Accelerating Innovations in Biomanufacturing Approaches through Collaboration Between NSF and the DOE BETO funded Agile BioFoundry | 22 549

Opportunity Information: Apply for 22 549

This grant opportunity, titled "Accelerating Innovations in Biomanufacturing Approaches through Collaboration Between NSF and the DOE BETO funded Agile BioFoundry" (NSF Funding Opportunity Number 22-549), is a joint effort by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office (DOE BETO). The main goal is to speed up the translation of cutting-edge synthetic biology and engineering biology research into practical, bioeconomy-relevant products and processes. The program is built around the idea that the U.S. bioeconomy will grow faster if academic and nonprofit researchers can more quickly move from basic discoveries to validated prototype processes that are realistic to scale and manufacture, rather than stopping at early proof-of-concept results.

A defining feature of the opportunity is its reliance on the Agile BioFoundry (ABF), a DOE BETO-funded consortium that provides integrated Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) capabilities. In practical terms, DBTL refers to the modern biomanufacturing workflow where biological systems are designed (often with computational tools), constructed or engineered, tested with high-quality analytics and experiments, and then improved using what is learned in each cycle. The ABF is positioned as a national resource that can help researchers industrialize the pace and rigor of these cycles, making it easier to evaluate whether a biological design can become a viable manufacturing process or a credible prototype product. Proposals must explicitly leverage ABF's unique platforms and capabilities; simply mentioning collaboration is not enough. The expectation is that ABF participation will materially accelerate development, validation, and manufacturability assessment.

The agencies are inviting proposals from eligible principal investigators based at institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations. The work should take recent advances in synthetic and engineering biology and push them toward testable prototypes that can be validated and shown to have credible potential for scale-up. While the program is clearly motivated by near-term innovation and translation, it also places special emphasis on projects that produce broadly useful scientific insights. In other words, proposals are especially attractive when they do two things at once: (1) use ABF's DBTL pipeline to translate basic research into technology that matters for the bioeconomy, and (2) generate generalizable rules, principles, or theories about biological systems that improve foundational understanding and can be reused beyond the immediate project.

The funding and division of responsibilities are structured to make ABF use feasible and to clarify who pays for what. NSF funding supports the portions of the project performed at the proposing institution (university or nonprofit) that occur before ABF work begins or in parallel with it, specifically the activities needed to prepare the research for translation onto ABF platforms. That can include the academic lab work, planning, preliminary data generation, strain or construct preparation, method development, and other readiness-building steps that ensure ABF time is used effectively. Separately, DOE BETO will cover the costs of implementing approved projects at the ABF itself, meaning the ABF-side execution is supported by DOE once the project is selected and approved for ABF engagement.

Workforce development and cross-sector collaboration are also explicit program priorities. NSF may support short-term placements and training experiences such as faculty fellows, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, or undergraduate interns who are hosted by national laboratories or the ABF. This is meant to build practical skills in modern biomanufacturing workflows and strengthen ties between academia and national lab infrastructure, which can be difficult to do under typical single-agency grant structures.

Industry partnerships are encouraged, particularly because eventual scale-up and real-world deployment often hinge on manufacturing know-how, process economics, supply chain realities, and regulatory pathways. Having an industry partner can strengthen a project by clarifying end-use requirements, helping define performance targets, informing validation and quality expectations, and positioning the technology for downstream commercialization or adoption. The opportunity signals that projects should not treat scalability and manufacturability as afterthoughts; they should be considered early and designed into the DBTL plan.

Operationally, investigators are advised to contact ABF early while planning the proposal. This is important because ABF capabilities and capacity need to align with project needs, and because the program requires a specific legal collaboration mechanism: the Agile BioFoundry Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). The CRADA is the required framework for working with ABF, and applicants are directed to ABF's website for CRADA information and templates. This requirement matters because it governs how the collaboration will be conducted, including roles, responsibilities, and common issues like data sharing and intellectual property handling in a national lab context.

Finally, NSF coordinates and manages the merit review process for proposals, while sharing proposals with DOE BETO Technology Managers. This setup reflects the joint nature of the opportunity: NSF runs the competitive review consistent with its processes, and DOE BETO provides perspective relevant to ABF capabilities, bioenergy and biomanufacturing translation, and technology relevance. The opportunity was posted January 5, 2022, with an original closing date of April 4, 2022. It is a discretionary grant program in the science and technology R&D category, with an award ceiling of $1.5 million and an expectation of about 8 awards. The CFDA numbers listed are 47.041, 47.074, and 81.049, indicating the NSF and DOE assistance program linkages used for reporting and categorization.

In summary, this funding call is designed for academic and nonprofit teams who have strong synthetic biology or engineering biology ideas that are ready to be pushed toward credible prototypes, and who can benefit from ABF's integrated DBTL infrastructure to validate, iterate, and assess manufacturability. The most competitive projects are likely to be those that pair translational outcomes with broadly informative scientific advances, plan early for ABF engagement through the required CRADA, and consider industry-relevant scale-up and regulatory realities from the beginning rather than at the end.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Accelerating Innovations in Biomanufacturing Approaches through Collaboration Between NSF and the DOE BETO funded Agile BioFoundry" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041, 47.074, 81.049.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 05, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 04, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 8 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for 22 549

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