IOS Core Programs
The Behavioral Systems Cluster supports research in the area of integrative animal behavior to understand how and why individuals and groups of animals do what they do in nature and to study the development, mechanisms, adaptive value, and evolutionary history of behavior. The Cluster explores overarching principles of the biology of behavior and to advance a fully integrated understanding of the behavioral phenotype from genes to ecosystems.
The Developmental Systems Cluster supports research aimed at understanding how interacting developmental processes give rise to the emergent properties of organism and how emergent properties result in the development of complex phenotypes and lead to the evolution of developmental mechanisms.
The Neural Systems Cluster supports research on basic functions of the nervous system and its interactions with the physical and social environments. The neuronal mechanisms underlying organismal responses and adaptation to an ever-changing biosphere are also of interest.
Physiological and Structural Systems Cluster
The Physiological and Structural Systems (PSS) Cluster supports research to advance understanding of physiological mechanisms and functional morphology. The Cluster encourages submission of proposals aimed at identifying fundamental design principles of physiological and structural systems and at understanding why particular patterns of morphology and physiological mechanisms have evolved and how they are integrated at the level of the whole organism.
The Plant Genome Research Program
The Plant Genome Research Program (PGRP) supports genome-scale research that addresses challenging questions of biological, societal and economic importance. PGRP encourages the development of innovative tools, technologies and resources that empower a broad plant research community to answer scientific questions on a genome-wide scale. Emphasis is placed on the scale and depth of the question being addressed and the creativity of the approach. Data produced by plant genomics should be usable, accessible, integrated across scales and of high impact across biology. Training, broadening participation, and career development are essential to scientific progress and should be integrated in all PGRP-funded projects.
Other links
IOS in Focus 