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This Research Announcement (RA) solicits ground-breaking single-investigator proposals from junior faculty for research and development in the areas of physical sciences, engineering, materials, mathematics, biology, computing, informatics, and manufacturing of interest to DARPA's Biological Technologies Office (BTO), Defense Sciences Office (DSO) and Microsystems Technology Office (MTO).

This Research Announcement (RA) solicits ground-breaking single-investigator proposals from junior faculty for research and development in the areas of physical sciences, engineering, materials, mathematics, biology, computing, informatics, and manufacturing of interest to DARPA's Biological Technologies Office (BTO), Defense Sciences Office (DSO) and Microsystems Technology Office (MTO).

The Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) awards Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB) to recent recipients of the doctoral degree for research and training in selected areas supported by BIO and with special goals for human resource development in biology. The fellowships encourage independence at an early stage of the research career to permit Fellows to pursue their research and training goals in the most appropriate research locations regardless of the availability of funding for the Fellows at that site. For applications under this solicitation, these areas are (1) Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology, (2) Interdisciplinary Research Using Biological Collections, (3) National Plant Genome Initiative (NPGI) Postdoctoral Research Fellowships and (4) Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes.

The Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) awards Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB) to recent recipients of the doctoral degree for research and training in selected areas supported by BIO and with special goals for human resource development in biology. The fellowships encourage independence at an early stage of the research career to permit Fellows to pursue their research and training goals in the most appropriate research locations regardless of the availability of funding for the Fellows at that site. For applications under this solicitation, these areas are (1) Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology, (2) Interdisciplinary Research Using Biological Collections, (3) National Plant Genome Initiative (NPGI) Postdoctoral Research Fellowships and (4) Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes.

The Office of Science of the Department of Energy hereby invites grant applications for support under the Early Career Research Program in the following program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR); Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); High Energy Physics (HEP), and Nuclear Physics (NP). The purpose of this program is to support the development of individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers and to stimulate research careers in the areas supported by the DOE Office of Science.

Any area of research related to the radiologic sciences, from hypothesis-driven basic science and clinical investigations to topics such as drug, device, and therapy development; comparative effectiveness, evidence-based radiology, ethics and professionalism, quality improvement, clinical practice efficiency, and imaging informatics. This grant mechanism will be open to all levels of radiologic investigators, with an established academic appointment. Applications should describe the unique nature of the research effort independent of existing research efforts. Greater emphasis will be placed on the likelihood of this research to attract future funding given the nature and extent of the preliminary data collected within the cycle of the grant. Projects focused on advancing imaging science, developing or evaluating medical imaging technology, or making innovative use of imaging science to answer important biologic or clinical questions are encouraged.

New information technologies can be envisioned that are based on biological principles and that use biomaterials in the fabrication of devices and components; it is anticipated that these information technologies could enable stored data to be retained for more than 100 years and storage capacity to be 1,000 times greater than current capabilities. These could also facilitate compact computers that will operate with substantially lower power than today's computers. Research in support of these goals can have a significant impact on advanced information processing and storage technologies. This focused solicitation seeks high-risk/high-return interdisciplinary research on novel concepts and enabling technologies that will address the scientific issues and technological challenges associated with the underpinnings of synthetic biology integrated with semiconductor technology. This research will foster interactions among various disciplines including biology, engineering, physics, chemistry, materials science, computer science, and information science that will enable heretofore-unanticipated breakthroughs as well as meet educational goals.

The National Science Foundation (NSF), through its Divisions of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS), Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF), Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB), and Materials Research (DMR) announces a follow-up solicitation on the Semiconductor Synthetic Biology for Information Storage and Retrieval Program (SemiSynBio-II). Future ultra-low energy storage-based computing systems can be built on principles derived from organic systems that are at the intersection of physics, chemistry, biology, computer science and engineering. Next-generation information storage technologies can be envisioned that are driven by biological principles and use biomaterials in the fabrication of devices and systems that can store data for more than 100 years with storage capacity 1,000 times more than current storage technologies. Such a research effort can have a significant impact on the future of information storage and retrieval technologies. This focused solicitation seeks high-risk/high-return interdisciplinary research on novel concepts and enabling technologies that will address the fundamental scientific issues and technological challenges associated with the underpinnings of synthetic biology integrated with semiconductor technology. This research will foster interactions among various disciplines including biology, physics, chemistry, materials science, computer science and engineering that will enable in heretofore unanticipated breakthroughs.

he overall goal of this initiative is to enhance our understanding of fundamental biological mechanisms involved in disease conditions that disproportionately affect health disparity populations and develop therapies or interventions that can directly or demonstrably contribute to the reduction or elimination of health disparities. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) solicits applications to conduct: 1. Biological and genetic research to explore disease mechanisms or pathways that influence health outcomes in minority and health disparity populations. 2. Clinical and translational research linking basic science discovery with effective treatment or clinical practice to improve health outcomes in minority and health disparity populations. Projects investigating the etiology, physiology, genetic risk factors, molecular pathways, gene-environmental interactions, pharmacogenomic and personalized medicine in health disparity populations are particularly encouraged.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), hereby announce their interest in receiving applications for genomics- based research that will lead to the improved use of biomass and plant feedstocks for the production of fuels such as ethanol or renewable chemical feedstocks. Specifically, applications are sought for research on plants that will improve biomass and oil seed characteristics, yield, or sustainability. Research to overcome the biological barriers to the low-cost, high-quality, scalable and sustainable production of bioenergy feedstocks using the tools of genetics and genomics are encouraged.

The Whitehall Foundation, through its program of grants and grants-in-aid, assists scholarly research in the life sciences. It is the Foundation's policy to assist those dynamic areas of basic biological research that are not heavily supported by Federal Agencies or other foundations with specialized missions. In order to respond to the changing environment, the Whitehall Foundation periodically reassesses the need for financial support by the various fields of biological research. The Foundation does not award funds to investigators who have substantial existing or potential support, even if it is for an unrelated purpose. Applications may be held in abeyance until the results of other funding decisions are determined. While it is difficult to assign a specific dollar amount to this policy and each case is unique, the Foundation currently defines "substantial" as approximately $200,000 per year (including both direct and indirect expense but excluding the Principal Investigator's salary). The Foundation is currently interested in basic research in neurobiology, defined as follows: Invertebrate and vertebrate (excluding clinical) neurobiology, specifically investigations of neural mechanisms involved in sensory, motor, and other complex functions of the whole organism as these relate to behavior. The overall goal should be to better understand behavioral output or brain mechanisms of behavior. The Foundation does not support research focused primarily on disease(s) unless it will also provide insights into normal functioning.

The Mathematical Biology Program supports research in areas of applied and computational  mathematics with relevance to the biological sciences.  Successful proposals are mathematically innovative and address challenging problems of interest to members of the biological community. 

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), hereby announce their interest in receiving applications for genomics- based research that will lead to the improved use of plant biomass and feedstocks for the production of biofuels and renewable chemical feedstocks. Applications are sought for research on candidate herbaceous and woody plants with improved resistance/tolerance to disease and disease complexes, and non-food oil seed crops for improved winter cold tolerance/survivability and agronomic traits. Research to overcome these biological barriers to the low-cost, high-quality, scalable and sustainable production of dedicated bioenergy biomass feedstocks using the tools of genetics and genomics are encouraged.

The Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) Core Programs Track supports research aimed at understanding why organisms are structured the way they are and function as they do. Proposals are welcomed in all of the core scientific program areas supported by the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS). Areas of inquiry include, but are not limited to, developmental biology and the evolution of developmental processes, nervous system development, structure, modification, function, and evolution; biomechanics and functional morphology, physiological processes, symbioses and microbial interactions, interactions of organisms with biotic and abiotic environments,plant and animal genomics, and animal behavior. Proposals should focus on organisms as a fundamental unit of biological organization. Principal Investigators (PIs) are encouraged to apply systems approaches that will lead to conceptual and theoretical insights and predictions about emergent organismal properties. TheRules of Life Tracksupports integrative proposals that span the subcellular and cellular scales normally funded by MCB to the organ, tissue, organismal, and group scale typically funded by IOS, to population, species, community and ecosystem scales typically funded by DEB. Rules of Life proposals may also include enabling infrastructure through joint submission with DBI. Discovery of fundamental principles and enabling infrastructure will advance understanding and further predict how key properties of living systems emerge from the interaction of genomes, phenotypes, and developmental, social and environmental context across space and time.This track provides opportunities to advance understanding of the Rules of Life by new mechanisms for review and funding of proposals that span two or more divisions in the Biological Sciences Directorate.

The Nano-Biosensing program is part of the Engineering Biology and Health cluster, which includes also 1) Cellular and Biochemical Engineering; 2) Engineering of Biomedical Systems; 3) Biophotonics; and 4) Disability and Rehabilitation Engineering. The Nano-Biosensing program supports fundamental engineering research on devices and methods for measurement and quantification of biological analytes. Proposals that incorporate emerging nanotechnology methods are especially encouraged. Areas of interest include: Multi-purpose sensor platforms that exceed the performance of current state-of-the-art devices. Novel transduction principles, mechanisms and sensor designs suitable for measurement in practical matrix and sample-preparation-free approaches. These include error-free detection of pathogens and toxins in food matrices, waterborne pathogens, parasites, toxins, biomarkers in body fluids, and others that improve human condition. Nano-biosensors that enable measurement of biomolecular interactions in their native states, transmembrane transport, intracellular transport and reactions, and other biological phenomena. Studies that examine intracellular measurements must include discussion on the significance of the measurement.

The DOE SC program in Biological and Environmental Research (BER), hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for research in developing computational approaches that can integrate large, disparate data types from multiple and heterogeneous sources, such as those used in the Genomic Science program (GSP) (http://genomicscience.energy.gov). Research supported by awards resulting from this FOA will promote human understanding of the natural world through analysis of high-throughput biological systems data. BER has an ongoing mission of improving translation from the molecular to cellular realm within scientific disciplines supported by DOE.

We are looking for ideas that can lead to new multi-grant research portfolios on human flourishing. We are particularly interested in ideas for interdisciplinary scientific research towards discoveries that can promote physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being. We welcome ideas that bridge gaps between empirical science and the humanities. Such ideas may include (but are not limited to):  Experimental testing of philosophically grounded models of human flourishing; Research on biological complexity in humans, including genetics, epigenetics, and microbiome research; Investigation of key psychological, neuroscientific, or human developmental concepts, such as (but not limited to) altruism, creativity, imagination, narrative, and meta-cognition; Research on cognitive, affective, or social capacities of individuals or groups; Studies of human biological or cultural evolution.

The Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science (CEGS) program establishes academic Centers for advanced genome research.  Each CEGS grant supports a multi-investigator, interdisciplinary team to develop innovative genomic approaches to address a particular biomedical problem.  A CEGS project will address a critical issue in genomic science or genomic medicine, proposing a solution that would be a very substantial advance.  Thus, the research conducted at these Centers will entail substantial risk, balanced by outstanding scientific and management plans and very high potential payoff.  A CEGS will focus on the development of novel technological or computational methods for the production or analysis of comprehensive data sets, or on a particular genome-scale biomedical problem, or on other ways to develop and use genomic approaches for understanding biological systems and/or significantly furthering the application of genomic knowledge, data and methods towards clinical applications.  Exploiting its outstanding scientific plan and team, each CEGS will nurture genomic science at its institution by facilitating the interaction of investigators from different disciplines, and by providing training to new and experienced investigators, it will expand the pool of highly-qualified professional genomics scientists and engineers.

The Office of Science (SC) of the Department of Energy hereby announces its continuing interest in receiving grant applications for support of work in the following program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, and Nuclear Physics

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) Core Tracksupports research and training on evolutionary and ecological processes acting at the level of populations, species, communities, and ecosystems. DEB encourages research that elucidates fundamental principles that identify and explain the unity and diversity of life and its interactions with the environment over space and time. Research may incorporate field, laboratory, or collection-based approaches; observational or manipulative studies; synthesis activities; phylogenetic discovery projects; or theoretical approaches involving analytical, statistical, or computational modeling. Proposals should be submitted to the core clusters (Ecosystem Sciences, Evolutionary Processes, Population and Community Ecology, and Systematics and Biodiversity Sciences). DEB also encourages interdisciplinary proposals that cross conceptual boundaries and integrate over levels of biological organization or across multiple spatial and temporal scales.Research addressing ecology and ecosystem science in the marine biome should be directed to the Biological Oceanography Program in the Division of Ocean Sciences; research addressing evolution and systematics in the marine biome should be directed to the Evolutionary Processes or Systematics and Biodiversity Science programs in DEB. All DEB programs also encourage proposals that leverage NSF-supported data networks, databases, centers, and other forms of scientific infrastructure, including but not limited to the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), Environmental Data Initiative (EDI), and Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio).

The Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science (CEGS) program establishes academic Centers for advanced genome research. Each CEGS award supports a multi-investigator, interdisciplinary team to develop transformative genomic approaches to address a biomedical problem. A CEGS project will address a critical issue in genomic science or genomic medicine, proposing a highly innovative solution that would be a major advance. The research will entail substantial risk, balanced by outstanding scientific and management plans and very high potential payoff. A CEGS will focus on the development of novel technological or computational methods for the production or analysis of comprehensive data sets, on a genome-scale biomedical problem, or on other ways to develop and use genomic approaches for understanding biological systems or furthering the application of genomic knowledge, data, and methods towards clinical applications. Each CEGS will nurture genomic science at its institution by facilitating the interaction of investigators from several disciplines. By training new and experienced investigators it will expand the pool of genomics scientists and engineers.