AGENCY: National Science Foundation (NSF)/ Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)/ Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI)

PROGRAM: Biological Databases and Informatics (BD&I)

OBJECTIVES: This program provides funding to encourage new approaches to the management, analysis, and dissemination of biological knowledge for the benefit of both the scientific community and the broader public. Specifically, this program supports research that enables investigators to manage and make use of biological data and information for the discovery of new knowledge and the advancement of the field of biology. The BD&I program is especially interested in the development of informatics tools and resources that have the potential to advance all fields of biology under the purview of the Directorate for Biological Sciences at the National Science Foundation. The BD&I program seeks to encourage activities that are designed to promote greater interactions between the computational sciences and biology.

A range of activities along a continuum, from the formative, theoretical development of new algorithms, data structures and tools specific to the management of biological information, through the development of new information resources to the enhancement of established resources needed by whole communities of biological researchers will be supported. The highest program priority is on supporting proposals that address the formative stages of this continuum. Examples include theoretical research on data structures; new database architectures more tuned to the complexity of biology; planning and prototype development of new types of biological data- or knowledge-bases; and design of easy-to-use interfaces and tools for data input, manipulation, analysis and extraction. Imaginative and novel proposals to develop research tools and resources that will help open up a completely new way of managing and utilizing huge amounts and disparate kinds of biological information are encouraged. In addition, proposals to conduct planning activities, nomenclature standardization, etc., are appropriate.

ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS: An investigator can be included in only one proposal as a principal investigator or a co-principal investigator.

DEADLINE: July 14, 2008

FUNDING INFORMATION: NSF anticipates providing $7 million to support 20-25 standard or continuing grants. Typical awards range from $50K to $500K per year for up to five years.

AGENCY CONTACT:
Manfred D. Zorn, Program Director
Directorate for Biological Sciences
National Science Foundation
Room 615 N.
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22230
Telephone: 703 292-8470
Fax: (703) 292-9063
Email: dbidba@nsf.gov
Web: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2005/nsf05577/nsf05577.htm