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The Common Fund Program - Accelerating Translation of Glycoscience: Integration and Accessibility - aims to develop accessible and affordable new tools and technologies for studying carbohydrates that will enable researchers in all biomedical fields to dramatically advance our understanding of the roles of these complex molecules in health and disease and to not abandon glycan discovery due to the difficulty or inability to study them. The program will invest in three areas: facile methods and technologies for carbohydrate synthesis, accessible tools for probing and analyzing carbohydrates, and carbohydrate data integration and analysis tools. This R34 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications for preliminary research and formation of research teams that will lay the groundwork for the inclusive, community-driven development of accessible resources for integration and analysis of carbohydrate and glycoconjugate structural, analytical, and interaction data in the context of comparable gene, protein, and lipid data. A subsequent FOA will invite applications for full support of that effort.

The purpose of this Dear Colleague Letter is to advise you about funding opportunities at the National Science Foundation for the research community to propose research projects or workshops that will gather data on the implementation and impacts of recent science policy initiatives including, but not limited to those noted earlier.  Especially encouraged are proposals that will: Develop new, or improve existing, analytical frameworks for evaluating the impacts of federal science policy initiatives; Explore different agencies' approaches to the implementation of particular policies to examine how variations in approach affect the achievement of intended policy outcomes; Collect case-study or quantitative data that facilitate identification of best practices in science and innovation policy implementation.

The ARI is a joint Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) and National Science Foundation (NSF) program seeking novel cross-cutting research that will enhance the nation's ability to detect and interdict nuclear or radiological material outside of regulatory control, and otherwise help prevent nuclear or radiological attacks. This year's solicitation topics will encompass a range of subjects, with an emphasis on unconventional, multidisciplinary approaches to threat detection. A number of small to medium awards are intended in the areas of novel approaches to extremely low-cost threat detection, orthogonal and informatics approaches to threat detection, deterrence analytics, and advanced forensics techniques. A single large award is intended for an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to shielded special nuclear material detection. Primary objectives of the ARI include advancing fundamental knowledge in the above areas and developing intellectual capacity in scientific fields relevant to long-term advances in these areas. Proposals outside of the scope described in this solicitation will be returned without review. Research proposals specific to detection of biological, chemical, and conventional weapons are excluded from the scope of this solicitation, however approaches that consider explosives detection and nuclear or radiological materials detection are of interest.

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) supports fundamental research on populations, species, communities, and ecosystems. Scientific emphases range across many evolutionary and ecological patterns and processes at all spatial and temporal scales. Areas of research include biodiversity, phylogenetic systematics, molecular evolution, life history evolution, natural selection, ecology, biogeography, ecosystem structure, function and services, conservation biology, global change, and biogeochemical cycles. Research on organismal origins, functions, relationships, interactions, and evolutionary history may incorporate field, laboratory, or collection-based approaches; observational or manipulative experiments; synthesis activities; as well as theoretical approaches involving analytical, statistical, or computational modeling.

The purpose of the BRAIN Initiative Fellows (F32) program is to enhance the research training of promising postdoctorates, early in their postdoctoral training period, who have the potential to become productive investigators in research areas that will advance the goals of the BRAIN Initiative. Applications are encouraged in any research area that is aligned with the BRAIN Initiative, including neuroethics. Applicants are expected to propose research training in an area that complements their predoctoral research. Formal training in quantitative perspectives and analytical tools is expected to be an integral part of the proposed research training plan. In order to maximize the training potential of the F32 award, this program encourages applications from individuals who have not yet completed their terminal doctoral degree and who expect to do so within 12 months of the application due date. On the application due date, candidates may not have completed more than 6 months of postdoctoral training.  

The Common Fund Program - Accelerating Translation of Glycoscience: Integration and Accessibility - aims to develop accessible and affordable new tools and technologies for studying carbohydrates that will allow biomedical researchers to significantly advance our understanding of the roles of these complex molecules in health and disease. This program will enable investigators who might not otherwise conduct research in the glycosciences, to undertake the study of carbohydrate structure and function. In support of these aims, this FOA seeks applications for a community-driven project to develop computational and informatics tools for the manipulation, analysis, interpretation, and integration of glycoscience data. The product of this research will be accessible resources for analysis of carbohydrate and glycoconjugate structural, analytical, and interaction data, and integration of that information within the context of comparable gene, protein, and lipid data and databases.  

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. 

AAAS offers fellowships in nine programmatic areas. Specific host offices and assignments vary from year to year. Congressional Diplomacy, Security& Development Energy, Environment & Agriculture Health, Education & Human Services Big Data & Analytics Judicial Branch Roger Revelle Fellowship in Global Stewardship AAAS Overseas Fellowships at USAID Missions (limited eligibility) Global Health & Development Fellowships (limited eligibility)

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits applications to start a new initiative, the Genomics of Gene Regulation (GGR), which is intended to explore genomic approaches to understanding the role of genomic sequence in the regulation of gene networks. A long-term goal of functional genomics is to decipher the rules by which gene networks are regulated and to understand how such regulation affects cellular function, development and disease. The GGR initiative will address the genome-proximal component of the regulation of gene networks by supporting a set of demonstration projects to develop and validate models that describe how a comprehensive set of sequence-based functional elements work in concert to regulate the finite set of genes that determine a biological phenomenon, using RNA amounts, and perhaps transcript structure, as the readout. This FOA seeks to support substantial improvement in the methods for developing gene regulatory network models, rather than an incremental improvement on existing methods. This work will move the field closer to the long-term goal of reading DNA sequence and accurately predicting when and at what levels a gene is expressed, in the context of a particular cell state. These demonstration projects will be organized as a research consortium to accelerate progress through the coordination of analytical methods and functional genomic data.

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) supports fundamental research on populations, species, communities, and ecosystems. Scientific emphases range across many evolutionary and ecological patterns and processes at all spatial and temporal scales. Areas of research include biodiversity, phylogenetic systematics, molecular evolution, life history evolution, natural selection, ecology, biogeography, ecosystem structure, function and services, conservation biology, global change, and biogeochemical cycles. Research on organismal origins, functions, relationships, interactions, and evolutionary history may incorporate field, laboratory, or collection-based approaches; observational or manipulative experiments; synthesis activities; as well as theoretical approaches involving analytical, statistical, or computational modeling.

This program supports theoretical and computational materials research and education in the topical areas represented in DMR programs, including condensed matter physics, polymers, solid-state and materials chemistry, metals and nanostructures, electronic and photonic materials, ceramics, and biomaterials. The program supports fundamental research that advances conceptual, analytical, and computational techniques for materials research. A broad spectrum of research is supported using electronic structure methods, many-body theory, statistical mechanics, and Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations, along with other techniques, many involving advanced scientific computing. Emphasis is on approaches that begin at the smallest appropriate length scale, such as electronic, atomic, molecular, nano-, micro-, and mesoscale, required to yield fundamental insight into material properties, processes, and behavior and to reveal new materials phenomena. Areas of recent interest include, but are not limited to: strongly correlated electron systems; low-dimensional systems; nonequilibrium phenomena, including pattern formation, microstructural evolution, and fracture; high-temperature superconductivity; nanostructured materials and mesoscale phenomena; quantum coherence and its control; and soft condensed matter, including systems of biological interest.

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) supports fundamental research on populations, species, communities, and ecosystems. Scientific emphases range across many evolutionary and ecological patterns and processes at all spatial and temporal scales. Areas of research include biodiversity, phylogenetic systematics, molecular evolution, life history evolution, natural selection, ecology, biogeography, ecosystem structure, function and services, conservation biology, global change, and biogeochemical cycles. Research on organismal origins, functions, relationships, interactions, and evolutionary history may incorporate field, laboratory, or collection-based approaches; observational or manipulative experiments; synthesis activities; as well as theoretical approaches involving analytical, statistical, or computational modeling.

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) supports fundamental research on populations, species, communities, and ecosystems. Scientific emphases range across many evolutionary and ecological patterns and processes at all spatial and temporal scales. Areas of research include biodiversity, phylogenetic systematics, molecular evolution, life history evolution, natural selection, ecology, biogeography, ecosystem structure, function and services, conservation biology, global change, and biogeochemical cycles. Research on organismal origins, functions, relationships, interactions, and evolutionary history may incorporate field, laboratory, or collection-based approaches; observational or manipulative experiments; synthesis activities; as well as theoretical approaches involving analytical, statistical, or computational modeling.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits grant applications proposing technically innovative feasibility studies focused on the advanced development and validation of cancer-relevant technologies that address issues related to pre-analytical variations in the collection, processing, handling, and storage of biospecimens or their derivatives. The overall goal is to develop technologies capable of interrogating and/or maximizing the quality and utility of biospecimens or their derived samples for downstream analyses. This FOA will support the development of tools, devices, instrumentation, and associated methods to assess sample quality, preserve/protect sample integrity, and establish verification criteria for quality assessment/quality control and handling under diverse conditions. This FOA solicits R33 applications for projects where proof-of-principle of the proposed technology or methodology has already been established and supportive preliminary data are available. Projects proposing to use established technologies where the novelty resides in the biological or clinical question being pursued are an example of a topic not appropriate for this solicitation and will not be reviewed.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits grant applications proposing research projects on the advanced development of emerging molecular and cellular analysis technologies and technical/analytical validation in an appropriate cancer-relevant biological system. An emerging technology is defined as one that has passed the pilot developmental stage and shows promise, but has not yet been significantly evaluated within the context of its intended use. If successful, these technologies would accelerate research in cancer biology, cancer treatment and diagnosis, early detection and screening, cancer control and epidemiology, and/or cancer health disparities. This FOA solicits projects where proof-of-principle of the proposed technology or methodology has been established and supportive preliminary data are available. Projects proposed to this FOA should reflect the potential to produce a molecular analysis technology with a major impact in a broad area of cancer-relevant research. Projects proposing to use established technologies where the novelty resides in the biological or clinical question being pursued are not appropriate for this solicitation and will not be reviewed.

The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) of the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for research that supports the Genomic Science research program (http://genomicscience.energy.gov). In this FOA, applications are requested for: i) Research to advance the development of promising new model organisms relevant to biofuels production , ii) development of novel microbial functional capabilities and biosynthetic pathways relevant to the production of advanced biofuels and the development of strategies to overcome associated metabolic challenges resulting from pathway modification, and iii) development of novel analytical technologies or high-throughput screening approaches relating to research in bullets i and ii.

This program supports theoretical and computational materials research and education in the topical areas represented in DMR programs, including condensed matter physics, polymers, solid-state and materials chemistry, metals and nanostructures, electronic and photonicmaterials, ceramics, and biomaterials. The program supports fundamental research that advances conceptual, analytical, and computational techniques for materials research.

The National Eye Institute (NEI) supports large-scale clinical vision research projects, including randomized clinical trials and epidemiologic studies. At the time of submission, applications requesting support for these activities are expected to provide detailed information regarding the study rationale, design, analytic techniques, protocols and procedures, facilities and environment, organizational structure, and collaborative arrangements.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will support extramural research to investigate and mitigate challenges facing clinical assay development due to biopsy biospecimen preanalytical variability. The program will tie in with current efforts to optimize clinical biomarker assays utilized in NCI-sponsored clinical trials. Results from this research program will improve the understanding of how biopsy collection, processing, and storage procedures may affect all aspects of analytical performance for current and emerging clinical biomarkers, as well as expedite clinical biomarker assay development through the evidence-based standardization of biopsy handling practices. Critical information gained through these research awards may increase the reliability of clinical biomarker assays, reduce time requirements for assay development, and decrease assay failure during late-stage testing.

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).