all competitions

The Biosensing Program supports fundamental research in engineering areas related to:

* Novel sensitive, discriminative, low cost, and easy to operate biosensing systems

* Innovative ideas in the development of novel biorecognition strategies

* Multifunctional nanomaterials and interfaces with predefined physical, chemical or biological characteristics for biosensing applications

* Fundamental study of bio-macromolecules confinement and orientation at the micro- and nano-interfaces for biosensing applications

* Molecular sensors capable of monitoring biological structures interaction (protein-protein interactions, cell-to-cell talk, interkingdom signaling, etc.)

Proposals outside of these specific interest areas are welcome. In particular, the Interfacial Processing and Thermodynamics Program and the Biosensing Program may jointly support novel projects related to surface functionalization at the molecular level.

The Biosensing Program supports innovative, transformative and insightful fundamental investigations of original technologies with broad long term impact and applications that require novel use of bio-inspired engineering principles and sophisticated approaches to meet the engineering and technology needs of the nation. The program is targeting research in the area of the monitoring, identification and/or quantification of biological phenomena and will support potential technological breakthroughs that exist at the intersection of engineering, life science and information technology. Projects submitted to the Program must advance both engineering and life sciences.

The development of novel principles and approaches will require highly collaborative interactions between engineers, life scientists and experts in nanotechnology, biomaterials, bioinformatics, and the chemical and physical sciences. The Program recognizes the important role of education and workforce development specifically relevant to the multidisciplinary nature of the area of biosensing.

The Program does not support applications with incremental improvements of existing approaches/technologies, nor does the Program support any device development such as point-of-care diagnostic systems or any applied medical technologies.

The duration of unsolicited awards is generally one to three years. The average annual award size for the program is $100,000 (including indirect cost). Proposals requesting a substantially higher amount than this, without prior consultation with the Program Director, may be returned without review. Small equipment proposals up to $70,000 will also be considered and may be submitted during the annual proposal submission window.

Innovative proposals outside of these specific interest areas can be considered. However, prior to submission, it is recommended that the PI contact the Program Director to avoid the possibility of the proposal being returned without review.

website: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503353&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund