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NSF's implementation of the revised 2 CFR

NSF Financial Assistance awards (grants and cooperative agreements) made on or after October 1, 2024, will be subject to the applicable set of award conditions, dated October 1, 2024, available on the NSF website. These terms and conditions are consistent with the revised guidance specified in the OMB Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance published in the Federal Register on April 22, 2024.

Important information for proposers

All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in this funding opportunity and in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) that is in effect for the relevant due date to which the proposal is being submitted. It is the responsibility of the proposer to ensure that the proposal meets these requirements. Submitting a proposal prior to a specified deadline does not negate this requirement.

Updates to NSF Research Security Policies

On July 10, 2025, NSF issued an Important Notice providing updates to the agency's research security policies, including a research security training requirement, Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program annual certification requirement, prohibition on Confucius institutes and an updated FFDR reporting and submission timeline.

Dear Colleague Letter

NSF-NIST Scholars in Residence

Invites proposals for short-term internships or faculty fellowships at NIST to develop expertise in standards development for AI-ready data, workflows, machine readable code, calibration objects, and other processes associated with the bioeconomy.
Invites proposals for short-term internships or faculty fellowships at NIST to develop expertise in standards development for AI-ready data, workflows, machine readable code, calibration objects, and other processes associated with the bioeconomy.

Dear Colleagues:

America's leadership in advanced biotechnology and the bioeconomy is vital to the global competitiveness, national security, and economic growth of the United States. The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) works to secure America's bioeconomy now and into the future through strategic investments in foundational and use-inspired research, technology translation, research infrastructure, and training. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been a global leader in standards development, convening industry stakeholders and fostering standards adoption, and has long supported the development of standards in areas such as the bioeconomy as a key component of technology translation and commercialization. 

NSF and NIST are announcing a Bioeconomy Standards Scholar-in-Residence Initiative (hereinafter "the Initiative") to catalyze the development of standards and metrics for the bioeconomy. Through the Initiative, researchers (graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty members, and professionals from industry) will have the opportunity to spend dedicated time in a NIST laboratory learning first-hand to develop standards in fields associated with the bioeconomy and biotechnology, and to foster adoption of those standards. These scholars will play a pivotal role in enabling commerce through the development of standards and metrics to help meet the following objectives:

  • Develop machine readable code for one or more standardized protocols.
  • Develop biological or physical objects that enable calibration and/or benchmarking.
  • Enable AI-ready data standardization and integration.
  • Other objectives identified jointly by the applying scholar and NIST.

NIST will focus on these broadly applicable objectives and workflows commonly used for engineering microorganisms. Robust workflows will greatly accelerate engineering biology R&D and will enable curation of high quality, AI-ready data for prediction of function from sequences. The Initiative will make use of the state-of-the-art integrated laboratory automation systems at the Living Measurement Systems Foundry within NIST, and the expertise of the full-time staff who will serve as Hosts. For more information see the "Engineering Biology Metrics and Technical Standards for the Global Bioeconomy" report. This report summarizes input from stakeholders (e.g., industrial developers across all levels of maturity, academics, funders, regulatory bodies) and documents the most enabling standards that should be developed for those who need them.

All protocols and data standards will be made publicly available immediately after verification.

NIST's intent is to use existing programs, such as the NIST Guest Researcher program, to provide laboratory and office space for the scholar, mentoring in standards development, as well as reagents and supplies for experiments carried out at NIST, subject to the policies and procedures of the relevant NIST program.

Submission Process

Proposals for NSF-NIST Bioeconomy Standards Scholars-in-Residence Initiative must align with NIST priorities for development of bioeconomy standards.

There is a two-step process for proposal submission, a white paper submitted to NIST followed by a full proposal submitted to NSF.

White Paper Submission

Proposers must submit a white paper (800 word maximum) to NIST outlining the proposed project to the following email address (synbiostandards@nist.gov). This paper should be accompanied by a biographical sketch of the applicant in the standard NSF format. If the potential scholar applicant is a postdoctoral fellow or graduate student who is not an NSF eligible PI, then both a biographical sketch of their NSF eligible PI mentor and of the potential scholar should be submitted.

The white paper should also indicate how the residency will be structured. The purpose of this white paper is to ensure that the suggested project aligns with the priorities and capabilities of NIST before a full proposal is submitted. Proposers are strongly encouraged to contact NIST prior to submission of a white paper. Based on the review of this white paper, NIST will supply the applicant with a letter of invitation.

Instructions for white paper submission are provided here: https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/nsf-nist-white-paper-submission-instructions.pdf. Proposers should submit the white paper to NIST prior to February 1 to allow adequate time for NIST to review the submission for alignment with priorities and for the proposer to then develop a full proposal for NSF submission, if invited.

Full Proposal

Upon invitation, NSF proposals for this initiative should be submitted to the NSF Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) Program, following the guidelines provided in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG). While the MCB Program accepts proposals anytime, proposals must be received prior to April 1, 2026, to be considered for this opportunity in fiscal year 2026.

The NSF proposal submission must include the white paper submission and the letter of invitation from NIST as "Other Supplementary Documents."

Full proposals must be submitted by an NSF eligible PI. If the advisor is an NSF eligible PI, they may submit proposals on behalf of their graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

All information contained within the NSF submission for the Scholars-in-Residence may be shared with NIST, including unattributed reviews and panel summaries. All white paper submissions to NIST may be shared with NSF. NIST employees may be present at the time of proposal review and observe the NSF merit review process.

Budget

Budgets for invited full proposals submitted to NSF for this Initiative may include the following:

  • Faculty/PI: Up to 6 months of salary and benefits, plus up to 20% of that cost for relocation to NIST.
  • Post doc: Up to a year of salary and benefits, plus reasonable moving expenses.
  • Graduate student: Up to 1 year of salary and benefits, plus reasonable moving and/or relocation support – could be full or part time, continuous or broken up.

A limited amount of funding may be requested for the scholar to validate standards developed at NIST in their home institutions or to disseminate to other institutions.

Indirect costs, as allowable.

Contacts

NSF:

David Rockcliffe: drockcli@nsf.gov

David Klinke: dklinke@nsf.gov

NIST:

Elizabeth Strychalski: elizabeth.strychalski@nist.gov

Sincerely,

Susan Marqusee
Assistant Director
Directorate for Biological Sciences

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