The U.S. National Science Foundation Division of Mathematical Sciences and the National Institutes of Health National Institute of General Medical Sciences jointly support NSF 22-600, Joint DMS/NIGMS Initiative to Support Research at the Interface of the Biological and Mathematical Sciences. The program supports fundamental mathematical, computational, and statistical research motivated by important biological and biomedical questions within the NIGMS mission.
Deadline: The current annual submission window runs September 1 through September 18, with proposals due September 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM in the submitting organization’s local time.
Funding: Up to $5 million per year is anticipated for new proposals, subject to availability of funds and meritorious proposals, with approximately 15 to 25 awards. Track 1 supports exploratory, high-risk/high-reward projects or new collaborative teams with total budgets up to $600,000 for up to three years. Track 2 supports larger-scope projects from established teams with total budgets up to $1.2 million over three to four years. Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited.
Eligibility: Eligible proposer categories are those identified in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide. Unaffiliated individuals are not eligible. There are no solicitation-specific restrictions on who may serve as PI and no limits on the number of proposals per organization or per PI/co-PI.
Research requirements: Proposals must clearly address an important biological or biomedical question within the NIGMS mission and make a compelling case for innovative mathematical, computational, or statistical methodology. Collaborative expertise spanning mathematical and life sciences is expected. A single-investigator proposal must demonstrate sufficient expertise in both domains. Proposals based on topics or approaches for which the PI, co-PI, or senior personnel previously received support from this joint program are returned without review.
Submission: Full proposals may be submitted through Research.gov or Grants.gov. Letters of intent and preliminary proposals are not required. Collaborative proposals submitted as separate submissions from multiple organizations must use Research.gov.
Atlas fit: This is a strong biomedical research and interdisciplinary STEM opportunity, but a credible pursuit requires a qualified mathematical/statistical and biological/biomedical research team with a responsive NIGMS-mission research question and the institutional research infrastructure to execute it. Dr. Miltie is not classified as a submission-ready direct prime on current evidence. Preferred posture: Partner-Led / Interdisciplinary Biomedical-Mathematical Research Team. Route organization-specific evaluation to qualifying research universities, biomedical research institutions, and eligible research organizations with the required cross-disciplinary team.