Biology Integration Institutes | 21 619

Opportunity Information: Apply for 21 619

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Biology Integration Institutes (BII) grant opportunity is designed to counteract the growing fragmentation of biology into narrow subdisciplines by funding large, collaborative research efforts that deliberately connect ideas, methods, and data across multiple levels of biological organization. The core premise is that many of the most important and timely questions in modern biology cannot be answered within a single specialty, because the processes that sustain life and generate biological novelty operate across scales, from molecules and cells to tissues, organisms, species, ecosystems, biomes, and even Earth-system dynamics. BII seeks to bring researchers together around unifying biological themes that explain how these processes interact across scales, with the expectation that integrative insights will reveal fundamental principles and enable discovery of lifes innovations.

A central feature of the program is support for collaborative teams that span multiple disciplines within biology and, when needed to address the main biological theme, incorporate fields beyond biology as well. This emphasis reflects the realities of contemporary research, where progress often depends on combining approaches such as genetics and evolution, physiology and ecology, microbiology and biogeochemistry, or theory and experimentation, alongside enabling expertise from areas like computer science, statistics, engineering, mathematics, geosciences, or the social sciences. The program explicitly recognizes that biology is generating diverse, rapidly expanding data streams, and that integration is essential to make sense of these data and to tackle emergent questions about organisms and the environment.

Beyond research outcomes, BII places major weight on training and workforce development. The solicitation highlights the need for training programs that are both groundbreaking and sustainable, preparing the next generation of scientists to work comfortably across the breadth of biological sciences while still achieving deep expertise. In practice, this means institutes are expected to create training environments where students and early-career researchers learn to collaborate across domains, adopt shared conceptual frameworks, and develop the technical and analytical skills required for cross-disciplinary work, without diluting rigor or innovation.

The opportunity also stresses modern cyberinfrastructure and technology as a necessary foundation for integration. BII institutes are expected to develop and adopt practices that leverage advances in computation, data management, modeling, and related technologies to bridge subdisciplines. This includes making data, tools, workflows, and other resources accessible, reusable, and adaptable so they can support new questions and unanticipated future uses. In other words, the program is not only interested in producing results for a single project, but also in building durable infrastructure and community practices that accelerate integrative biology more broadly.

In terms of broader impacts, NSF frames BII as an engine for downstream innovation. By producing unified understanding across biological scales and disciplines, the program aims to catalyze new biotechnologies and applications that strengthen the bioeconomy and contribute solutions to societal challenges, particularly those tied to living systems and environmental change. The solicitation is a discretionary NSF grant opportunity in the science and technology research and development category (CFDA 47.074). The opportunity (number 21-619) was created on September 15, 2021, with an original closing date of January 12, 2022, and NSF anticipated making about six awards. The published award ceiling is listed as 0, which typically indicates applicants should rely on the solicitation for detailed budget guidance rather than a single fixed cap in the summary field. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others" with additional clarification provided in the full eligibility text of the solicitation.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Biology Integration Institutes" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.074.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 15, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 12, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 6 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for 21 619

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