifying host-pathogen tipping points that dictate control or spread of an infection.
  • Human Systems – The role of human behavior, activities and environments in disease emergence, transmission, and response or mitigation.

NSF plans to make approximately 4-7 Center awards for between $15 million and $18 million for seven years across the themes, depending on strength of submissions.

Letters of intent are due August 25, 2023. Full proposals are due December 8, 2023.

Learn More
An informational webinar will be held on August 11, 2023; Time: 1:30 PM EST (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this webinar: https://nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_XbeVBFaRT2OuC_0FJZk-Sg

What Goes into a PIPP Center?

Each PIPP Phase II Center is envisioned as a catalytic force that:

  • Builds a deeper understanding of critical foundational research issues that are critical in predictive intelligence for pandemic prevention.
  • Innovates in a multitude of science and engineering fields within each theme, including, but not limited to: environmental, biological, social, behavioral, economic, mathematical, computer and information science and engineering science.
  • Provides use-inspired insights to critical problems relating to predictive intelligence for pandemic prevention that accelerate translation of research results to practice with societal impact.

Successful Centers are motivated by clear and compelling foundational and interdisciplinary research questions and pursue activities that are focused on one of the themes above.  Each Center also will have interacting initial components that reach beyond the foundational research questions. Chiefly, Centers should accelerate the transition of innovations into relevant economic and/or policy sectors, and nurture and grow the next generation of talent necessary to respond to future pandemic challenges. Hence, center activities must include workforce development at all participant levels, a culture of diversity and inclusion where all participants gain mutual benefit.

NSF Convergence Accelerator Announces New Tracks with Potential for Biology

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The NSF Convergence Accelerator program addresses national-scale societal challenges through use-inspired convergence research. Using a convergence approach and innovation processes like human-centered design, user discovery, and team science and integration of multidisciplinary research, the program seeks to transition basic research and discovery into practice—to solve high-impact societal challenges aligned with specific research themes (tracks). The program recently released the tracks for the FY 2022 cohort, which hold significant potential for the biological sciences:

  • Track H: Enhancing Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities: Serves as a platform to bring together researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders from a wide range of disciplines and sectors to work on use-inspired solutions to enhance quality of life and employment access and opportunities for PWDs. 
  • Track I: Sustainable Materials for Global Challenges: Aims to converge advances in fundamental materials science with materials design and manufacturing methods in an effort to couple their end-use and full life-cycle considerations for environmentally- and economically-sustainable materials and products. 
  • Track J: Food & Nutrition Security: Accelerates convergence across food and nutrition sectors to address intertwined challenges in supporting population health, combating climate change, and addressing the nutritional needs of the most vulnerable by empowering youth, women, and disadvantaged communities.

For more information on the Convergence Accelerator and its phased model, and to read the full solicitation and broad agency announcement, please visit the Convergence Accelerator program page.

New Opportunity: Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE)

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NSF has funded myriad research projects that resulted in publicly accessible, modifiable, and distributable open-source software, hardware, or data platforms. Now we are looking to support the development of these and other widely-used open-source products into open-source “ecosystems” (OSEs), each comprising a distributed community of developers and a broad base of users in academia, industry and government through a new program: Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE)

These OSE’s will aid in developing new technology solutions to problems of national, societal, and economic importance, such as mitigating climate change, combating biodiversity loss, feeding the planet sustainably, and limiting the spread of infectious diseases. All of which engage the biological sciences and support BIO priorities.

You can read all about POSE, including proposal requirements, deadlines, and phases, and find contact information for the cognizant Program Directors on the program page.

Opportunities to Learn More
NSF Program Directors representing the POSE program will hold an informational webinar on March 23, 2022 from 3:30 PM ET to 4:30 PM ET.

Please register for the webinar here: https://nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_GDUveT2ZTBG4c-tNxaODoA.

Engaging Scientific Societies in Culture Change: New BIO-LEAPS Solicitation

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Building off a successful DCL issued last year, we are pleased to announce the new Leading Cultural Change Through Professional Societies of Biology (BIO-LEAPS) solicitation.

The program aims to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in biology at scale through culture change by leveraging the leadership, broad reach, and unique ability of professional societies. Professional societies are uniquely positioned to help facilitate culture change in their disciplines through: publishing journals, fostering scientific discussion and debate, broad membership (including membership from academia, government agencies, and private businesses), hosting large scientific meetings that can serve as networking and professional development opportunities for people at many professional levels, and electing leaders that greatly influence views and norms within a discipline.

As we recognize that disciplines and societies may be at different points in assessing and addressing their culture, the program has three tracks — Evaluation, Design and Plan, and Implementation. The Evaluation Track is for projects focused on assessment and research of the values, norms, priorities, and practices associated with the culture of the discipline or sub-discipline. The Design Track is for projects to develop an evidence-based plan to address broad-scale culture change within a discipline or sub-discipline. The Implementation Track is for projects to implement evidence-based cultural change strategies that leverage the influence of biological professional societies.

Proposals are due on July 1, 2022.

For further explanation of the tracks, complete submission requirements, and additional information, please see the BIO-LEAPS program page and solicitation 22-542. You can also contact the working group at BIO-LEAPS@nsf.gov.

Two webinars (March 21, 2022 from 2-3 EST and April 22, 2022 from 3-4 EST) are being planned to provide the community the opportunity to learn more about the program and ask questions of cognizant program officers. Please monitor the BIO-LEAPS program page for registration links.

Check out the new Understanding the Rules of Life (URoL) Solicitation

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NSF has just released a revision to the new Understanding the Rules of Life: Emergent Networks (URoL:EN) solicitation that builds on previous solicitations and awards under NSF’s Understanding the Rules of Life Big Idea. The solicitation (22-532) also supports BIO’s efforts to integrate within and across the biological sciences, as well as support interdisciplinary science.

The program supports research to understand “rules of emergence” for networks of living systems and their environments. These emergent networks are made up of the interactions among organismal, environmental, social, and human-engineered systems that are complex and often unexpected given the behaviors of these systems when observed in isolation. The often-unanticipated outcomes of these interactions can be both wide-ranging and enormously impactful.

URoL:EN projects will use convergent scientific approaches to explore these interactions and contribute to understanding rules of life through new theories and reliable predictions about the impact of specific environmental changes on behaviors of complex living systems, or engineerable interventions and technologies based on a rule of life to address associated outcomes for societal benefit.

Submissions must be made by March 1, 2022.

We encourage you to monitor the BIO homepage on NSF.gov and the URoL:EN program page for further information and opportunities to connect with the cognizant program officers.

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.  

Analyzing the Impact of No Deadlines

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As you may know, as announced in FY 2018, most programs across the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) had no deadline in FY 2019, a change from previous years. BIO, with the help of a subcommittee of the BIO Advisory Committee, has analyzed proposal data* from FY 2018 and FY 2019 and provided a review of the impact of that change on proposal submissions, funding rates, and more. I’d like to thank that group for their work and share some of the analysis.

The biggest takeaways are – as shown in the chart below – the number of proposals received in FY 2019 was less than in FY 2018, and the funding rate increased in FY 2019 compared to FY 2018. Specifically, In FY 2018 the funding rate across BIO was 21.0% and in FY 2019 it rose to 28.1%.

A chart depicting the change in funding rates and proposal submissions within BIO between FY 2018 and FY 2019.We saw no substantial impact on gender, race, or ethnicity of submitters (PIs or co-PIs on proposal submissions). However, we have seen an increase in the number of individuals who do not provide these data. Similarly, a significant number of co-PIs do not report the year of their highest degree. We are actively monitoring this trend and encourage submitters to provide this information as it helps us better understand the biological sciences community and those seeking funding from BIO.

Lastly, there was a slight shift to shorter periods between submission and funding decision in FY 2019 as compared to FY 2018. There were, however, external circumstances that could have affected this outcome, including the lapse in appropriations. Future data will enlighten our interpretation of the trends in these and other metrics.

BIO will continue to monitor these metrics and others moving forward to measure the impact of the no-deadline policy over time.

*Data includes externally reviewed proposals in core and special programs across all BIO Divisions. It does not include internally reviewed proposals such as RAPIDs, EAGERs, RAISEs, supplements, or conferences, nor does it include human resource proposals such as Fellowships. The unit measured is proposals, which counts single proposal and collaborative proposals as individual units.