Biosensing

About this funding opportunity

The Biosensing program is part of the Engineering Biology and Health cluster, which also includes 1) the Biophotonics program; 2) the Cellular and Biochemical Engineering program; 3) the Disability and Rehabilitation Engineering program; and 4) the Engineering of Biomedical Systems program.

The Biosensing program supports fundamental engineering research in the monitoring, identification and/or quantification of biological analytes and phenomena using innovations that exist at the intersection of engineering, life sciences, and information technology. Projects submitted to the program must advance both engineering and life sciences.

The Biosensing program encourages proposals that, in addition to advancing biosensing technology, address critical sensor needs in biomedical research, public health, food safety, agriculture, forensics, environmental protection, and homeland security.

Proposals are especially encouraged in areas of critical need: sensing technologies that can enable monitoring and surveillance of the environment and/or individuals for novel infectious agents; platform technologies that can readily be modified as soon as new agents are detected, sequenced, and/or otherwise characterized to enable rapid deployment of sensors in clinics and the environment; and adaptive and/or multiplex sensing technologies that can help the nation prevent the spread of the next global pandemic.

Major areas of interest for the program include:

Novel signal transduction principles and mechanisms that enable sensitive and specific biosensors, suitable for measurements in multiple areas;

Design of novel biorecognition elements and appropriately designed transducing systems to enable adaptable and/or reconfigurable operating parameters in response to environmental changes or application needs at levels of device, system, or data analysis;

Development of adaptive and/or evolvable biosensing systems for detection of novel target analytes or analytes under novel conditions;

Novel synthetic biology approaches for the development of cell-free and cell-based biosensors; and

Combining biosensors with artificial intelligence (AI) methods to improve sensor specificity and response time.

Innovative ideas outside of the above specific interest areas may be considered. However, prior to submission, it is recommended that the PI contact the program director to avoid the possibility of the proposal being returned without review.

The Biosensors program does not encourage proposals addressing circuit design for signal processing and amplification, computational modeling, and microfluidics for sample separation and filtration. Medical imaging-based measurements are outside of the scope of the program interests. Proposals that rely heavily on descriptive approaches are given lower priority. Proposals for optimizing and/or utilizing established methods for specific applications should be directed to programs focused on the application of sensor technology.

NOTE: Projects related to water and/or soil quality may be jointly supported with the Environmental Engineering program (CBET 1440). Photonic devices with medical imaging and/or optogenetics should be submitted to the Biophotonics program (CBET 7236). Applications of devices for tissue engineering or organ-on-chip systems should be submitted to the Engineering of Biomedical Systems program (CBET 5345). Basic chemical/biochemical sensing mechanisms should be submitted to the Chemical Measurement and Imaging program (CMI 6880) in the Division of Chemistry. Proposals for dynamic biosensing systems, including circuit design for signal/data processing and amplification, and sensing systems through communication and machine learning should be submitted to the Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems program (CCSS 7564) in the Division of Electrical, Communications, and Cyber Systems.

INFORMATION COMMON TO MOST CBET PROGRAMS

Proposals should address the novelty and/or potentially…

Topic areas: General and Cross-cutting R&D, Life Sciences and Health, Agriculture and Food, Circular Economy and Sustainability, Security and Defense.

Funding amount

This grant provides Varies in funding.

Deadline

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; there is no single fixed deadline.

Who can apply

This opportunity is open to the following applicant types:

• Open to all applicant types

Eligibility

The program did not publish a separate eligibility statement. See the official opportunity page for the full eligibility criteria.

Agency

Biosensing is administered by U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), listed via Grants.gov.