Dear
Colleague Letter: ANR - NSF/Physics/MCB Lead Agency Opportunity at the Physics
- Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Interface
Agency
National
Science Foundation
Description
The
US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) have signed an agreement on Research
Cooperation. The agreement provides an overarching framework to encourage
collaboration between US and French research communities and sets out the
principles by which jointly supported activities might be developed. The
agreement is a lead agency opportunity whereby collaborative proposals between
US and French researchers are submitted to only the lead agency for review, and
the partner agency agrees to accept the review. Based on the lead agency review
of collaborative proposals, NSF and ANR will make joint funding decisions to
support meritorious collaborative projects. The lead agency opportunity allows
for reciprocal acceptance of merit review through unsolicited mechanisms with
its goal to reduce some of the current barriers to working internationally. In
FY 2021 (October 2020-September 2021), ANR will serve as the lead agency for all
proposals. It is expected that NSF and ANR will alternate as lead agency in
subsequent years.
The
lead agency opportunity allows US and French researchers to submit a single
proposal describing a project involving US and French researchers, that will undergo a single review process by
the lead agency, on behalf of NSF/PHY, NSF/MCB and ANR. In FY 2021 proposals
will be accepted for US-France collaborative projects in the areas of
intersection between NSF/PHY, NSF/MCB and some of the research themes covered by
the ANR's Generic call for proposals. Proposals relevant to the following
priority areas and agency programs are eligible to apply for the lead agency
opportunity in FY 2021:
Physics
from Molecules to Cells
The
emergence, evolution, dynamics and function of self-organized cellular systems
stem from the interaction of biological components and the environment to yield
robust, resilient and adaptive living systems. Through this DCL, NSF and ANR
seek proposals that use multidisciplinary approaches that emphasize
quantitative, predictive and theory driven science aimed at understanding
mechanisms underlying these essential life processes at the molecular,
subcellular and cellular scales. We are seeking proposals which integrate
approaches from theoretical and experimental physics and biology to develop
testable and quantitative understanding of biological questions. Projects
providing innovative methodological or conceptual approaches to a biological
question and with a strong theoretical physics component are strongly
encouraged. Purely descriptive projects without predictive quantitative
components are of low priority. Projects that leverage unique resources and
capabilities of partners in the US and France will be given
priority.
Announcement
Number:
NSF
20-120
Closing
Date:
December
1st, 2020: Deadline for the registration file (dossier) with
ANR
April
2021: Deadline for the full proposal submissions to ANR
Link
to Full Announcement
https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20120/nsf20120.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click
Contact
Information
Krastan Blagoev,