Proposal Deadline: July 15, 2020 at 11:59:59 pm Eastern Time

Synopsis of Program:

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is seeking applications proposing research to support the development of improved science-based human health and environmental risk assessments of new biotechnology products, including those developed through synthetic biology, genome editing, and metabolic engineering.

Applicants should address at least one of the three research areas, including at least one subtopic, described below. Applications may respond to one research area or integrate across two or three research areas.

• Long-term stability, persistence, efficacy, and reliability of microbial biocontainment strategies, microbial synthetic genetic constructs, or microbial genetic restriction technologies:
  • a. Long-term stability, persistence, and reliability of synbio microbial biocontainment strategies (e.g., xenonucleic acids, noncanonical amino acids, recoded microorganisms) for synbio microorganisms. For the purposes of this RFA, biocontainment methodologies are those that prevent unintended proliferation of genetically modified organisms in the environment.
  • b. Stability and persistence of synthetic genetic constructs in microbes (e.g., are synthetic transgenes eliminated from viral, bacterial, algal or fungal genomes over time?). For the purposes of this RFA, “synthetic genetic constructs” are defined as new biological entities, not directly derived from extant organisms, such as enzymes, genetic circuits, and cells or the redesign of existing biological systems for useful purposes.
  • c. Efficacy of genetic restriction technologies or orthogonal gene constructs in precluding horizontal gene transfer from synthetic microorganisms. Horizontal gene transfer is a process in which organisms exchange genetic material with other species. For the purposes of this RFA, “genetic restriction technologies” are defined as methods that impede transgene movement. Particularly with self-replicating microbial systems, re-engineered cells may produce undesired consequences if they escape or overwhelm their intended host environment.

• Ecological effects/impacts of synbio organisms or by-products that are released into the environment:
  • a. Survival, persistence, and unintended ecological effects of synbio microorganisms, plants and animals.
  • b. Unintended environmental effects/potential impacts of synthetic microorganisms, plants and animals such as: bacteriophages, plant viruses, entomopathogens, bacterial or fungal colonizers, (e.g., rhizobia, other nitrogen-fixing bacteria, mycorrhizae), higher plants, mosquitoes, or rodents.

• Risks to human health from novel biomolecules produced using metabolic or genetic pathways by organisms used as manufacturing bioreactors. Much work regarding toxicity and allergenicity of new protein domains relies on bioinformatics that use existing databases of known toxins and allergens. These databases, or the literature, do not apply to biomolecules made by synbio organisms. Methods and models are needed to determine potential physiological responses, such as:
  • a. Adverse responses, including protein toxicity/allergenicity, biosynthetically produced proteins, atypical nucleotides, or noncanonical amino acids (i.e., nonstandard amino acids and possibly other ligands),
  • b. Predictive toxicity motif detection in instances where noncanonical amino acids are incorporated into peptides/proteins,
  • c. Synbio microorganism colonization of the human microbiome.

More information, including the RFP, can be found on grants.gov.

May 13 2020 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

This webinar will provide information on the NSF Faculty Early Career Development program (CAREER) solicitation NSF 20-525 on Wednesday, May 13, 2020, starting at 2:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time.

The webinar will include a briefing on the CAREER program and key solicitation requirements followed by a question and answer session.

Participants are encouraged to submit questions before the webinar.
More at https://www.nsf.gov/events/event_summ.jsp?cntn_id=300458&WT.mc_id=USNSF_13&WT.mc_ev=click

The full list of notices and opportunities is available here.

Highlights:

Superfund Research Program Occupational Health and Safety Education Programs on Emerging Technologies (R25 – Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
(RFA-ES-20-011)
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Application Receipt Date(s): August 3, 2020 All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. All types of non-AIDS applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on the listed date(s). Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.

Emergency Awards: Rapid Investigation of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
(PAR-20-178)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Application Receipt Date(s): Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, beginning on 04/30/2020.

Emergency Awards: Rapid Investigation of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
(PAR-20-177)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Application Receipt Date(s): Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, beginning on 04/30/2020.

Notice of Changes in NCI K00 Salary Caps in The NCI Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (F99/K00)
(NOT-CA-20-049)
National Cancer Institute

Summary:

The DOE SC program in Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) hereby announces its interest in proposals for basic research that significantly advances Neuromorphic Computing as a brain-inspired, energy-efficient tool for scientific discovery. DOE has the responsibility to address the energy, environmental and nuclear security challenges that face our nation. SC’s mission is the delivery of scientific discoveries and major scientific tools to transform our understanding of nature and to advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States.

In the post-exascale computing time-frame, scientific progress will be predicated on our ability to create, transfer, and process large complex datasets from extreme scale simulations, experiments, and/or observational facilities. Scientific computing is facing multiple challenges i.e. high energy usage, memory, concurrency, parallelism, heterogeneity, input/output, storage, retrieval, fault tolerance, etc. Currently, high performance computing systems consume in the order of megawatts of power, and energy consumptions levels have been kept manageable through the usage of heterogeneous architectures. On the other hand, the energy consumption of the human brain is in the order of watts, or about six orders of magnitude more energy efficient than current state-of-the-art HPC systems.

Mandatory pre-applications due: June 3, 2020

Full proposals due: July 1, 2020

For more information, including the FOA, please visit grants.gov.

Full proposals due: May 20, 2020

The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) Research Priorities presented here reflect its mission within the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) to reduce loss of lives and property from earthquakes and improve public safety and community resilience in the Nation.

Applicants should review the four major program elements described below and the priority research targets listed below for each region and topic. Proposed work should advance the science that underlies EHP products by posing and testing new hypotheses and/or developing novel data acquisition tools, analysis methods, and products. Proposed work can also improve information dissemination and make research results more effective in mitigating losses from earthquakes. While proposed projects may involve collection of data and/or application of existing analysis methods, such activities should be in support of clearly stated research goals. Proposals focused on development of new products must demonstrate strong collaboration with intended users.

Element I. National and regional earthquake hazards assessments. The EHP publishes national and regional assessments of the expected degree of ground deformation and shaking, and their impacts over various time periods. These products, developed from research on earthquake locations, magnitudes, recurrence, and ground motions, are the basis of the seismic safety elements of building codes affecting construction nationwide. The EHP also prepares long-term forecasts of earthquake probabilities, as well as scenario ground motion maps of the expected shaking and ground deformation. These products support the development of cost-effective mitigation measures and practices in structure design, construction, and land use planning. The USGS is particularly interested in research that results in improvements to the National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM), and the assessment of earthquake hazards in large metropolitan areas. Models of seismic source, recurrence, ground-motions, and site effects that may be directly incorporated into the NSHM are sought.

Element II. Earthquake information, monitoring and notification. The EHP supports efforts to improve the accuracy of algorithms and processes that provide information about earthquakes in near-real-time, including early warning, improved detection and location techniques, estimation of finite fault rupture extent, and refined seismic moment determinations. However, routine monitoring activities are evaluated and funded under a separate solicitation for seismic and geodetic network operations.

Element III. Research on earthquake occurrence, physics, effects, impacts, and risks. Earthquake impact and risk assessments help emergency managers, planners, and the public prepare for future earthquakes. With the goal of improving hazard assessments, earthquake forecasts, and earthquake monitoring products, the EHP supports applied research on earthquake processes and effects. This work is focused on multi-disciplinary observations, theory, experiments, and development of testable models of earthquake and tectonic processes and of earthquake effects (e.g., macroseismic intensities, ground shaking, ground failure, and structural response).

Element IV. Earthquake safety policy and communication. The EHP produces data and information on earthquakes and related hazards, but the production of data and reports alone is not sufficient to reduce earthquake risk; the Program also takes an active role with the user community in the application and interpretation of Program results. Active engagement with our user community provides opportunities for dialogues on modifications to our existing products and new products that make our work and results more relevant and applicable. The EHP supports opportunities for engaging the user community at both the national and regional levels. See Section 1 for earthquake safety policy and communication priorities common to all Research Areas. Proposals for research on earthquake safety policy and communication applicable to a specific area should be submitted to the relevant regional or topical Research Area.

Additional information, including the program guidelines, can be found on the grants.gov site.