Division of Emerging Frontiers

The National Science Foundation Division of Emerging Frontiers is a civilian sub-agency within the National Science Foundation that supports innovative, interdisciplinary research at the frontiers of biological sciences. This division funds cutting-edge research initiatives that often cross traditional disciplinary boundaries, aiming to accelerate scientific discovery and technological innovation in emerging areas of biology. The Division of Emerging Frontiers plays a strategic role in identifying and supporting transformative research opportunities that address critical challenges at the intersection of biology and other scientific domains.

The Division has awarded numerous Project Grants under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) across a diverse portfolio of research areas in 2024-2025. A significant focus has been on ecosystem research, with grants supporting studies of plant community dynamics in alpine biomes, forest-to-shrubland transitions following wildfire and disease disturbances, and coastal marsh-forest ecotone migration. These projects typically range from $200,000 to $1 million and span 3-5 years, with many incorporating climate change impacts as a central research component. Technology development has also been prominently funded, with awards supporting infrastructure improvements for the USA National Phenology Network, automated bee identification systems using artificial intelligence, and advanced genomic technologies to understand complex biological traits.

The Division has made substantial investments in establishing national biofoundry infrastructure, as evidenced by Cooperative Agreements totaling over $27 million awarded in 2024. These include a $9 million award to establish the National Center for Biofoundry Applications at the University of Illinois, a $9.5 million award for glycoscience resources and training at the University of Georgia, and an $8.5 million award for an AI-driven RNA biofoundry at the University of Pennsylvania. These biofoundries aim to accelerate biotechnology innovation by providing centralized resources, expertise, and technologies for academic and industry researchers. The Division is also supporting research at the intersection of traditional scientific approaches and indigenous knowledge systems, with multiple grants focused on developing ethical frameworks for research partnerships with indigenous communities and incorporating traditional ecological knowledge into climate change adaptation strategies.

The most recent awards in March 2025 demonstrate the Division's continued focus on long-term ecological research, with two substantial grants totaling approximately $600,000 awarded to support plant community dynamics research in the Colorado alpine biome. These five-year projects will collect comprehensive demographic data across 100 vegetation plots, integrate species-level and community-level models, and develop forecasts for community responses to climate change scenarios. This investment indicates the Division's commitment to supporting sustained observation and modeling of biological systems to understand complex ecological processes over extended timeframes.