DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY For more information about the Office of Science, go to Office of Science |
To DOE National Laboratories LAB 07-16 Ethical, Legal, and Societal Implications (ELSI) of Research on Alternative Bioenergy Technologies, Synthetic Genomics, or Nanotechnologies
SUMMARY: The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER) of the Office of
Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby announces its interest in receiving
applications for research in the area of Ethical, Legal, and Societal Implications (ELSI) of
research on alternative bioenergy technologies, synthetic genomics, or nanotechnologies. The
aims of this Notice are to support explorations of the potential societal implications arising from
scientific research in areas of systems microbiology pertaining to the DOE mission of bioenergy,
and, in addition, issues arising from synthetic genomics applied to bioenergy, and research on
nanomaterials and nanotechnologies relevant to bioenergy.
Dates: Potential researchers are required to submit a brief preproposal, referencing LAB 07-16
for receipt by DOE by 4:30 p.m., Eastern Time, February 8, 2007. Preproposals will be
reviewed for conformance with the guidelines presented in this Solicitation and suitability in the
technical areas specified in this Solicitation. A response to the preproposals encouraging or
discouraging formal proposals will be communicated to researchers by February 22, 2007.
Researchers who have not received a response regarding the status of their preproposal by this
date are responsible for contacting the program to confirm this status.
Only those preproposals that receive notification from DOE encouraging a formal proposal may
submit full proposals. No other formal proposals will be considered.
Potential researchers must submit a brief preproposal that consists of no more than three pages
of narrative stating the research objectives, describing the technical approach(s), and identifying
the proposed team members and their expertise. The intent in requesting a preproposal is to save
the time and effort of researchers in preparing and submitting a formal project proposal that may
be inappropriate for the program. Preproposals will be reviewed relative to the scope and
research needs as outlined in the summary paragraph and in the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION. The preproposal should identify, on the cover sheet, the title of the project, the
institution or organization, principal investigator name, telephone number, fax number, and
e-mail address. No budget information or biographical data need be included, nor is an
institutional endorsement necessary.
Preproposals referencing the first aim in LAB 07-16 should be sent as a text file without
attachments or a single PDF file attachment via e-mail to: genomicsGTL@science.doe.gov with
"Preproposal LAB 07-16 ELSI Lastname Institution" as the subject. No FAX or mail
submission of preproposals will be accepted.
Eligibility: Researchers from FFRDCs (Federally Funded Research and Development Centers)
or DOE National Laboratories. BER reserves the right to encourage, in whole or in part, any, all,
or none of the preproposals submitted, and may issue further guidance on the scope of the full
proposal submissions of those encouraged.
Formal proposals in response to this Solicitation should be submitted via ePMA and must be
received by 8:00 pm Eastern Time, April 19, 2007.
This section pertains only to those proposers that have been encouraged to submit a full
proposal. A complete formal FWP in a single Portable Document Format (PDF) file must be
submitted through the DOE ePMA system (https://epma.doe.gov) as an attachment. To identify
that the FWP is responding to this program announcement, please fill in the following fields in
the "ePMA Create Proposal Admin Information" screen as shown:
* Please use the wording shown when filling in these fields to identify that the FWP is
responding to this Program Announcement.
Contact Dr. Daniel Drell, telephone: (301) 903-4742, E-mail: Daniel.drell@science.doe.gov
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Biology has entered the era of systems biology in
which we strive to understand entire living organisms and their interactions with the
environment. Although scientists have long tried to understand the workings of individual genes
or small groups of genes, this new era in biology will focus research on entire networks of genes
and even entire biological systems - small, single celled organisms at first, then more complex
microbial communities and plant microbe interactions, ultimately ecosystems.
The Department of Energy's Genomics:GTL program is a systems biology research program that
is exploring biotechnology solutions that can give us abundant sources of clean energy yet
control greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (a key factor in global climate change), better
understand the cycling of carbon and emissions of CO2 in the environment, and support more
effective efforts to clean up past contamination of the environment. The Genomics:GTL
Program supports a combination of large, well integrated, multidisciplinary research teams as
well as a portfolio of smaller, focused research projects. The overall aim of the Genomics:GTL
program is to encourage the development of new energy sources and supplies, foster more
effective technologies and approaches to mitigating greenhouse gas impacts on global climate
processes, and to support the development of more effective biological approaches to the cleanup
of legacy wastes at DOE sites associated with a 62 year history of nuclear weapons and nuclear
materials development. This solicitation will support focused research projects to explore
societal implications arising from or consequent to research on alternative bioenergy
technologies under the aegis of the Genomics:GTL program. Information on the research
projects currently funded by the Genomics:GTL Program and a description of project goals and
overall program organization can be found at:
http://genomicsgtl.energy.gov. The topic areas of
particular interest to this Notice include but may not be limited to: societal implications of
alternate bioenergy technologies, considerations impacting the use of "dual-use" crops (food vs.
energy), and possible international implications. Additionally, a large biomass to biofuels
contribution to the energy supply sector will require the exploration, and the exploitation, of
microbes and microbial capabilities, which may raise issues of the use of altered microbes. The
development of sustainable biofuels may involve a large shift in crop growth patterns in the US,
involving growing biofuel feedstocks on acres that are currently fallow, used for pasture and
grazing, managed for timber crops, or crops grown for food. Research is requested to help
understand the societal issues and concerns associated with changes from any of the previous
land use patterns to likely biomass crops.
Synthetic genomics and nanotechnology are two recent areas of technology development that the
DOE (among other agencies) supports. While these programs promise great benefits, they also
raise possible issues of misuse or unanticipated consequences. Synthetic genomics is the rapidly
advancing area of gene, viral, and genome synthesis from single base pairs and short
oligonucleotide fragments to introduce properties into living organisms that hitherto lacked them
(e.g. a bioenergy synthesis pathway into a previously nonsynthetic microbe, or genetic control
regions that could enhance an existing process (for example, cellulose degradation) in a fungus).
At its most ambitious, synthetic genomics could lead to the reconstruction, de novo, of an entire
microbial genome either in native form, or engineered to have useful properties. Assuming
success at these efforts, what societal implications could be expected and what challenges will
they present to us? (Note: biodefense implications will not be supported under this notice, since
those are the subject of discussions by the National Science Advisory Board on Biosecurity,
http://www.biosecurityboard.gov/).
Nanotechnology is a very broad area of activity focused on the science and properties of
substances from 1 to 100 nanometers in size. As such, nanotechnology includes most scientific
disciplines from chemistry and physics to materials sciences, biology, engineering and
computational science. Activities are already being funded to explore environmental, safety and
health questions (e.g. toxicities of certain nanomaterials) arising from nanotechnologies and
work is needed to look at longer range at potential societal implications if nanotechnologies
(including nanoparticles and nanomaterials) are successfully developed. Assuming success at
these efforts, what societal implications could be expected and what challenges will they present
to us?
Research Focus: Ethical, Legal, and Societal Implications of Research on Alternative
Bioenergy Technologies, Synthetic Genomics, and Nanotechnologies.
In this Notice, research is solicited into the potential societal implications arising from research
being conducted under the auspices of the Genomics:GTL program on bioenergy technologies
and synthetic genomics, as well as nanotechnologies relevant to the development of alternative
bioenergy approaches. Responsive applications could propose studies of various energy
scenarios to which GTL science might contribute; exploring international implications and
sensitivities, opportunities and barriers, to the use of bioenergy advances, synthetic genomics
technologies, and nanotechnologies. This could include studies, conferences and workshops,
research efforts aimed either at more precisely defining the agenda of issues that may arise
and/or analyzing potential options for dealing with identified issues arising from GTL Bioenergy
research, synthetic genomics, or nanoscience research. While the national interest is in
developing biofuels as an alternative to imported oil and ensuring sustainability of the biofuels
production pipeline while balancing competing interests for land use, the purpose of this notice is
to objectively analyze the implications of biofuels, not to advocate for their adoption. The results
of this research should provide a better understanding of the potential environmental and societal
impacts of biofuels throughout the entire supply chain, and contribute to the development of
informed policies on bioenergy crops and their consequences. Similarly, it is the aim of this
notice to encourage analyses of societal implications of synthetic genomics and
nanotechnologies without passing judgment on their respective merits for any particular
application. Two considerations are paramount: 1) activities for which support is sought
under this Notice must be strongly scientifically and technically grounded and 2) activities
for which support is sought under this Notice must recognize that it is not the role or place
of this program to advocate or defend particular policy options.
Investigations are encouraged that focus on:
References:
Genomics:GTL Program: http://genomicsgtl.energy.gov
Genomics:GTL Roadmap:
http://genomicsgtl.energy.gov/roadmap/index.shtml
Genomics:GTL Bioenergy Mission Appendix to Roadmap:
http://genomicsgtl.energy.gov/roadmap/pdf/GTL05_05Energy.pdf
Genomics:GTL Biomass to Biofuels Report:
http://genomicsgtl.energy.gov/biofuels/b2bworkshop.shtml
History of DOE ELSI Research:
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/elsi.shtml
BERAC report on Synthetic Genomics:
http://www.science.doe.gov/ober/berac/SynBio.pdf
National Nanotechnology Initiative: http://www.nano.gov/
Office of Basic Energy Sciences Nanotechnology Home Page:
http://www.science.doe.gov/News_Information/News_Room/2006/nano/index.htm
Program Funding: Up to $500,000 is available in Fiscal Year 2007, contingent upon
availability of appropriated funds. It is anticipated that from 5 to 9 individual awards will be
funded at a level of not more than $300,000 per year (total costs). Annual budgets are expected
to range from $50,000 to $300,000, total costs. Terms of requested award should not exceed 3
years, subject to continued programmatic need, satisfactory progress and the availability of
funds. DOE is under no obligation to pay for any costs associated with preparation or submission
of applications. DOE reserves the right to fund, in whole or in part, any, all, or none of the
applications submitted in response to this Notice.
Submission Information
The Department of Energy will accept Full Proposals by invitation only, based upon the
evaluation of the preproposals. After receiving notification from DOE concerning successful
preproposals, researchers may prepare formal proposals. The Project Description must not
exceed 20 pages, including tables and figures, but exclusive of attachments. The proposal must
contain an abstract or project summary, short vitae, and letters of intent from collaborators if
appropriate.
Full proposals adhering to DOE Field Work Proposal format (Reference DOE Order 412.1) are
to be prepared and submitted consistent with policies of the investigator's laboratory and the
local DOE Operations Office. Laboratories may submit proposals directly to the SC Program
Office listed above. A copy should also be provided to the appropriate DOE Operations Office.
The instructions and format described below should be followed. You must reference Program
Announcement LAB 07-16 on all submissions and inquiries about this program.
GUIDE FOR PREPARATION OF SCIENTIFIC/TECHNICAL PROPOSALS TO BE SUBMITTED BY NATIONAL LABORATORIES Proposals from National Laboratories submitted to the Office of Science (SC) as a result of this program announcement will follow the Department of Energy Field Work Proposal process with additional information requested to allow for scientific/technical merit review. The following guidelines for content and format are intended to facilitate an understanding of the requirements necessary for SC to conduct a merit review of a proposal. Please follow the guidelines carefully, as deviations could be cause for declination of a proposal without merit review. 1. Evaluation Criteria Proposals will be subjected to formal merit review (peer review) and will be evaluated against the following criteria which are listed in descending order of importance:
Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach Competency of the Personnel and Adequacy of the Proposed Resources Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget 2. Summary of Proposal Contents
This section pertains only to those proposers that have been encouraged to submit a full proposal. A complete formal FWP in a single Portable Document Format (PDF) file must be submitted through the DOE ePMA system (https://epma.doe.gov) as an attachment. To identify that the FWP is responding to this program announcement, please fill in the following fields in the "ePMA Create Proposal Admin Information" screen as shown:
Fiscal Year: Proposal Reason: Program Announcement Number: LAB 07-16 * Program announcement Title: Ethical, Legal, and Societal Implications (ELSI) of Research on Alternative Bioenergy Technologies, Synthetic Genomics, or Nanotechnologies * Proposal Purpose: Estimated Proposal Begin Date: HQ Program Manager Organization: * Please use the wording shown when filling in these fields to identify that the FWP is responding to this Program Announcement.
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Biological and Environmental Research, SC-23.2 19901 Germantown Road Germantown, MD 20874-1290 ATTN: Program Announcement LAB 07-16 3. Detailed Contents of the Proposal Adherence to type size and line spacing requirements is necessary for several reasons. No researcher should have the advantage, or by using small type, of providing more text in their proposals. Small type may also make it difficult for reviewers to read the proposal. Proposals must have 1-inch margins at the top, bottom, and on each side. Type sizes must be 10 point or larger. Line spacing is at the discretion of the researcher but there must be no more than 6 lines per vertical inch of text. Pages should be standard 8 1/2" x 11" (or metric A4, i.e., 210 mm x 297 mm). 3.1 Field Work Proposal Format (Reference DOE O 412.1A) (DOE ONLY) The Field Work Proposal (FWP) is to be prepared and submitted consistent with policies of the investigator's laboratory and the local DOE Operations Office. Additional information is also requested to allow for scientific/technical merit review. Laboratories may submit proposals directly to ePMA. 3.2 Proposal Cover Page The following proposal cover page information may be placed on plain paper. No form is required.
SC Program announcement title Name of laboratory Name of principal investigator (PI) Position title of PI Mailing address of PI Telephone of PI Fax number of PI Electronic mail address of PI Name of official signing for laboratory* Title of official Fax number of official Telephone of official Electronic mail address of official Requested funding for each year; total request Use of human subjects in proposed project:
Signature of official, date of signature* *The signature certifies that personnel and facilities are available as stated in the proposal, if the project is funded.
Provide the initial page number for each of the sections of the proposal. Number pages consecutively at the bottom of each page throughout the proposal. Start each major section at the top of a new page. Do not use unnumbered pages and do not use suffices, such as 5a, 5b. 3.4 Budget and Budget Explanation A detailed budget is required for the entire project period and for each fiscal year. It is preferred that DOE's budget page, Form 4620.1 be used for providing budget information*. Modifications of categories are permissible to comply with institutional practices, for example with regard to overhead costs. A written justification of each budget item is to follow the budget pages. For personnel this should take the form of a one-sentence statement of the role of the person in the project. Provide a detailed justification of the need for each item of permanent equipment. Explain each of the other direct costs in sufficient detail for reviewers to be able to judge the appropriateness of the amount requested. Further instructions regarding the budget are given in section 4 of this guide. * Form 4620.1 is available at web site: http://www.science.doe.gov/grants/budgetform.pdf 3.5 Abstract Provide an abstract of less than 400 words. Give the project objectives (in broad scientific terms), the approach to be used, and what the research is intended to accomplish. State the hypotheses to be tested (if any). At the top of the abstract give the project title, names of all the investigators and their institutions, and contact information for the principal investigator, including e-mail address. 3.6 Narrative (main technical portion of the proposal, including background/introduction, proposed research and methods, timetable of activities, and responsibilities of key project personnel) The narrative comprises the research plan for the project and is limited to 20 pages (maximum). It should contain enough background material in the Introduction, including review of the relevant literature, to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the state of the science. The major part of the narrative should be devoted to a description and justification of the proposed project, including details of the methods to be used. It should also include a timeline for the major activities of the proposed project, and should indicate which project personnel will be responsible for which activities. If any portion of the project is to be done in collaboration with another institution (or institutions), provide information on the institution(s) and what part of the project it will carry out. Further information on any such arrangements is to be given in the sections "Budget and Budget Explanation", "Biographical Sketches", and "Description of Facilities and Resources". 3.7 Literature Cited Give full bibliographic entries for each publication cited in the narrative. 3.8 Biographical Sketches This information is required for senior personnel at the institution submitting the proposal and at all subcontracting institutions (if any). The biographical sketch is limited to a maximum of two pages for each investigator. To assist in the identification of potential conflicts of interest or bias in the selection of reviewers, the following information must be provided in each biographical sketch.
Graduate and Postdoctoral Advisors and Advisees: A list of the names of the individual's own graduate advisor(s) and principal postdoctoral sponsor(s), and their current organizational affiliations. A list of the names of the individual's graduate students and postdoctoral associates during the past 5 years, and their current organizational affiliations. 3.9 Description of Facilities and Resources Facilities to be used for the conduct of the proposed research should be briefly described. Indicate the pertinent capabilities of the institution, including support facilities (such as machine shops), that will be used during the project. List the most important equipment items already available for the project and their pertinent capabilities. Include this information for each subcontracting institution (if any). 3.10 Other Support of Investigators Other support is defined as all financial resources, whether Federal, non-Federal, commercial, or institutional, available in direct support of an individual's research endeavors. Information on active and pending other support is required for all senior personnel, including investigators at collaborating institutions to be funded by a subcontract. For each item of other support, give the organization or agency, inclusive dates of the project or proposed project, annual funding, and level of effort (months per year or percentage of the year) devoted to the project. 3.11 Appendix Information not easily accessible to a reviewer may be included in an appendix, but do not use the appendix to circumvent the page limitations of the proposal. Reviewers are not required to consider information in an appendix, and reviewers may not have time to read extensive appendix materials with the same care they would use with the proposal proper. The appendix may contain the following items: up to five publications, manuscripts accepted for publication, abstracts, patents, or other printed materials directly relevant to this project, but not generally available to the scientific community; and letters from investigators at other institutions stating their agreement to participate in the project (do not include letters of endorsement of the project).
4. Detailed Instructions for the Budget 4.1 Salaries and Wages List the names of the principal investigator and other key personnel and the estimated number of person-months for which DOE funding is requested. Proposers should list the number of postdoctoral associates and other professional positions included in the proposal and indicate the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) person-months and rate of pay (hourly, monthly or annually). For graduate and undergraduate students and all other personnel categories such as secretarial, clerical, technical, etc., show the total number of people needed in each job title and total salaries needed. Salaries requested must be consistent with the institution's regular practices. The budget explanation should define concisely the role of each position in the overall project. 4.2 Equipment DOE defines equipment as "an item of tangible personal property that has a useful life of more than two years and an acquisition cost of $25,000 or more." Special purpose equipment means equipment which is used only for research, scientific or other technical activities. Items of needed equipment should be individually listed by description and estimated cost, including tax, and adequately justified. Allowable items ordinarily will be limited to scientific equipment that is not already available for the conduct of the work. General purpose office equipment normally will not be considered eligible for support. 4.3 Domestic Travel The type and extent of travel and its relation to the research should be specified. Funds may be requested for attendance at meetings and conferences, other travel associated with the work and subsistence. In order to qualify for support, attendance at meetings or conferences must enhance the investigator's capability to perform the research, plan extensions of it, or disseminate its results. Consultant's travel costs also may be requested. 4.4 Foreign Travel Foreign travel is any travel outside Canada and the United States and its territories and possessions. Foreign travel may be approved only if it is directly related to project objectives. 4.5 Other Direct Costs The budget should itemize other anticipated direct costs not included under the headings above, including materials and supplies, publication costs, computer services, and consultant services (which are discussed below). Other examples are: aircraft rental, space rental at research establishments away from the institution, minor building alterations, service charges, and fabrication of equipment or systems not available off- the-shelf. Reference books and periodicals may be charged to the project only if they are specifically related to the research. a. Materials and Supplies The budget should indicate in general terms the type of required expendable materials and supplies with their estimated costs. The breakdown should be more detailed when the cost is substantial. b. Publication Costs/Page Charges The budget may request funds for the costs of preparing and publishing the results of research, including costs of reports, reprints page charges, or other journal costs (except costs for prior or early publication), and necessary illustrations. c. Consultant Services Anticipated consultant services should be justified and information furnished on each individual's expertise, primary organizational affiliation, daily compensation rate and number of days expected service. Consultant's travel costs should be listed separately under travel in the budget. d. Computer Services The cost of computer services, including computer-based retrieval of scientific and technical information, may be requested. A justification based on the established computer service rates should be included. e. Subcontracts Subcontracts should be listed so that they can be properly evaluated. There should be an anticipated cost and an explanation of that cost for each subcontract. The total amount of each subcontract should also appear as a budget item. 4.6 Indirect Costs Explain the basis for each overhead and indirect cost. Include the current rates.
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