Upcoming Biology Integration Institutes Webinar

Please join us for the upcoming webinar about the Biology Integration Institutes (BII) on November 18th, 2019 at 2pm EST!

During this webinar, program directors from the BIO BII Team will address questions about the recently released solicitation (NSF 20-508).

Use the registration link below to register for our November 18th webinar.

Click here to register

The BII is a new funding opportunity to strengthen the connections between biological subdisciplines and encourage a reintegration of biology. This funding opportunity is a part of BIO’s larger efforts to stimulate integrative thinking in the biological research community.

To learn more about the Biology Integration Institutes, visit the solicitation and program website.

Letters of Intent for Implementation Proposals are due December 20, 2019. The deadline for full proposals, in both the Design and Implementation tracks, is February 6, 2020.

Re-posted from BIO Buzz .

Share your Input on Cyberinfrastructure

NSF recently released a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) inviting the community to provide input on data-intensive science and engineering research questions and challenges and the essential data-related cyberinfrastructure (CI) services and capabilities needed to publish, discover, transport, manage and process data in secure, performant and scalable ways to enable that data-intensive research.

This is an opportunity for the BIO community to provide input on questions, challenges and associated needs specifically related to data-focused CI. While this DCL is not a funding opportunity, all input would be used to inform the refinement of NSF’s CI investment strategy and planning of future NSF funding opportunities.

For more information on how to submit ideas, please refer to the DCL (NSF 20-015) or contact the NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure, nsfdatacirfi@nsf.gov.

The deadline for submissions is December 16, 2019.

Re-posted from BIO Buzz

MCB Office Hours Nov. 13

During this Office Hour we will discuss Award types and Funding Mechanisms followed by an open Q&A session. Questions should be broad and of potential interest to others.

Division Leaders and Program Directors from all four MCB clusters: Cellular Dynamics and Function (CDF), Genetic Mechanisms (GM), Molecular Biophysics (MB), and Synthetic and Systems Biology (SSB) will be present.

DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 13
TIME: 2-3 pm (Eastern Standard Time)
REGISTRATION LINK: https://nsf2.webex.com/nsf2/onstage/g.php?MTID=e8f6e83805a92d4976895ee2f6addbe42

Register to participate and submit your questions via this link.

Click on the link “Subscribe to NSF-MCB” (right side of the page) to receive notifications of new posts as well as the link for each month’s Virtual Office Hours event.

NSF 20-508: Biology Integration Institutes

The Biology Integration Institutes (BII) program (NSF 20-508) supports collaborative teams of researchers investigating questions that span multiple disciplines within and beyond biology. Read the solicitation carefully for information on deadlines for Letters of Intent and full proposals. The post from BioBuzz is pasted below.

Supporting fundamental biological research that takes an integrative approach to understanding life’s key innovations is a priority for the BIO Directorate. Despite biology’s unifying goal of understanding the processes that generate and sustain life, the actual practice of modern biology has become increasingly fragmented into subdisciplines due, in part, to specialized approaches required for deep study of narrowly defined problems.

BIO now aims to strengthen the connections between biological subdisciplines and encourage a reintegration of biology through a new funding opportunity: Biology Integration Institutes. Letters of Intent are due on December 20, 2019 and full proposals are due on February 6, 2020.

The Biology Integration Institutes will support collaborative teams of researchers at a level not feasible in most existing core programs and over a more extended timeframe than is typical of standard NSF awards. Our goal is to stimulate creative integration of diverse biological disciplines using innovative experimental, theoretical, and computational approaches to discover underlying principles operating across all levels of life, from biomolecules to organisms, species, ecosystems, and biomes. While this solicitation focuses on the integration of biological disciplines, any field beyond biology may be included as needed to address the overarching biological theme.

We also intend for the Institutes to enable research and training in a truly integrated environment, preparing the next generation of biological scientists to pursue discipline-spanning research throughout their careers. In these ways, the Biology Integration Institutes will enable the workforce and innovations that will inspire new applications to drive our bioeconomy and provide solutions to pressing societal challenges.

Proposals may be submitted in one of two tracks. Implementation proposals are for teams that have already developed an Integrative Research Plan around a theme of significance, designed an educational approach that employs effective methods for depth and breadth of training, and prepared a cohesive and sustainable Management Plan that is ready for deployment. Design proposals are for teams to develop communities and groundbreaking ideas to be submitted to later competitions as Implementation proposals through diverse and sustained activities, including workshops and follow-up meetings.

This funding opportunity is a part of BIO’s larger efforts to stimulate integrative thinking in the biological research community. To learn more about the Biology Integration Institutes, visit the solicitation and program website, or reach out to the cognizant program directors:

New Solicitation – Transitions to Excellence in Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Research (Transitions) (NSF 20-505)

Funding opportunities are now available for mid-career or later-stage researchers (Associate or Full Professor, or equivalent) to expand or make a transition in their research programs via a sabbatical leave or similar mechanism of professional development and then develop a new research program in their own lab based on the sabbatical leave experience.

Awards will fund up to six months of PI salary during the first sabbatical or professional development year, followed by support to continue the research program for two subsequent years upon the PI’s return to normal academic duties. Proposals are welcome in all areas currently funded by MCB, and proposals addressing major open questions at the intersections of biology with other disciplines, such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer sciences, and engineering are of particular interest to the program.

Proposals are accepted any time, in accordance with MCB’s no-deadline core solicitation. Program details, including more information on program priorities and additional criteria, can be found in the full solicitation (NSF 20-505).

Share Your #NSFstories

NSF is active on social media platforms and is ready to engage with you and your exciting science. But the internet is loud and simply bursting with cat videos, so what’s the quickest way to get in touch with NSF?

Tag us!

As scientists, you can appreciate the value of proper labeling and classification, and that’s what those fun hashtags are for!  Use #NSFstories and/or #NSFfunded when posting online so we can see and share your discoveries or events.

Email us!

Do you want us to help promote your NSF-funded work on our platforms? Send your research updates to your Program Officer and they will forward them on to our social media team.

Check us out on:

  NSF NSF BIO
Twitter www.twitter.com/NSF http://www.twitter.com/NSF_BIO
Facebook www.facebook.com/US.NSF  
Instagram www.instagram.com/nsfgov  
Pinterest www.pinterest.com/USNSF  
YouTube www.youtube.com/user/VideosatNSF  

Shape the Future of Synthetic Biology! Apply for Funding to Mentor High School iGEM Teams

Reposted from BIO Buzz: Blog of the BIO Office of the Assistant Director.

NSF is calling for requests for supplements and proposals to support high school teams participating in the International Genetically Engineered Machine – or “iGEM” – competition.

Attracting diverse students to STEM careers at a young age is essential to ensure the realization of a vibrant U.S. bioeconomy that will fuel innovation, economic growth and job creation. Synthetic biology has emerged as a major driver of innovation and technological advancement; as such, active researcher engagement of young people in synthetic biology is an important early step in workforce development to support a growing bioeconomy.

iGEM has emerged as the premier opportunity to engage students in creative research and technology development projects in synthetic biology. Annually, over 6,000 students from around the world at the high school, undergraduate, and master’s level participate in iGEM, working to design, build and test creative solutions to societal challenges using the tools of synthetic biology.

To support early career workforce development in this growing field, NSF is encouraging principal investigators of existing NSF awards to apply for supplements through the Research Assistantships for High School Students (RAHSS) mechanism to support iGEM teams. Supplements can vary in size but are expected to average approximately $10,000 per team. Additionally, NSF encourages the submission of Research Coordination Networks (RCN) proposals that would support dissemination of best practices for working with high school iGEM teams, and/or ways of remote mentoring of teams that are not located near a research university with synthetic biology capabilities. RCN proposals can be submitted at any time to the Biological Sciences or Engineering Directorates.

For more information on iGEM and how researchers can participate, visit iGEM.org.

 

Virtual Office Hours! NEW!!!
MCB now holding office hours! Wednesday, Oct. 9 2-3pm (and the 2nd Wednesday of every month) Bring your questions! Join us remotely to listen and learn!

At MCB’s first Virtual Office Hour on October 9, MCB Division and Deputy Division Directors (Basil Nikolau and Theresa Good) as well as cluster leaders/representatives (Charlie Cunningham, CDF; Karen Cone, GM; Wilson Francisco, MB; David Rockcliffe, SSB) will give an overview of the MCB division, its clusters, and their respective priorities. The meeting will be held via WebEx. Participants may submit questions via the Q&A function. Questions should be broad and of potential interest to others.

At each Virtual Office Hour thereafter, MCB plans to discuss a specific topic, followed by an open question and answer session. Registered participants may post questions during the Virtual Office Hour.  Click on the hotlink to register – and be sure to select “Join by browser” when the option appears on your screen.

*Click on the link “Subscribe to NSF-MCB” (right side of the page) to receive notifications of new posts as well as the link for each month’s Virtual Office Hours event.

CAREER CORNER: DOING IT YOUR WAY

In alignment with the National Science Foundation’s vision statement, the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) occasionally posts articles about scientists who pursue careers outside the traditional path of post-doc, research and tenure-track university positions. Dr. Beth Carpenter holds a Ph.D. from Uniformed Services University in Emerging and Infectious Diseases. Her career path has steered away from the post-doctoral research and tenure-track positions at universities.  

Dr. Beth Carpenter in her lab at Seton School.

Dr. Carpenter entered graduate school already knowing that her career goal was to earn a doctoral degree to teach science, rather than conduct research – specifically her goal was to teach undergraduate students. “Understanding this gave me a lot of freedom in my program,” Carpenter says. “I chose the preventative medicine track because it provided a broader exposure to knowledge than other specializations.” And, luckily for her, her Ph.D. advisor supported her goal.

Carpenter’s planning paid off: She is now in her fifth year at Seton School in Manassas, VA, where she is science department head and teaches chemistry to high school students. She is also an adjunct professor of biology at University of Maryland University College, where she has taught biology to undergraduate students since receiving her Ph.D.

It took more than a Ph.D. to open the doors to the classroom, says Carpenter. She was fortunate that her Ph.D. program included professors who were teaching at community colleges in addition to their research. They helped her craft a personal statement of teaching philosophy and frame her CV to reflect her teaching experience. And if she could do it again, she says, she would look for funding to attend an education conference to help her establish connections in the field of education.

The key to re-aligning a traditional career path to meet her personal goals were planning and persistence. Carpenter advises students to seek opportunities that develop the skills and experiences needed to transition to their intended career goals. “There are probably scientists in your department who can help you,” says Carpenter. Advisors can help students identify opportunities by tracking the career paths of former students and remaining open-minded to their students’ goals.

“Teaching biology to high school and undergraduate students is where we can help the public understand how biology fits into their lives,” says Carpenter. “We need good science teachers to teach science and build interest in science.”  

Do you know someone who’s used their Ph.D. in biological sciences or a related discipline to pursue a career outside the academic environment? Click on the feedback link above…we may share their story!

Reintegrating Biology: Last Chance
This is the logo for Reintegrating Biology.

The Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences wants to hear what you think!


Although registration for participating in one of two Virtual Town Halls will soon close, there’s still time to make your voice heard in the discussion about the directions you’d like to see funded by the National Science Foundation.  

For more information, read the post, “Integrating Biology” at BioBuzz, the blog of the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Biological Sciences, Office of the Assistant Director.