(FOA)-NSF - Dear Colleague Letter: UKRI/BBSRC- NSF/BIO Lead Agency Opportunity in Bioinformatics, Microbiome, Quantum Biology and Synthetic Biology/Synthetic Cell

 

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Research Cooperation. The MOU provides an overarching framework to encourage collaboration between US and UK research communities and sets out the principles by which jointly supported activities might be developed. The MoU provides for a lead agency arrangement whereby proposals may be submitted to either NSF (via FastLane or Grants.gov) or UKRI (via Je-S).

 

The NSF Directorate for Biological Sciences (NSF/BIO) and the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) are pleased to announce new topical areas associated with the lead agency opportunity. The lead agency opportunity allows for reciprocal acceptance of merit review through unsolicited mechanisms and its goal is to help reduce some of the current barriers to working internationally.

 

The lead agency opportunity allows US and UK researchers to submit a single proposal describing a project involving US and UK researchers, that will undergo a single review process by the lead agency, on behalf of both NSF/BIO and UKRI/BBSRC. In 2019 proposals will be accepted for US-UK collaborative projects in the areas of intersection between NSF/BIO and UKRI/BBSRC as set out in the notice of intentions.

 

Proposals must address the priorities of both UKRI/BBSRC and participating NSF/BIO Divisions. Proposers must provide a clear rationale for the need for a US-UK collaboration, including the unique expertise and synergy that the collaborating groups will bring to the project. Proposers should note that the lead agency opportunity does not represent a new source of funding. Proposals will be assessed in competition with all others submitted to normal solicitations/responsive mode round, and outcomes will be subject to both success in merit review and the availability of funds from both UKRI/BBSRC and NSF/BIO.

 

Link to Full Announcement

https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2019/nsf19058/nsf19058.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click