This Project Grant award, provided by the National Science Foundation under the Biological Sciences (CFDA 47.074) Federal Grant Program, will support collaborative research on the evolution of venom complexity in social and solitary spiders. The $698,893 award to the University of Florida will fund a 3-year study to: (1) determine differences in venom toxin composition between social and solitary predatory spiders, (2) identify differences in venom microbiomes between these groups, and (3)...
This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences (CFDA 47.074) Federal Grant Program provides $610,890 to the University of New Mexico to conduct research on the molecular mechanisms underlying the venom phenotype of ectoparasitoid wasps. The primary objectives are to investigate how wasp venom affects host physiology and metabolism, leading to insights into novel bioactive compounds with potential applications in pest control and drug development. The...
This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation supports collaborative research titled "Evolutionary and Functional Trade-offs in Extreme Sensory Capabilities of Nocturnal Predatory Spiders" from August 1, 2021 to July 31, 2024 with total funding of $155,719. The research is conducted under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) to advance understanding of major problems in biology. Specifically, the University of Massachusetts Office of Research Administration-Lowell...
This $240,000 National Science Foundation project grant funds research assessing the morphological, behavioral, and genetic impacts of methylmercury on spiders. The grant supports a postdoctoral research fellowship in biology for 2023-2027 under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074). The fellow will conduct laboratory and field studies to investigate sub-lethal effects of methylmercury exposure on spiders' behavior, growth, reproduction, and gene expression. Testing will include...
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $1,501,418 Project Grant to the University of Texas at Arlington to fund a collaborative research project examining snake venom systems as a model for understanding the structure and evolution of regulatory networks underlying organism-level physiological traits. The project, which runs from August 1, 2023 to July 31, 2027, aims to advance fundamental understanding of how new gene regulatory networks arise and how variation in these networks...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Project Grant award under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) provides $240,000 in funding to support a 3-year postdoctoral research fellowship focused on using snake venom as a model system to investigate the evolution of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) and their role in shaping organismal phenotypes. The research aims to advance the understanding of the "rules of life" governing the linkages between genomes, environments, and...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Biological Sciences (CFDA 47.074) Project Grant award of $343,710.00 to the University of Massachusetts Lowell will provide mentored training and support for a mid-career associate professor to integrate evolutionary genomics and biomaterial engineering expertise. The project aims to characterize the functional role of specific spider silk proteins in fiber mechanics and assemble a public spider silk protein database to support interdisciplinary research...
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $541,373 Project Grant under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) to Oklahoma State University (OSU) to study the effects of male cannibalism on offspring traits in spiders. The research aims to determine which specific micronutrients, dietary amino acids, or fatty acids in male spider bodies are responsible for the nutritional benefits to female spiders and their offspring. The project will compare nutrient composition between male and...
This National Science Foundation project grant award of $276,000 provides funding from February 1, 2023 through January 31, 2025 to advance research on spider silk structure, mechanics and evolutionary ecology under the Biological Sciences federal grant program (CFDA 47.074). Specifically, the award will support a postdoctoral research fellowship studying the unique horizontal orb webs and silk properties of the Wendilgarda clara spider species that lives at the air-water interface of streams....
The University of Maryland, College Park received a $314,640 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology to conduct research exploring the interplay between form and function in spider predatory strikes. The two-year award, issued January 1, 2022 and set to conclude December 31, 2024, will fund research under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074). The Biological Sciences program aims to promote progress in the biological sciences and...