2400058
Cooperative Agreement
Overview
Grant Description
Biofoundry: NSF IBIOFOUNDRY for basic and applied biology - biotechnology has promised to solve many grand challenges of modern society.
However, the traditional research and development process in biotechnology is very slow, expensive, and inconsistent.
To overcome this key limitation, the goal of this project is to establish a National Center for Biofoundry Applications (NCBA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The center would serve as a hub for innovation, bringing together researchers, industry experts, and policymakers to foster collaboration and accelerate the development of sustainable biomanufacturing processes.
By centralizing resources and expertise, the center would streamline the creation of new bio-based products and technologies, ranging from renewable chemicals to advanced medical treatments.
This not only boosts economic growth and competitiveness but also enhances public health and environmental sustainability.
Additionally, the center would play a vital role in education and workforce development, preparing the next generation of scientists and engineers to lead future breakthroughs in the bioeconomy.
The overall goal of the proposed project is to establish a National Center for Biofoundry Applications (NCBA) to advance the bioeconomy.
In the center, the biofoundry development will be enabled by a synergistic and fully integrated program consisting of an in-house research and technology development program, an external user program, and a knowledge sharing, education, diversity, and outreach program.
In the in-house program, existing workflows, tools, codes, parts, and organisms will be onboarded and new ones will be developed.
In the user program, a diverse community of external users will be engaged to develop new capabilities (workflows, tools, codes, parts, organisms) for the biofoundry and solve important scientific problems through an externally peer-reviewed, competitive proposal process.
Both the in-house and user programs are designed to synergistically develop a synthetic biology pipeline named ALPHASYNBIO that can be implemented on the biofoundry.
The proposed National Center is not simply an integrated collection of equipment for automated biological experiments and software.
It will be an open ecosystem of disruptive thinking, education, and community engagement powered by state-of-the-art biofoundries.
The success of the proposed National Center will revolutionize the way biology is taught, capture the imagination of a new generation of biologists, and train the next generation workforce which is well versed in biology, artificial intelligence, and robotics.
This project is jointly supported by the Divisions of Emerging Frontiers (EF), Biological Infrastructure (DBI), and Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO), and the Division of Chemistry (CHE) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS).
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Subawards are not planned for this award.
However, the traditional research and development process in biotechnology is very slow, expensive, and inconsistent.
To overcome this key limitation, the goal of this project is to establish a National Center for Biofoundry Applications (NCBA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The center would serve as a hub for innovation, bringing together researchers, industry experts, and policymakers to foster collaboration and accelerate the development of sustainable biomanufacturing processes.
By centralizing resources and expertise, the center would streamline the creation of new bio-based products and technologies, ranging from renewable chemicals to advanced medical treatments.
This not only boosts economic growth and competitiveness but also enhances public health and environmental sustainability.
Additionally, the center would play a vital role in education and workforce development, preparing the next generation of scientists and engineers to lead future breakthroughs in the bioeconomy.
The overall goal of the proposed project is to establish a National Center for Biofoundry Applications (NCBA) to advance the bioeconomy.
In the center, the biofoundry development will be enabled by a synergistic and fully integrated program consisting of an in-house research and technology development program, an external user program, and a knowledge sharing, education, diversity, and outreach program.
In the in-house program, existing workflows, tools, codes, parts, and organisms will be onboarded and new ones will be developed.
In the user program, a diverse community of external users will be engaged to develop new capabilities (workflows, tools, codes, parts, organisms) for the biofoundry and solve important scientific problems through an externally peer-reviewed, competitive proposal process.
Both the in-house and user programs are designed to synergistically develop a synthetic biology pipeline named ALPHASYNBIO that can be implemented on the biofoundry.
The proposed National Center is not simply an integrated collection of equipment for automated biological experiments and software.
It will be an open ecosystem of disruptive thinking, education, and community engagement powered by state-of-the-art biofoundries.
The success of the proposed National Center will revolutionize the way biology is taught, capture the imagination of a new generation of biologists, and train the next generation workforce which is well versed in biology, artificial intelligence, and robotics.
This project is jointly supported by the Divisions of Emerging Frontiers (EF), Biological Infrastructure (DBI), and Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO), and the Division of Chemistry (CHE) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS).
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Subawards are not planned for this award.
Awardee
Funding Goals
THE GOAL OF THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY, "BIOFOUNDRIES TO ENABLE ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESOURCES FOR ADVANCING MODERN BIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY", IS IDENTIFIED IN THE LINK: HTTPS://WWW.NSF.GOV/PUBLICATIONS/PUB_SUMM.JSP?ODS_KEY=NSF23585
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding Agency
Funding Agency
Place of Performance
Urbana,
Illinois
61801-3620
United States
Geographic Scope
Single Zip Code
Related Opportunity
Analysis Notes
Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 44% from $9,000,000 to $12,999,999.
University Of Illinois was awarded
Establishing NCBA: Advancing Bioeconomy with Biofoundry
Cooperative Agreement 2400058
worth $12,999,999
from the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences in September 2024 with work to be completed primarily in Urbana Illinois United States.
The grant
has a duration of 6 years and
was awarded through assistance program 47.074 Biological Sciences.
The Cooperative Agreement was awarded through grant opportunity BioFoundries to Enable Access to Infrastructure and Resources for Advancing Modern Biology and Biotechnology.
Status
(Ongoing)
Last Modified 9/10/25
Period of Performance
9/1/24
Start Date
8/31/30
End Date
Funding Split
$13.0M
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$13.0M
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Transaction History
Modifications to 2400058
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
2400058
SAI Number
None
Award ID URI
SAI EXEMPT
Awardee Classifications
Public/State Controlled Institution Of Higher Education
Awarding Office
490808 DIV OF BIOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Funding Office
490807 DIVISION OF MOLECULAR AND
Awardee UEI
Y8CWNJRCNN91
Awardee CAGE
4B808
Performance District
IL-13
Senators
Richard Durbin
Tammy Duckworth
Tammy Duckworth
Modified: 9/10/25