The U.S. National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and U.S. territories. NSF was established in 1950 by Congress to promote the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure the national defense.
The grant program focuses on supporting research relevant to MCB's four core clusters: Cellular Dynamics and Function, Genetic Mechanisms, Molecular Biophysics, and Systems and Synthetic Biology. It prioritizes projects that integrate methods and technologies from various disciplines—such as life and physical sciences, mathematics, computational sciences, and engineering—to explore major biological questions. Research supported encompasses a variety of experimental and computational approaches using model and non-model organisms. Key areas of interest include multi-scale integration, transformative methods and resources, molecular and cellular evolution, the synthesis of life-like systems, and the quantitative prediction of the phenome from genomic information. High funding priority is given to proposals demonstrating outstanding intellectual merit and strong broader impacts. However, proposals centered on human health and disease treatment are excluded from consideration.