NSF Funding Opportunities in the Biological Sciences

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NSF Funding Opportunities in the Biological
Sciences

• Paul Farel, Ph.D.
• Program Director
• pfarel_at_nsf.gov
• Biological Sciences Directorate

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Directorate for Biological Sciences

• BIO Mission
• To support the vitality of
• the biological sciences

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Biology for the 21st Century

• Integrative and Multiscale
• Broad participation
• Education
• Public understanding of science
• Research infrastructure
• International engagement

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Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)
Information and Automation Resources Unit (IAR)
Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)
Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOB)
Division of Molecular and Cellular
Biosciences (MCB)
Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI)
Ecological Biology
HumanResources
BehavioralSystems
Biomolecular Systems
Ecosystem Science
Developmental Systems
Cellular Systems
Research Resources
Population Evolutionary Processes
Genes and Genome Systems
Environmental Structural Systems
National Ecological Observatory Network
Systematic Biology Biodiversity Inventories
Functional Regulatory Systems
Plant Genome Research Program
Emerging Frontiers (EF)
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How is BIO a distinctive model?

• 1) Working across "boundaries" (clusters,
  divisions, directorates, agencies)
• 2) One biology - ALL of biology within a single
  administrative unit with extensive cooperation
  and coordination
• 3) Together, these allow us to focus on
  transformative research

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Funding Opportunities

• Unsolicited Proposals in Disciplinary Programs
• Regular research grants including RUI
• CAREER program
• SGER and conference grants
• Supplements for broadening participation and for
  enhancing research impacts
• Solicited proposals for specific programs
• RIG-CAA (BIO only)
• Major Research Instrumentation (MRI)
• Training grants- IGERT, REU sites, GK12
• Priority areas (e.g., Cyberinfrastructure)

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Regular Research Grants

• Unsolicited
• Topics
• BIO Directorate does not consider disease related
  research proposals.
• BIO Directorate does not consider duplicate
  proposals unless you are a beginning
  investigator.
• Research Programs and Clusters are described on
  the BIO web page.

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Visit the BIO Division Web Pages
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Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
(MCB)
Fundamental understanding of life processes at
the molecular, subcellular, and cellular levels

• Biomolecular Systems
• Structure, function, dynamics, of biological
  molecules
• Cellular Systems
• Structure, function, and regulation of plant,
  animal and microbial cells, and their
  interactions
• Genes and Genome Systems
• Genomes and genetic mechanisms in all organisms

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Division of Integrative Organismal Biology (IOB)

• Behavioral Systems
• Neurobiology, hormonal mechanisms, behavior,
  plant-animal interactions
• Developmental Systems
• Morphogenesis, embryogenesis,, differentiation,
  Neuroscience
• Environmental Structural Systems
• Physiological ecology, sensation movement,
  evolutionary genomics
• Functional Regulatory Systems
• Physiology, immunology, functional morphology,
  neurophysiology

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Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)

• Ecological Biology
• Species interactions, community ecology, food
  webs, landscape ecology, paleoecology,
  co-evolution
• Ecosystem Science
• Whole-system processes, biogeochemistry,
  decomposition, productivity
• Population and Evolutionary Processes
• Population dynamics, evolutionary ecology,
  evolutionary genetics, molecular population
  biology
• Systematic Biology Biodiversity Inventories
• Plant and animal classification, systematics,
  phylogenetics, taxonomy, biodiversity

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Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI)

• Human Resources
• Research Experience for Undergraduates Sites
• Postdoctoral Research Fellowships for minorities
  and in Biological Informatics
• Research Resources
• Biological Databases and Informatics
• Biological Research Collections
• Instrumentation and Instrument Development
• Improvements in Field Stations Marine Labs

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Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program

• Eligibility
• untenured assistant professors
• Features
• Plans for research and education for five years
• Minimum of 500,000 for five years in BIO
• One deadline a year
• Some CAREER awardees receive PECASE awards
• Check the program announcement

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RUI Research in Undergraduate Institutions

• Objectives
• To support high-quality research by faculty
  members of predominantly undergraduate
  institutions
• To strengthen the research environment in
  academic departments that are oriented primarily
  toward undergraduate instruction
• To promote the integration of research and
  education
• Eligibility
• Institution NSF-supported fields, more
  undergrads than grads, lt10 doctoral degrees/year,
  
• Department No Doctoral program or participation
  in such program
• Investigator Does not advise doctoral students
• Proposal must include RUI Impact Statement
• Describes the expected effects of the proposed
  research on the research and educational
  environment of the institution

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Integrative And Multiscale
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Some BIO Program Solicitations

• Research
• Training and Resources
• Broadening Participation

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Biological Databases and Informatics

• Computational aspects funded in all programs in
  the BIO directorate
• BDI focuses on generalizable applications and
  tools and solutions across biology areas
• BDI covers all areas of biology, from
  ecoinformatics to microarrays

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Plant Genome Research Program

• Overall Program Goals
• Support research on the structure, organization
  and function of plant genomes
• Accelerate the acquisition and utilization of new
  knowledge and innovative technologies
• Focus is on plants of economic importance and
  plant processes of potential economic value.

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The 2010 Project FY2006 To determine the
function ofall genes in Arabidopsis thaliana by
the year 2010

• Arabidopsis Genome Sequenced, Dec 2000
• NSF initiated the 2010 project in 2001
• Emphasis Areas
• Benchmarking the Gene Function
• A function determined for the entire genome
• Methods and Resources
• Arabidopsis-specific
• Exemplary Networks
• Computational and experimental tools

• Budget
• Total
• 25M
• Projects
• Up to 5M for up to 5 years
• Resource projects no more than 3 years

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Frontiers in Integrative Biological Research
(FIBR)

• Supports integrative research that addresses
  major under-studied or unanswered questions in
  the biological sciences
• Encourages the integration of scientific concepts
  and research tools from across disciplines
  including biology, math and the physical
  sciences, engineering, social sciences and the
  information sciences

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Other BIO-wide opportunities

• Tree of Life
• Systematics and classification of organisms
• Ecology of Infectious Diseases (EID)
• Research Coordination Networks (RCN)
• Collaboration among scientists across geographic,
  disciplinary, and organizational boundaries, new
  research directions
• Microbial Observatories (MO) and Microbial
  Interactions and Processes (MIP)
• Microbial Genome Sequencing

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REU Research Experiences for Undergraduates -
Sites

• Provides support for a cohort of UG students who
  conduct individual research.
• A well-defined common focus.
• Goal involve UG students who might not otherwise
  have the opportunity, particularly those from
  academic institutions where research programs are
  limited
• Typically for 6 10 weeks in the summer

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Postdoctoral Fellowship Programs

• Awards for research and training
• Applicants choose sponsoring scientist and
  provide research/training plan
• Two-year awards
• Two opportunities
• Minority Postdoctoral Fellowships
• Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biological
  Informatics

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MRIMajor Research Instrumentation Program

• NSF wide program, BIO managed review
• Supports acquisition of special purpose
  instrumentation used in research and research
  training
• Awards for instrumentation will range from
  100,000 to 2 million.
• Deadline 4th Thursday in January, annually
• Program Announcement NSF-05-515

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RIG-CAA Research Initiation Grants and Career
Advancement Awards to Broaden Participation in
the Biological Sciences

• Objective
• To provide funding for PIs in order to broaden
  participation and to enhance opportunities to
  obtain competitive research funding
• Eligibility
• Faculty from underrepresented groups
• Minority serving institutions
• Others with plans to increase minority
  participation as PIs with research funding
• Types
• RIG New Investigators
• CAA May have previous or current research
  funding
• Budget
• Includes 150k - 24 months, 25k equipment

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Award Supplement Opportunities

• Research Experiences for K-12 Teachers (RET)
• Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
• Research Opportunity Awards (ROA)
• Research Assistantships for High School Students
  (RAHSS)
• International Research and Education Supplements

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Merit Review Criteria

• The intellectual merit of the proposed activity
• The broader impacts of the proposed activity

NSF invests in the best ideas from the most
capable people, determined by competitive merit
review.
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Merit Review Criteria

• The intellectual merit of the proposed activity
• Potential to advancing knowledge and
  understanding within and across fields
• Creativity and originality
• Conceptualization and organization
• Qualifications of investigators
• Access to resources

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Merit Review Criteria

• The broader impacts of the proposed activity
• Promoting teaching, training and learning
• Participation of underrepresented groups
• Enhancement of infrastructure for research and
  education
• Dissemination of results to enhance scientific
  and technological understanding
• Benefits to society

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Getting Support in Proposal Writing

• NSF Publications
• Program Solicitations
• Grant Proposal Guide
• Web Pages
• Funded Project Abstracts
• Reports, Special Publications

• Program Directors
• Incumbent
• Former Rotators
• Successful Proposals
• Mentors on Campus
• Previous Panelists
• Serving As A Reviewer
• Sponsored Research Office

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NSF on the web- An indispensable
resourcewww.nsf.gov