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

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the official title of this funding opportunity?

The funding opportunity is titled "Systems Biology-Enabled Microbiome Research to Facilitate Predictions of Interactions and Behavior in the Environment."

What is the Funding Opportunity Number (FOA number)?

The Funding Opportunity Number is DE-FOA-0002602.

Which U.S. government agency is offering this grant?

This is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science funding opportunity.

Which DOE Office of Science program is associated with this FOA?

The solicitation is released through the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program.

Where does this FOA fit within BER's organizational structure?

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).

What is the central purpose of this FOA?

The central purpose is to advance fundamental, interdisciplinary science that delivers predictive, systems-level understanding of environmental biology, with an emphasis on how microbial communities function, interact, and respond to change in real-world ecosystems.

What is DOE trying to move beyond in environmental microbiome research?

This FOA emphasizes moving beyond simply describing which microbes are present (cataloging biodiversity) toward explaining what microbes do, how they interact, and how community behavior shifts over time under environmental pressures.

What kinds of scientific approaches are emphasized?

The FOA emphasizes omics-enabled and systems-biology approaches, including genomics and other omics data types, computational biology, and other crosscutting methods aimed at connecting molecular/genetic information to measurable environmental functions and behaviors.

What does DOE mean by "predictive" in this context?

Based on the provided description, "predictive" refers to developing understanding and models that can forecast microbial interactions, community-level traits, and how these change under disturbances and sustained environmental change, with relevance to ecosystem behavior across scales.

What scientific questions or themes are explicitly highlighted?

The FOA highlights research that improves the ability to understand microbial interactions dynamically and predictively, including: how microbes influence one another, how community-level traits emerge from interactions, and how those traits shift under perturbations and longer-term environmental change.

What is meant by "community-level traits" in the FOA description?

In the context provided, community-level traits refer to measurable properties or behaviors of microbial communities that arise from interactions among microbes, rather than being attributable to a single organism in isolation.

What is DOE looking for regarding realism in microbial ecosystem research?

The FOA signals an expectation for research that achieves realistic recapitulations of microbial ecosystems and links molecular and genetic information to measurable functions and behaviors in the environment (not just laboratory descriptions without environmental connection).

What environmental domain is described as a particularly important frontier?

Understanding microbial community responses to disturbance and sustained change is described as a major frontier for predicting ecosystem behavior across scales, from local soil processes to broader landscape-level outcomes.

Is soil carbon cycling a priority area in this FOA?

Yes. A particularly highlighted interest area is soil carbon cycling, especially microbial processes that enhance long-term storage of carbon in soils.

What kind of soil carbon outcomes align closely with the call's priorities?

Projects that can explain and predict mechanisms leading to durable carbon retention in soils, supporting understanding of stable soil carbon pools and when/why that storage persists or breaks down, are described as closely aligned with the FOA priorities.

How does this FOA relate to carbon removal from the atmosphere?

The FOA description indicates that durable carbon retention in soils can translate into net carbon removal from the atmosphere over long timescales, and it expresses strong interest in research that helps explain and predict these mechanisms.

What is the award instrument type?

The award instrument is a grant.

What is the activity category for this funding opportunity?

The activity category is science and technology and other research and development.

What is the CFDA number listed for this opportunity?

The CFDA number listed is 81.049.

What is the maximum award amount (award ceiling)?

The listed award ceiling is $1,200,000.

When was this opportunity created?

The opportunity was created on 2021-12-15.

What was the original closing date stated in the information provided?

The original closing date was 2022-04-07.

Does the provided text state how many awards DOE expected to make?

No. The FOA indicates an "ExpectedAwards" field but does not provide a number in the provided source text. The full FOA document would typically be the place to look for anticipated award counts or portfolio size.

Who is eligible to apply as a prime applicant?

Eligibility is described as broadly open to domestic applicants, with one explicit exclusion related to certain nonprofit organizations (see the ineligibility FAQ for details).

Are any nonprofit organizations explicitly excluded from eligibility?

Yes. 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.

Can DOE/NNSA National Laboratories apply as the prime applicant?

No. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories are not eligible to apply as prime applicants, but they may participate as subrecipients under an eligible prime organization.

Can non-DOE/NNSA Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) apply as prime applicants?

No. Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs are not eligible to apply as prime applicants, but they may participate as subrecipients under an eligible prime organization.

Can other federal agencies apply as prime applicants?

No. Other federal agencies are not eligible to apply as prime applicants, but they may participate as subrecipients under an eligible prime organization.

How can federally affiliated entities participate if they cannot be prime applicants?

They may participate as subrecipients under an eligible prime organization, with the FOA noting that the funding path differs by entity type (for example, DOE labs via DOE's Field-Work Proposal system under the lab's DOE contract, and other federal entities via interagency agreements if selected).

Are there additional requirements for subrecipient participation by federal entities?

Yes. The FOA notes that additional authorization and contracting instructions apply and are described in Section VIII of the full announcement.

What are the "three pillars" of the Genome Science Program (GSP) mentioned in the description?

The GSP is framed around three linked pillars: Bioenergy, Biosystems Design, and Environmental Microbiome Research.

What is the broader motivation DOE associates with this research area?

The broader motivation is mission-driven basic science intended to strengthen U.S. energy and environmental security while expanding foundational knowledge in environmental and biological sciences that supports DOE priorities.

How should someone interpret the overall aim of this FOA in one sentence?

It is a call for high-impact, fundamentals-driven environmental microbiome science that integrates systems biology, omics, and predictive approaches to explain microbial community behavior in natural settings, including responses to environmental change, with a strong thematic pull toward soil carbon storage and long-term sequestration mechanisms.