Biosensing — U.S. National Science Foundation funding opportunity
U.S. National Science Foundation · Federal agency

Biosensing

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

79
match
Deadline Fixed Location Alabama Type grant Level Federal Open posted Jun 6, 2025
✦ AI Summary
  • Who can apply: Federal-level applicants (see eligibility for details).
  • Funding amount: total funding pool ~$7,600,000.
  • Issued by: U.S. National Science Foundation.
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The “key facts” mode pulls structured fields directly from the official source posting (amount, deadline, eligibility tags). The AI mode adds a short plain-English narrative on top, generated from the same source. Always verify with the agency before applying.

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Deadline
Fixed
Total pool
$7.6M

About this opportunity

The Biosensing program is part of the Engineering Biology and Health cluster, which also includes 1) Biophotonics; 2) Cellular and Biochemical Engineering; 3) Disability and Rehabilitation Engineering; and 4) Engineering of Biomedical Systems. The Biosensing program supports fundamental engineering research on devices and methods for measurement and quantification of biological analytes. Examples of biosensors include, but are not limited to, electrochemical/electrical biosensors, optical biosensors, plasmonic biosensors, paper-based and nanopore-based biosensors. In addition to technology development, submissions that address critical needs for biomedical research, public health, food protection, and homeland security are highly encouraged. Proposals that incorporate emerging nanotechnology methods are especially encouraged. Areas of interest include: 1) multiplex biosensing platforms that exceed the performance of current state-of-the-art devices; 2) novel transduction principles, mechanisms and sensor designs suitable for measurement in practical matrix and sample-preparation-free approaches, including error-free detection of pathogens and toxins in food matrices, waterborne in body fluids, neuron chemicals, and others that improve human condition; 3) biosensors that enable measurement of biomolecular interactions in their native states, transmembrane transport, intracellular transport and reactions, and other biological phenomena; 4) biosensing performance optimization for specific health applications such as point-of-care testing and personalized health monitoring; and 5) miniaturization of biosensors for lab-on-a-chip and cell/organ-on-a-chip applications to enable measurement of biological properties and functions of cell/tissues in vitro. The Biosensors Program does not encourage proposals addressing surface functionalization and modulation of bio-recognition molecules, development of basic chemical mechanisms for biosensing applications, circuit design for signal processing and amplification, computational modeling, and microfluidics for sample separation and filtration. Medical imaging-based measurements are out 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. 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 proposal being returned without review. NOTE: Projects related to water/soil quality may be jointly supported with the Environmental Engineering program (CBET 1440) and CBET Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems (INFEWS) program. Photonic devices with medical imaging and/or optogenetics should be submitted to Biophotonics (CBET 7236). Devices for tissue engineering should be submitted to Engineering of Biomedical Systems (CBET 5345). Basic chemical/biochemical sensing mechanism should be submitted to the program of Chemical Measurement and Imaging (CHE/CMI 6880). 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 Sensing-Systems (ECCS/CCSS 7564). The duration of unsolicited awards is generally one to three years. The typical award size for the program is approximately $100,000 per year, with allowance of up to $120,000 per year for multidisciplinary collaborative projects or $180,000 per year for those involving investigators from multiple institutions. Proposals requesting a substantially higher amount than this, without prior consultation with the Program Director, may be returned without review.

Funding agency

U.S. National Science Foundation
Federal agency

Tags

Agriculture & Farming Healthcare & Biotech Technology & Software Energy & Utilities Education & Research Climate & Environment Transportation & Logistics Science, Tech & Engineering (STEM)
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Who can apply

Eligibility details aren't on file yet — check the agency source link in the Documents tab for the latest rules.

Geographic eligibility

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • District of Columbia

How to apply

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Source documents

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Canonical NOFO, application packet, and forms
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Citation details

Source systemgrants.gov
Source ID359487
PostedJun 6, 2025

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