Project Grant N000142612349

Through a $249,997 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Mathematical and Physical Sciences (CFDA 47.049) program, researchers at the University of New Haven are developing a novel enzyme-responsive polyolefin material as a programmable antifouling coating. The research aims to understand how the properties of these polyolefin surfaces, such as hydrophobicity and texture, impact their ability to prevent and remove microbial adhesion from bacteria and algae commonly...

This $1,500,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Mathematical and Physical Sciences (CFDA 47.049) program will support research at Northwestern University to develop innovative protein-based biomaterials. The research aims to (1) engineer mussel foot proteins with superior underwater adhesive properties compared to wild-type sequences, and (2) create resilin-inspired bioelastomers with high strength while retaining natural mechanical resilience. The proposed...

The Department of the Army Materiel Command Research Development and Engineering Command awarded Yale University a $2.125 million cooperative agreement on September 26, 2025, to advance structural color engineering in living microorganisms through hyperuniformity mechanisms, supported under the Basic Scientific Research program (CFDA 12.431). Yale's research team, led by Prof. Alison Sweeney, will engineer hyperuniform optical systems in bacteria and bacterial-synthetic material hybrids,...

This $1,230,301 federal Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) supports a multidisciplinary collaboration to explore the mechanical properties and genetic/biochemical basis of a potent adhesive biopolymer produced by bacteria. The research aims to provide a detailed mechanistic understanding of how these types of materials impart strong adhesion, with applications in developing biocompatible and water-tolerant adhesives. The award,...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $575,000 Project Grant on January 1, 2025 under the Engineering (CFDA 47.041) program to George Washington University to develop high-performance antifouling coatings. The project aims to synthesize and characterize aromatic polyamide brushes with functionalized side chains to prevent the adhesion of organic matter, proteins, and biological organisms on submerged surfaces. The research will explore the fundamental mechanisms behind the...

The National Science Foundation Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems awarded the University of Massachusetts $709,645 on May 1, 2026, under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to investigate and control microbial biofilm attachment using ultraviolet light-emitting technology. The research employs UV-emitting glass (UEG) substrates integrated with microfluidic flow cells and high-resolution microscopy to quantify how bacteria respond to ultraviolet...

This four-year project grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation, totaling $432,573, will fund research on "Switchable Underwater Adhesion Through Dynamic Chemistry and Geometry" under the NSF's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041). The University of California, Berkeley will develop innovative adhesion technologies allowing for controlled attachment and detachment underwater through reactive chemical processes and geometric...

The Office of Naval Research awarded the University of California, Santa Barbara $692,863 on March 1, 2026, under the Basic and Applied Scientific Research program (CFDA 12.300) to design new benign anti-fouling coatings through understanding the interaction of hydration dynamics and fouling mechanisms. The research runs through February 28, 2029, and is performed in California. UCSB's work centers on developing anti-fouling coating technology informed by fundamental investigation of how...

The Bureau of Reclamation awarded Biomilab LLC a $567,730 Cooperative Agreement on February 17, 2026, under the SECURE Water Act – Research Agreements program (CFDA 15.560) to develop biological methods for controlling invasive dreissenid mussels in North American waterways. The award runs through June 30, 2029, with place of performance in Michigan. Biomilab will continue refinement of oncogene delivery to mussel embryos via microinjection, cryopreservation protocols for mussel cells and...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) Project Grant award of $730,000 to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) aims to transform the field of protein engineering through the development of an innovative technology called PicnnnShells. PicnnnShells are tiny, hollow particles that can rapidly screen up to one million different protein variations in a single day to identify useful proteins for research, industrial or medical applications. The...