Research

Limit: 1 // PI: D. Soh (Wyant College of Optical Sciences)

The DOE SC program in Biological and Environmental Research (BER), through its Bioimaging Research effort, hereby announces its interest in receiving innovative applications to advance fundamental research or use-inspired technologies of new bioimaging or sensing approaches. Fundamental research to enhance spatial and temporal resolution, measurement speed, long-term sample stability, selectivity, sensitivity, or chemical specificity of bioimaging technologies are desirable. Proposed research should demonstrate a comparative advantage over state-of-the-art techniques or identify biological characteristics that cannot currently be measured. Quantum-enabled technologies are allowed but not required in this FOA. Applications can be submitted under one of two subtopics: 1) Novel research concepts proceeding through technical validation that are not required to evaluate new biological hypotheses; 2) Innovative experimental prototype research proceeding through hypothesis-driven biological experimentation; proposals submitted under this subtopic are encouraged to coordinate with biological collaborators if domain expertise is not in-house. All applications are expected to describe how, if realized, they would advance biological knowledge of plant and microbial systems relevant to bioeconomy or environmental research in fields of study supported by BER.

Program Objective

BER is soliciting applications in the following subtopic areas: 1) fundamental imaging or sensing research from concept to validation or 2) evaluation of biological hypotheses or questions with feasible, use-inspired prototypes. Under subtopic 1) applications could evaluate, untested concepts, and theoretical models, develop novel experimental prototypes and validate measurement accuracy against known technical or biological validation standards. Under subtopic 2) research of experimental prototypes of instruments and methods that will include demonstration of feasibility leading to hypothesis-driven biological experimentation to demonstrate value to the user community. This FOA does not solicit late-stage optimization after initial prototype research, or engineering development of resources, or equipment.

Subtopic 1: Concept to Validation

Projects can begin at the conceptual (pre-experimental) stage and move through validation by comparing technical performance and biological measurements against accepted standards. This stage is too early to investigate new biological questions until proven accurate and reproducible. The intent of the first subtopic is to include applications that might not yet have experimental demonstration of feasibility but hold promise of significant impact if successful. These high-risk high-reward applications might reside completely within a scientific and technical field of research and are not required to demonstrate novel biological utility. However, validation against already characterized synthetic or biological samples in BER-supported bioenergy and environmental research should be included. Measurement should be compared to known or “gold-standard” targets measured by competing methods.

Demonstration in living systems is not required, but systems must have future impact on in situ imaging, measuring, or modeling for plant- and microbial-based bioenergy research. Proposed projects should hold promise for significant advances in imaging or sensing and must include plans to manage the high risk inherent in testing novel concepts and techniques. These “high-risk/high reward” projects might have no preliminary data to support the concept making feasibility challenging to evaluate for scientific merit. However, reviewers will be instructed to evaluate merit based on the future significance of the potential for success and the risk-reward balance when evaluating the applications for consideration of funding. In all applications it is expected that the future significance for biological investigations in fields of study supported by BER will be described.

Subtopic 2: Prototypes for Biological Hypothesis Research

Projects can begin with use-inspired experimental prototypes that will be tested for technical and biological validation but cannot include development to field-ready demonstration prototypes. In addition to technical research and testing, projects must include research to evaluate an untested biological question or hypothesis. Optionally, collaboration with external biological investigators can be included towards evaluating biological hypotheses. The intent of the second subtopic is for technically feasible research that can be tested to demonstrate utility for biological users. Public dissemination of research results can provide demonstration of value to the BER research community and generate interest in adoption of new technologies.

Demonstration in living systems is not required, but technical systems must have future impact on in situ imaging, measuring, or modeling of plant- and microbial-based bioeconomy or environmental research. Applications should demonstrate an advantage over current techniques or measure new biological characteristics that could not be accessed with existing approaches. Further, evaluating untested biological hypotheses is required to demonstrate project significance to bioenergy, bioeconomy, or environmental research. Multidisciplinary teams of physical and chemical scientists, plant biologists, microbiologists, and engineers are encouraged to develop high impact imaging and sensing approaches that are inspired by well-defined biological hypotheses. Optional funding for collaboration with investigators outside of the PIs laboratory can be requested in the application for out years two and three. In all applications it is expected that the future significance for biological investigations in fields of study supported by BER will be described.

No Applicants  // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

Each academic institution can hand in only ONE PROJECT PROPOSAL. In case of several applications submitted from a single institution, all applications would be disqualified.

Digitalization has enabled tremendous progress in economy and society over the past decades. Global connectivity through the internet and underlying network infrastructure has further accelerated this development. Like with any advance in technology, risks have evolved as well – in case of digitization in the shape of cyber risks.

Cyber risk manifests itself in our everyday lives. Cyber-attacks, espionage, operational errors occur daily, causing loss to the economy at a significant level. Recently, there has been also growing concern about “systemic cyber risk”— the possibility that a single incident could cause ripple effects with potentially catastrophic consequences. A systemic cyber fallout could threaten the digital infrastructure that societies, economies, and governments rely on. Consequently, it comes as no surprise, that cyber risks are identified as one of the top risks over the past years in the AXA 2022 Future Risk Report as well as the Swiss Re Institute SONAR Report 2023..

However, research progress on this subject has been described as modest and the availability of data limited, leading to many questions remaining unanswered. This can largely be attributed to the novelty of the topic, and its constantly evolving threat profile.

To reinforce cyber resilience, more understanding is needed. In light of this, the Swiss Re Institute and the AXA Research Fund have decided to collaboratively support academic research projects investigating how to increase cyber resilience for companies, governments and society looking at different resilience building approaches.. The Partnership has an overall budget of 1M€, which will be distributed to different research projects over 3 years. 

The Call for research Proposals ‘Building Resilience against Systemic Cyber Risk’ seeks to improve the understanding of economic resilience against cyber catastrophes (including around strengthening protection, reducing impact and improving recovery protocols). Project teams will be required to make choices around specific cyber catastrophe scenarios as well as the methodology used.

The results of the work should contribute to industries and societies understanding of economic and business resilience against certain cyber risk scenarios by providing inputs on how to assess resilience and suggest best ways to improve it.

 Limit: 1 // R. Schomer (School of Plant Sciences)

Institutions may submit one nominee to the New Innovator Award program.

*Deadline note: This selection process is running with an anticipated deadline. We will inform all applicants of relevant updates in the guidelines, submission deadlines, and eligibility as soon as more information becomes available.

The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR)  New Innovator Program,  will allow investigators to explore new avenues of inquiry that arise during their research. Therefore, FFAR is interested in the program of research to be explored and its impact as opposed to a list of very specific aims. The review process emphasizes the individual’s creativity, the innovativeness of the research approaches, and the potential of the program; collaborations are encouraged. While this award is made to an outstanding early career investigator, applicants should include information regarding any essential collaborators and include letters of support from those collaborators. Each applicant can receive from FFAR up to $150,000 per year for a maximum of three years totaling $450,000 investment.

Research programs should fall within one of FFAR’s Challenge Areas

• Advanced Animal Systems
• Health-Agriculture Nexus
• Next Generation Crops
• Soil Health
• Sustainable Water Management
• Urban Food Systems
•  Climate change  

No Applicants // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

The foundation will consider more than one application per institution per year, but only one application per laboratory/mentor per year.

The Lalor Foundation postdoctoral fellowship program supports promising new researchers in establishing scientific and teaching careers. The program’s mission is to support these researchers early in their work so that they can become independently funded in the field of mammalian reproductive biology as related to the regulation of fertility. The Lalor Foundation will award fellows $55,000 per year to cover a fellowship stipend, fringes, and institutional overhead. Other expenses are not allowed. Institutional overhead may not exceed 10 percent of the total fellowship award. Renewal for one additional year is possible; please refer to specific renewal information under Application Instructions. 

 Limit: 4 //

M. Verhougstraete (Community, Environment & Policy)
J. Schroeder (Molecular and Cellular Biology)
H. Cai (Neuroscience)
J. Bibb (Translational Neurosciences)
 

The mission of The G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation is to advance knowledge in the life sciences by sponsoring scientific research that will benefit mankind. The foundation’s grants program seeks to support basic science, ideally with potential translational applications. Immunology, microbiome, genomics, structural biology, cellular physiology, neuroscience, etc., are some noteworthy examples of current research support. 

For many years the Foundation has enjoyed special recognition in the research community for supporting “basic” scientific research, realizing that true transformative breakthroughs usually occur after a thorough understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying natural phenomena. More recently, and with the advent of newer investigative methodologies, technology, and tools, the Foundation now embraces innovative translational research proposals.

The grant duration must be three years. The budget should be reasonable based on the aims of the project. Indirect costs may not exceed 10%. Preliminary Budgets are required during the LOI phase. A detailed budget justification is not required until the proposal phase.  The Foundation’s grant award is not intended to be utilized for purchasing capital equipment (“bricks-and-mortar”) for the lab and is intended only to support the actual investigation. The Foundation assumes and expects that capital equipment must be provided by the research institution or university.
 

Application Guidance:

• Grant budgets cannot exceed $600-750K 
• The Foundation primarily supports basic science, ideally with potential translational applications.
• Immunology, microbiome, genomics, structural biology, cellular physiology, neuroscience, etc., are some noteworthy examples of current research support.
• Covid-19-related research projects (aims or sub-aims) will not be considered for support.
• Medical imaging technology-related projects and/or electrical engineering technology development projects will not be considered for support.
• Plant Biology Research, Oceanography, Space Exploration. and Global warming-related research will not be considered for support.
• As technology continues to advance, it is apparent that investigations in the area of basic science and translational research may become more and more reliant on collaborative, interdisciplinary projects. It is important to note that any interdisciplinary project proposals may require additional information regarding the collaborator(s)’ achievements and relevant expertise.
• Feedback for declined LOI Requests will not be provided; LOIs or Formal Proposals that have been declined should not be resubmitted at a later date for consideration.
• Renewal applications for the same or related research will not be accorded priority consideration. It is strongly advised that any re-application for grant renewal consider a new direction based on prior research or emphasize some new potential translational aspects and not merely an extension of previously funded research.
• Requests for funding previously federally supported research and/or applications pending federal approval will not be accorded priority consideration.
• Requests for support of clinical trials or drug discovery will not be approved. The Foundation will not support projects which we consider pre-clinical drug development.

No Applicants  // Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 2 

Applicant institutions are limited to no more than two pre-applications or applications as the lead institution for each PI at the applicant institution.

The DOE SC program in Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) hereby announces its interest in receiving applications to carry out experimental research in magnetic fusion energy sciences on long-pulse overseas stellarator facilities, namely, Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X – Germany) and the Large Helical Device (LHD – Japan). The research should be related to the planning, execution, and analysis of experiments concerning the topical areas described below. The FES Burning Plasma Science: Long Pulse portfolio supports U.S. researchers who work in collaboration with foreign scientists to explore critical science and technology issues at the frontiers of magnetic fusion research. These collaborations take advantage of the unique capabilities of the most advanced overseas research facilities.

Submit ticket request  // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

NIFA requests applications for the ARME for fiscal year (FY) 2024 to provide resources for four regional risk management education centers for the purpose of developing and delivering agricultural risk managementeducation materials. In addition, this program will provide one grant for a Risk Management Education Electronic Support Center to provide associated support to the regional centers.

The primary goals and objectives of the ARME program are to 1) provide U.S. agricultural producers and their families, as appropriate, with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to make informed risk management decisions that enhance profitability of their operations, and 2) deliver risk management education to agricultural producers underserved by the Federal crop insurance program. 

No Applicants  // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

The APECx program aims to create a toolkit to enable accurate chimeric and broadly efficacious vaccine Ag discovery through predictive modeling, high-throughput functional experimentation, and protein engineering. To fundamentally transform the vaccine research and development (R&D) sector, APECx will develop an innovative viral Ag prediction pipeline for broad efficacy by combining expedited experimental protein structure and function determination with high-throughput Ag screening. This will be enhanced with structural and functional prediction and protein modeling algorithms. Product developers will contribute to modeling tool evaluation from the start of the program to ensure discoveries satisfy the translational requirements. The combined effort of all the teams will create a toolkit that will enable the U.S. to achieve genus-level vaccine goals and prevent multiple viral diseases, including those responsible for cancer, acute disease, and chronic illness across the country and the world. 

Limit: 1 // P. C. Ellsworth (Entomology/ Maricopa Agricultural Center)

Duplicate or multiple submissions are not allowed.

NIFA requests applications for the Crop Protection and Pest Management (CPPM) program for fiscal year (FY) 2024 to address critical state, regional and national integrated pest management (IPM) needs to ensure food security and respond effectively to other major societal pest management challenges. The CPPM program supports projects that address these challenges with IPM approaches developed by coordinated state, regional, and national research, and extension efforts. The impact of these research and extension efforts will be increased by the establishment of communication networks and stakeholder participation in setting priorities. In FY 2024, NIFA will only accept competitive applications for funding in the Applied Research and Development Program (ARDP) and the Extension Implementation Program (EIP) areas of CPPM. NIFA will fund current Regional Coordination Program (RCP) area projects through continuation applications.

The purpose of the Crop Protection and Pest Management program is to address high priority issues related to pests and their management using IPM approaches at the state, regional and national levels. The CPPM program supports projects that will ensure food security and respond effectively to other major societal pest management challenges with comprehensive IPM approaches that are economically viable, ecologically prudent, and safe for human health. The CPPM program addresses IPM challenges for emerging issues and existing priority pest concerns that can be addressed more effectively with new and emerging technologies. The outcomes of the CPPM program are effective, affordable, and environmentally sound IPM practices and strategies needed to maintain agricultural productivity and healthy communities. ​

No applicants  // Limit: 4* // Tickets Available: 4


*An entity may submit only one Concept Paper and one Full Application for each topic area of this FOA.

The Critical Materials Accelerator aims to validate and prototype technologies and processes that address critical materials challenges by developing alternatives, diversifying and expanding supply, increasing manufacturing and material efficiency, and establishing a circular economy. The Accelerator intends to speed up the adoption of innovation while promoting safe, sustainable, economic, and environmentally just solutions to meet current and future critical materials supply chain needs​.

This FOA solicits proposals that advance innovation to realize the Department’s critical minerals and materials vision of a reliable, resilient, affordable, diverse, sustainable, and secure domestic supply chains for the clean energy economy. Projects funded under this FOA will de-risk innovation and mature technology development in partnership with industry to reduce demand through alternative materials or technologies, extend the lifetime of critical materials, and advance secure and sustainable critical materials manufacturing technologies. Each topic area of the FOA addresses priority technologies and supply chain gaps identified by the Critical Materials Collaborative.

Topic Areas:

• Topic 1 – Use of Magnets with Reduced Critical Materials Content 
  • Topic 1a – Critical Material Lean/Free Magnets for Clean Energy Technologies: Projects will validate alternative magnet compositions that reduce or eliminate the use of critical materials by at least 25 wt.% 
  • Topic 1b – Motors and Drivetrains using Critical Material Lean/Free Magnets: Projects will prototype electric machines or drivetrains that use magnets that reduce or eliminate the use of critical materials by at least 25 wt.% 
• Topic 2 – Improved Unit Operations of Processing and Manufacturing of Critical Materials: Projects will make improvements to unit operations and/or processes to separate, refine/process critical materials for clean energy technologies that rely on critical materials.  
• Topic 3 – Critical Material Recovery from Scrap and Post-Consumer Products: Selectees will develop and validate approaches to recycle or recover critical materials from post-consumer products, including but not limited to, design for recycling and reuse and de-risking critical material recovery from waste and manufacturing scrap.  
• Topic 4 – Reduced Critical Material Demand for Clean Energy Technologies: Selectees will develop and validate materials, technologies, or processes that reduce or eliminate the use of critical materials for clean energy technologies.