DOE Agile Biofoundry Consortium Announces Cooperative R&D Agreement Opportunity
OPPORTUNITY:
The Agile BioFoundry (ABF) is a consortium of national laboratories dedicated to accelerating biomanufacturing and decarbonizing the economy.
This funding opportunity provides resources to ABF teams to perform research on behalf of external, collaborating investigators, for developing novel microbial hosts, augmenting titer, rate, and yield of bioproducts, and creating new capabilities & approaches to improve the Design-Build-Test-Learn biomanufacturing cycle. Applicants should submit a proposal that identifies the technical challenges, approaches, and impacts on the mission of the ABF.
DESCRIPTION:
There are NO special topics of interest for this funding opportunity. Proposals will leverage the consortium’s world-class capabilities to address challenges in biomanufacturing, as identified by the successful applicants from the industry. Submissions should also clearly identify how the work addresses DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and the critical roles that synthetic and engineering biology play in advancing the U.S. Bioeconomy. BETO goals support the decarbonization of various industrial sectors, including the development of sustainable bio-based products, and sustainable aviation fuels.
This opportunity funds competitively selected non-negotiable Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) between BETO laboratory consortia and partners from the industry. We anticipate approximately four proposals will be selected with a duration of up to two years. The ABF anticipates no less than a total of $3 million to be made available to the National Labs, to collaborate with industrial partners. Note that Federal funds shall support activities at the ABF National Labs only, and that project partners are required to provide a 20% cost share (including in-kind).
ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS:
US-incorporated companies are eligible to apply. For other cases, such as for entities based outside the United States, applicants should review eligibility guidelines typical to the US Dept. of Energy Funding Opportunities. Please contact the ABF at info@agilebiofoundry.org if your eligibility requires further clarification.
MATCHING FUNDS:
The cost share must be at least 20% of the total project costs for research and development projects. The cost share must come from non-federal sources unless otherwise allowed by law.
FUNDING AVAILABLE AND APPLICATION WINDOW:
FUNDING AVAILABILITY: $3 million
APPLICATION DEADLINE: The concept paper deadline is due by April 21, 2023 and full applications are due by June 02, 2023