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Welcome to the blog of the BIO Assistant Director

Welcome to BIO Buzz, the blog for the Office of the Assistant Director (OAD) within the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) at the National Science Foundation (NSF). This blog will be a platform for disseminating information about policies, procedures, activities and initiatives that extend across BIO Divisions and affect the biological sciences community as a whole.

Our vision for the Directorate requires that the shared core values of the BIO Divisions—transparency, accountability, and inclusiveness—are reflected in the activities of the BIO Front Office. One step toward realizing this vision is to advance our existing communications strategy and enhance engagement within the Directorate and between BIO, the scientific community, and the general public. Effective communication is essential to fulfilling the missions of NSF and BIO. We hope you find the information here informative. Welcome to BIO Buzz!

Upcoming Webinar: Emerging Mathematics in Biology (eMB)

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On November 25 from 1PM to 2PM BIO along with the Division of Mathematical Sciences (MPS/DMS) will host a webinar to share information about the updated funding opportunity on Emerging Mathematics in Biology (eMB) for the FY25 competition. There will be a presentation and then program officers will answer questions from the participants.

Pre-register for the webinar: https://nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_5COCmLo9QZaxUziAKSAdnA#/registration

This year, all BIO divisions are participating in the program, which seeks to stimulate the development of innovative mathematical theories, techniques, and approaches to investigate challenging questions of great interest to biologists and public health policymakers. It supports truly integrative research projects in mathematical biology that address challenging and significant biological questions through novel applications of traditional, but nontrivial, mathematical tools and methods or the development of new mathematical theories particularly from foundational mathematics, including the mathematical foundation of Artificial Intelligence/Deep Learning/Machine Learning (AI/DL/ML) enabling explainable AI or mechanistic insight. The program emphasizes the uses of mathematical methodologies to advance our understanding of complex, dynamic, and heterogenous biological systems at all scales (molecular, cellular, organismal, population, ecosystems, evolutionary, etc.).

Learn about the new Growing Convergence Research (GCR) solicitation

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The GCR solicitation (NSF 24-527) targets teams who are embracing convergence as a means of developing highly innovative solutions to complex research problems. The aim of GCR is to cultivate and grow the earliest foundations of convergent approaches. As such, proposals submitted to this solicitation are expected to explore novel avenues not previously investigated that are at the forefront of advancing science through deep integration.

Informational Webinar: Thursday, November 14, 2024, 3:00PM – 4:30PM (EST)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_Whuv-RKzSYaahrrRWXl_mw

This webinar will begin with presentations, followed by a panel discussion with leaders of three current GCR projects and a Q&A session. Topics will include what GCR proposals and projects involve, why research teams may consider a submission to GCR, and how to create a convergence culture. The webinar will be recorded and available for later viewing on the NSF GCR website.

What is Convergence Research?
Convergence research is a means for solving vexing research problems, in particular, complex problems focusing on societal needs or deep scientific challenges. It entails integrating knowledge, methods, and expertise from different disciplines and developing novel paradigms that catalyze scientific discovery and innovation.

New DCL: Intersection of Biology and AI/ML

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The power of Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) has been seen across STEM, and the NSF Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) is releasing a new Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) encouraging proposals that advance biological research through the use of AI/ML or development of AI/ML methods

The DCL “Advancing Research at the Intersection of Biology and Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML)” (NSF 24-131) highlights the role AI/ML can and does play in answering questions, including grand challenges, across the biological sciences by analyzing, synthesizing, and integrating large and complex datasets, developing predictive models, and designing and deploying bio-inspired innovations. It also highlights how increased understanding of the ways biological systems process information can inform and inspire new AI/ML developments. Furthermore, the complexity of biological data presents opportunities to train and advance AI/ML systems for use across STEM.

Responding to the DCL
This is not a special competition or new program. Relevant proposals should be submitted to an existing BIO program, according to that program’s solicitation and submission guidelines. Proposal titles should begin with “BIO-AI:” followed by any other relevant prefixes and the project name. 

Proposals must advance one or more goals represented by NSF biological sciences programs through incorporating or developing AI/ML approaches. Proposers are encouraged to include partnerships between biologists and experts in AI/ML from academia, industry, or other organizations.

Areas in which AI/ML approaches may be used include, but are not limited to:

  • Implementing existing AI/ML methods to solve pressing questions in biology
  • Developing new AI/ML models to derive biological insights
  • Validating and/or comparing results from AI/ML methods against results from traditional analytical methods, theoretical models, and/or experimental approaches

Proposals that advance both biological discovery and development of novel AI/ML research are especially encouraged. Proposals solely aimed at generating new data are not encouraged in response to this DCL

NSF offers access to computing resources through the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot for the research community to request access to a set of computing, models, platform, and educational resources for projects related to advancing AI research.

Before submission, PIs are encouraged to contact cognizant program directors in the program(s) within the Divisions of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, Integrative Organismal Systems, Environmental Biology, or Biological Infrastructure that are most relevant to their projects to discuss the appropriate mechanism for submission.

For more information on how to submit and proposal evaluation, please see the full DCL.

General questions about this DCL may be submitted to bio-ai@nsf.gov. 

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.

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. 

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)

Share Your Creative Idea to Spur the Bioeconomy

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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.​

The Bioeconomy Goes Global Centers!

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Dear Colleague Letter Released Outlining Addressing Societal Challenges through the Bioeconomy as FY2024 Focus of NSF Global Centers Program

The topic for the FY2024 competition of the Global Centers program is anticipated to be Addressing Societal Challenges through the Bioeconomy and may include research from any combination of research disciplines supported by NSF. The Program anticipates accepting proposals for holistic, multidisciplinary projects that demonstrate integration of international teams as well as the relevant scientific disciplines, including educational and social sciences necessary to achieve use-inspired outcomes.

About Global Centers
Global Centers — launched in FY2023 — is a cross-directorate funding opportunity implemented in partnership with international funding partner agencies. Global Centers supports large-scale use-inspired research in collaboration with international partners to address global challenges that cannot be solved by any single country. The Global Centers program funds research centers that maximize the benefits of international, interdisciplinary collaborations through co-development of research and workforce training with diverse kinds of stakeholders impacted by global challenge themes. Funding levels for NSF Global Centers Implementation awards are up to $5,000,000 for durations of four to five years and Design awards are up to $250,000 in total over two years. In the inaugural FY23 competition, funding of both Implementation and Design awards totaled $76.4M across all partner agencies

Read the full DCL, including information on potential subtopics, international partners, anticipated competition schedule, and anticipated number of awards.

View the program page on NSF.gov.

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.