Funding opportunities
A selection of recently published opportunities

Basic Research for Chemical Imaging
Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences
The Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) announces its interest in receiving grant applications for projects on basic research needed to advance chemical imaging. We are interested in forefront advances of imaging techniques with spatial resolution on the molecular scale relevant to the basic science of chemical and physical transformations. Of particular interest are applications that combine molecular-scale spatial resolution and ultrafast temporal resolution to explore energy flow, molecular dynamics, breakage or formation of chemical bonds, or conformational changes in nanoscale systems. The following areas of research are specifically excluded from consideration: biomedical imaging, crystallography, imaging of structures significantly larger than the molecular scale, combustion diagnostics, and sensor technology. Also excluded from consideration are applications directed solely at the development of techniques or instrumentation, without specific and clear applications to basic research in one of the core research areas of the Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences Division. Pre-applications due December 20, 2005, full applications due March 15, 2006. Full details: http://www.science.doe.gov/grants/FAPN05-30.html

Solicitation of Assays for High Throughput Screening (HTS) in the Molecular Libraries Screening Centers Network (MLSCN)
National Institutes of Health
The Molecular Libraries Screening Centers Network (MLSCN), launched on June 15, 2005, is a new national high-throughput biological screening resource. The goal of the MLSCN is to empower the research community to use small molecule compounds in their research, whether as tools to modulate genes and pathways, as imaging probes in basic or clinical applications, or as starting points for the development of new therapeutics for human disease. The MLSCN will be the engine of discovery in the NIH Roadmap Molecular Libraries initiative. Using compounds from the MLSCN Small Molecule Repository and supported by the informatics capabilities of NIH's PubChem, the MLSCN will provide researchers with many new chemical tools to explore cellular functions at the molecular level. In order to achieve this goal, the ten network screening centers will screen a large collection of compounds in a variety of innovative assays to identify and subsequently optimize small molecules that selectively interact with specific biological targets or pathways. This large collaborative effort will accelerate the pace of the application of chemical biology to the understanding of biology and disease mechanisms. Through this Program Announcement with special review (PAR), the MLSCN is soliciting applications from investigators who have developed innovative assays and are interested in having them used in the MLSCN to screen a large number of compounds maintained in a central Small Molecule Repository, and furthermore, interested in expanding the utility of their assay(s) for producing useful in vitro and/or in vivo chemical probes. Link to Full Announcement

High Temperature, Low Relative Humidity Polymer-Type Membranes
The Department of Energy's Golden Field Office invites applicants to develop high temperature, low relative humidity polymer electrolyte-type membrane materials suitable for use in a polymer
electrolyte-type membrane fuel cell. Development of alternative materials with performance at 120 degrees C and 25-50 percent relative humidity exceeding that of Nafion(R) (at 80 degrees C and 100 percent relative humidity) is desired.
Link to Full Announcement

Microbial Observatories (MO) and Microbial Interactions and Processes (MIP)
U.S. Dept of Agriculture, National Science Foundation (DOE Labs eligible)
Microorganisms are the oldest, most diverse and most abundant forms of life on Earth. However, the identity, physiology and interactions of the vast majority of these microbes, as well as the processes they mediate in the environment, remain unknown or poorly understood. Advances in molecular biology, genomics and bioinformatics, and cultivation technologies herald a new age of exploration of the microbial world. The Microbial Observatories (MO) and Microbial Interactions and Processes (MIP) activities will support research to discover and characterize novel microorganisms, microbial consortia, communities, activities and other novel properties, and to study their roles in diverse environments. The Microbial Observatories activity is a continuation of MO competitions held since 1999 (for a list of prior awards, see http://www.nsf.gov/bio/pubs/awards/mo.htm). The long-term goal of this activity is to develop a network of sites or "microbial observatories"; in different habitats to study and understand microbial diversity over time and across environmental gradients. Projects supported are expected to establish or participate in an established, Internet-accessible knowledge network to disseminate information resulting from these activities. In addition, educational and outreach activities such as formal or informal training in microbial biology, and activities that will broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in microbial research and education are expected. Beginning with the October 2005 target date, the USDA/CSREES will partner with NSF to support MO projects relevant to agroecosystems. Microbial Interactions and Processes (MIP) expands the range of the MO competition to support microbial diversity research projects that need not be site-based, and that are smaller and/or shorter in duration than MO projects. MIP projects will be considered for funding by NSF only. This expanded activity will fund integrative studies that explore novel microorganisms, their interactions in consortia and communities, and aspects of their physiology, biochemistry and genomics in relationship to the processes that they carry out in the environment.
Link to Full Announcement