Opportunity Information: Apply for 18 590
The Plant Biotic Interactions (PBI) program is a joint National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) funding opportunity that supports research aimed at understanding how plants interact with other living organisms in ways that can be beneficial, harmful, or somewhere in between. The focus is on the biological processes that shape these relationships, spanning interactions with viruses, bacteria, oomycetes, fungi, other plants, and invertebrates. Projects can center on classic model organisms, emerging experimental systems, or non-model species, including work on agriculturally important crops and other plants with clear relevance to food and farming.
A core theme of the program is mechanism: proposals are expected to move beyond describing ecological patterns and instead explain how and why interactions happen at a functional level. Supported work can range from fundamental, curiosity-driven studies (for example, how a plant immune receptor recognizes a pathogen molecule) to translational research intended to convert basic discoveries into practical agricultural outcomes (for example, improving disease resistance, reducing pest damage, or leveraging beneficial symbionts to boost productivity). Applicants can submit projects that are purely basic, purely applied, or a mix of both, but the proposal must be strongly justified either by its contribution to fundamental biology, its agricultural relevance, or both.
The program explicitly welcomes the full spectrum of symbioses and plant-associated relationships, including commensalism, mutualism, parasitism, and classic host-pathogen interactions. Research may emphasize the plant host itself, the biology of the pathogen/pest/symbiont, the back-and-forth between the partners, or broader community effects such as the roles played by plant-associated microbiomes. PBI is interested in the entire life cycle of these associations, including how they start (initiation), how they spread (transmission), how they persist (maintenance), and what determines the end result (outcome). Example areas include metabolic exchanges between partners, immune recognition and downstream signaling, regulation and control mechanisms that stabilize or disrupt symbioses, reciprocal molecular responses as each organism adapts to the other, and self/non-self recognition processes such as those involved in pollen-pistil interactions.
Projects are expected to use explanatory frameworks grounded in modern biology, which can include molecular, genomic, metabolic, cellular, network, and whole-organism approaches. Both hypothesis-driven and discovery-driven experimental strategies are considered appropriate, and the program encourages proposals that pair quantitative modeling with experimental work to strengthen inference and predictive power. In contrast, projects that are strictly ecological and do not investigate underlying mechanisms are considered outside the program scope.
Administratively, this is a discretionary grant opportunity administered by the National Science Foundation under Funding Opportunity Number 18-590, with activity in science and technology and other research and development. Proposals are accepted at any time (no fixed deadline listed in the provided description). The listing indicates an expected number of awards around 30, and the award ceiling is shown as 0, which typically signals that applicants should consult the full solicitation or program guidance for budget expectations rather than relying on a preset maximum. The CFDA numbers associated with the opportunity are 10.310 and 47.074, and eligibility is labeled broadly as "Others" with additional clarification presumably provided in the full eligibility text.
Overall, PBI is designed to fund research that clarifies the fundamental rules governing how plants and their associated organisms interact, while also encouraging pathways that translate those insights into strategies that can improve agricultural sustainability, resilience, and performance.Apply for 18 590
- The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Plant Biotic Interactions" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.310, 47.074.
- This funding opportunity was created on Aug 30, 2018.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Proposals accepted anytime. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 30 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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| Quantifying the Ecological Contributions of Urban Trees Apply for P18AC00703 Funding Number: P18AC00703 Agency: Department of the Interior, National Park Service Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development Funding Amount: $29,160 |
| Endangered Species Conservation - Recovery Implementation Funds Apply for F18AS00359 Funding Number: F18AS00359 Agency: Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development Funding Amount: $481,189 |
| Preservation and Documentation of NPS Museum Collections Apply for P18AS00707 Funding Number: P18AS00707 Agency: Department of the Interior, National Park Service Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development Funding Amount: $75,000 |
| Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Units Apply for F18AS00360 Funding Number: F18AS00360 Agency: Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development Funding Amount: $85,000 |
| STATEMAP - The State Component of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program Apply for G19AS00006 Funding Number: G19AS00006 Agency: Department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development Funding Amount: $300,000 |
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