NSF X-Labs Initiative - From Sequence to Function

The National Science Foundation Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships seeks written proposals from full-time research and development teams for the X-Labs Initiative in bioengineering, with proposals due February 8, 2027, and questions due December 14, 2026. This procurement is issued under an Other Transactions Agreement (OTA) and is not set-aside.

Work must be performed within the United States, with administrative placement in Alexandria, VA. The technical scope focuses on novel platform technologies linking protein sequence and structure to biological function, including protein design and synthesis, genome assembly, synthetic cells, experimental functional discovery and validation, and applications of artificial intelligence to accelerate protein engineering and synthetic cell development. Acceptable missions must identify 2–3 high-utility application domains and address biosafety and biosecurity considerations including dangerous gain-of-function assessments. Out-of-scope work includes narrow-impact technologies, fundamental research without platform applications, incremental advancements, and standalone predictive models without experimental data integration.

Phase 0 will fund teams no more than $1,500,000 each for approximately 9 to 12 months of preparation and concept refinement, beginning September 2027, with Go/No Go selection at month 7. Successful Phase 0 teams may advance to Phase 1, lasting 24 to 36 months with funding not to exceed $50,000,000 per year, beginning June 2028. Phase 2 support with variable duration may follow for high-performing teams. NSF will employ a two-step competitive evaluation: written proposals will be reviewed on Team Qualifications and Structure, and Mission Clarity and Outcomes; qualified teams will then submit oral proposal packages and participate in presentations.

Proposals must not exceed 8 single-sided pages formatted with 12-point font, single-spacing, 1-inch margins, and submitted as PDF without a cover letter. Lead organizations must be registered in SAM with a valid Unique Entity Identifier prior to submission. An eligible organization may submit a maximum of two written proposals per topic as lead organization; Senior/Key Personnel may appear on only one proposal per topic. Teams must disclose conflicts of interest per FAR Subpart 9.5. An informational webinar is scheduled for November 18, 2026. NAICS 541714; PSC AJ12.