Systems Biology-Enabled Microbiome Research to Facilitate Predictions of Interactions and Behavior in the Environment | DE FOA 0002602

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002602

The funding opportunity titled "Systems Biology-Enabled Microbiome Research to Facilitate Predictions of Interactions and Behavior in the Environment" (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0002602) is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science grant solicitation released through the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program. Its central purpose is to push fundamental, interdisciplinary science that can deliver a predictive, systems-level understanding of environmental biology, especially the way microbial communities function and respond to change in real-world ecosystems. In plain terms, DOE is looking for research that moves from describing which microbes are present to explaining what they do, how they interact, and how their collective behavior shifts over time under environmental pressures, with an emphasis on building the kind of knowledge that can support forecasting and decision-making related to energy and environmental stewardship.

This FOA sits within BER's Biosystems Design and Genome Sciences Division (BSSD), specifically under the Environmental Microbiome Research program element, and it is connected to the Genome Science Program (GSP). The GSP is framed around three tightly linked pillars: Bioenergy, Biosystems Design, and Environmental Microbiome Research. Across these pillars, DOE is investing in omics-enabled and systems-biology approaches (for example, genomics and other "omics" data types, computational biology, and related crosscutting methods) to uncover functional characteristics of cells, organisms, and complex biological systems. The larger motivation is mission-driven basic science: strengthening U.S. energy and environmental security while expanding the foundational knowledge base in environmental and biological sciences that supports DOE priorities.

What DOE is specifically asking for in this call is research that improves the ability to understand microbial interactions in a dynamic and predictive way. That includes discovering and modeling how microbes influence one another, how community-level traits emerge from those interactions, and how those patterns shift with environmental perturbations and longer-term environmental change. The FOA emphasizes that understanding microbial community responses to disturbance and sustained change is a major frontier for predicting ecosystem behavior across scales, from local soil processes to broader landscape-level outcomes. Applicants are therefore expected to propose work that does more than catalog biodiversity; the goal is to achieve realistic recapitulations of microbial ecosystems and to connect molecular and genetic information to measurable functions and behaviors in the environment.

A particularly highlighted interest area is soil carbon cycling, especially microbial processes that enhance the long-term storage of carbon in soils. DOE signals strong interest in projects that can explain and predict mechanisms that lead to durable carbon retention, which can translate into net carbon removal from the atmosphere over long timescales. In other words, proposals that can illuminate how microbial communities contribute to stable soil carbon pools, and that can support predictive understanding of when and why that storage persists or breaks down, align closely with the call's priorities.

From a practical standpoint, the award instrument is a grant and the activity category is science and technology and other research and development (CFDA 81.049). The listed award ceiling is $1,200,000. The opportunity was created on 2021-12-15, with an original closing date of 2022-04-07. The FOA indicates an "ExpectedAwards" field but does not provide a number in the source text you provided, so applicants would typically look to the full FOA document for any additional details on anticipated funding levels and portfolio size.

Eligibility is broadly open to domestic applicants, with one explicit exclusion: nonprofit organizations classified under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that engaged in lobbying activities after December 31, 1995 are not eligible. The FOA also clarifies how federally affiliated entities can participate. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories, non-DOE/NNSA Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), and other federal agencies are not eligible to apply as prime applicants, but they may participate as subrecipients under an eligible prime organization. If selected for funding as subrecipients, the funding path differs by entity type (for example, DOE labs would be supported through DOE's Field-Work Proposal system under the lab's DOE contract, and other federal entities may be supported through interagency agreements). The FOA notes that additional authorization and contracting instructions apply and are described in Section VIII of the full announcement.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as a call for high-impact, fundamentals-driven environmental microbiome science that integrates systems biology, omics, and predictive approaches to explain how microbial communities behave in natural settings, how they respond to environmental change, and how that knowledge can improve predictions of ecosystem processes, with a strong thematic pull toward soil carbon storage and long-term carbon sequestration mechanisms.

• The Office of Science in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Systems Biology-Enabled Microbiome Research to Facilitate Predictions of Interactions and Behavior in the Environment" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.049.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-12-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-04-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,200,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for DE FOA 0002602

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