Genes and Genome Systems Cluster

PROGRAM GUIDELINES

Apply to PD 04-1112 in FastLane. (standard Grant Proposal Guidelines) apply.)

As announced on May 21st, proposers must prepare and submit proposals to the National Science Foundation (NSF) using the NSF FastLane system at http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/. This approach is being taken to support efficient Grants.gov operations during this busy workload period and in response to OMB direction guidance issued March 9, 2009. NSF will continue to post information about available funding opportunities to Grants.gov FIND and will continue to collaborate with institutions who have invested in system-to-system submission functionality as their preferred proposal submission method. NSF remains committed to the long-standing goal of streamlined grants processing and plans to provide a web services interface for those institutions that want to use their existing grants management systems to directly submit proposals to NSF.

Please be advised that the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) includes revised guidelines to implement the mentoring provisions of the America COMPETES Act (ACA) (Pub. L. No. 110-69, Aug. 9, 2007.) As specified in the ACA, each proposal that requests funding to support postdoctoral researchers must include a description of the mentoring activities that will be provided for such individuals. Proposals that do not comply with this requirement will be returned without review (see the PAPP Guide Part I: Grant Proposal Guide Chapter II for further information about the implementation of this new requirement).

DUE DATES

Full Proposal Target Date:  January 12, 2010

January, Annually Thereafter

Full Proposal Target Date:  July 12, 2010

July, Annually Thereafter

SYNOPSIS

The Genes and Genome Systems Cluster, one of three thematic areas within the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, supports studies on the structure, function and evolution of genes and genomes in prokaryotes, eukaryotes, phages, and viruses.  Areas of interest include the following: (i) mechanisms of genome maintenance including replication, repair and recombination; (ii) nuclear and extra-nuclear inheritance, horizontal gene transfer and other mechanisms leading to diversity and novel adaptive strategies in the biosphere; (iii) genetic and epigenetic mechanisms including chromatin modification and remodeling; (iv) mechanisms and regulation of gene expression including transcription, RNA processing, translation, turnover and RNA interference; (vi) structure, function and dynamics of nucleic acids and nucleic acid-protein complexes and machines; and (vii) molecular evolution and the origin of life.  Research on multi-component genetic processes is encouraged, including projects with direct relevance to climate change and energy sustainability.  The cluster welcomes "bottom-up" synthetic biology projects and "top-down" systems biology projects that integrate computational strategies with high-throughput, comparative genome-wide approaches and other experimental strategies to investigate complex gene networks and their outputs.  The development and use of innovative in vivo and in vitro approaches, including biochemical, biophysical, computational, genetic, genomic, and metagenomic methods are encouraged, as is research at the interfaces between biology and other disciplines such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, and engineering.

Program Directors:

Karen Cone.  Epigenetic regulation; Plant genetics and genomics; Gene expression mechanisms.

Michael K. Reddy.  Eukaryotic DNA replication, repair, and recombination; Chromosome structure and function; Molecular evolution; Eukaryotic viruses; and Plant genetics.

Abstracts of Recent Awards Made Through This Program

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