The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for
Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) announces its intent to solicit
Written Proposals for NSF X-Labs teams in the technical domain of
bioengineering. This NSF X-Labs announcement is issued under the Other
Transactions Agreement Solutions Offering (OTASO),
NSF-OTASO-FY26-XLabsInitiative.
An NSF X-Labs Mission in this Topic must be transformative,
accelerating breakthroughs in our understanding of the relationship between
sequence and function, and catalyzing capabilities to engineer proteins or
entire genomes with exceptional new capabilities. Successful teams will develop
platform technologies, demonstrate measurable impact on the U.S. biotechnology
landscape, and position their technologies for widespread use by overcoming
technical barriers that limit implementation and investment. Although NSF
X-Labs in this space will have widespread applicability, each team should
identify 2-3 high-utility domains and should eventually establish projects in
them. Teams proposing to this topic should identify how their approach to
biosafety and biosecurity is tailored to their Mission and its pilot
application domains including an assessment of dangerous gain-of-function and
an accompanying plan to mitigate unintended consequences.
Limited submission criteria: An eligible organization
can submit a maximum of two Written Proposals per Topic Announcement for Phase
0 as a lead organization. Senior/Key Personnel may be listed on a maximum of
one Written Proposal per Topic Announcement.
Join the NSF TIP team for a webinar, including a brief
presentation on key materials in the OTASO and Topic Announcement. A Q&A
will follow the presentation. Respondents are recommended to review
NSF-OTASO-FY26-XLabsInitiative and this Topic Announcement before the webinar
to maximize the effectiveness of the Q&A session. Q&A Webinar for NSF X-Labs – From
Sequence to Function November 18, 2026 at 2-3 p.m. Eastern Register here:
https://nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_a-Ik_TCBSMDM7dFPYUEcA#/registration
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