Full Proposal Target Date: Mar 11, 2024

IOS and the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) have joined the Division of Mathematical Sciences in the Directorate for Mathematical and physical Sciences (MPS) on the latest solicitation of Emerging Mathematics in Biology (eMB), NSF 24-513.  This program seeks to stimulate fundamental interdisciplinary and potentially transformative research pertaining to the development of innovative mathematical/statistical/computational theories, tools, and modeling approaches to investigate challenging questions of great interest to biologists and public health policymakers.  

Specifically, eMB supports research projects in mathematical biology that address challenging and significant biological questions through novel applications of traditional, but nontrivial, mathematical tools and methods or the development of new theories particularly from foundational mathematics and/or computational/statistical tools, including Artificial Intelligence/Deep Learning/Machine Learning (AI/DL/ML). The program emphasizes the uses of mathematical methodologies to advance our understanding of complex, dynamic, and heterogenous biological systems at all scales (molecular, cellular, organismal, population, ecosystems, etc.). 

Importantly, projects submitted to this opportunity will be evaluated using three new solicitation specific requirements:  

1. The proposal is collaborative in nature and involves the coordinated interaction of two or more PIs/co-PIs, with balanced participation from both the mathematical sciences and the biological sciences; 
2. The proposed activities (a) use innovative mathematical tools to generate biological insights or (b) represent novel application of traditional but not trivial mathematical tools to generate new biological insights; 
3. The mechanistic understanding of the biological problem will be advanced by the application of the proposed mathematical or modeling approaches. 

If you have a proposal idea that may fit this program, please visit the program page for further details and reach out to a Program Director.