Dark Dimensions of the RNA Regulome | 22 510

Opportunity Information: Apply for 22 510

The National Science Foundation (NSF) funding opportunity titled Dark Dimensions of the RNA Regulome (Funding Opportunity Number 22-510; CFDA 47.074) is built around an Ideas Lab, which is a highly interactive, facilitated workshop format designed to spark bold, high-risk, high-reward research directions around a major scientific challenge. Rather than supporting conventional single-investigator projects from the start, this model focuses on assembling a group of participants, pushing them through intensive idea generation and team formation, and then funding a select set of the resulting collaborative concepts as grant awards. NSF anticipated making about 7 awards under this solicitation, with an award ceiling listed as 0 (typically meaning the ceiling is not specified in the summary data and applicants must rely on the full solicitation for budget guidance).

Scientifically, the core problem is that modern genomics still struggles to explain how genomes translate into the traits and diversity seen across organisms. Even with rapid advances in sequencing, analysis, and genome manipulation, a large portion of genetic variation linked to phenotypes remains unexplained, and genome-wide association studies often point to regions outside protein-coding genes. Many of these poorly characterized, non-protein-coding regions are transcribed into RNA molecules that do not encode proteins. These non-coding RNAs can show signs that they matter biologically, such as evolutionary conservation, distinctive structural patterns, and expression profiles that look purposeful rather than random. The solicitation frames these areas as the "dark" parts of the genome and positions non-coding RNA as a hidden regulatory language that biology uses in ways we only partly understand.

The Ideas Lab aims to bring together a deliberately broad mix of expertise across biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer and information sciences, and engineering. The goal is to encourage cross-disciplinary thinking that can uncover new rules for how non-coding RNAs arise, evolve, and function, recognizing that the principles governing non-coding RNA may differ fundamentally from those governing protein-coding genes. The NSF is explicitly asking for fresh perspectives, new theories, and unconventional approaches that can decode the "syntax and semantics" of non-coding RNA systems, meaning both the structural/sequence features that make them work and the biological meaning of their activity in cells and organisms.

In terms of research outcomes, the solicitation highlights three broad categories of deliverables. First, it seeks new theories and models that can explain the origin, diversity, and functional roles of non-coding RNAs, including how they contribute to phenotypic variation, organismal form and function, and evolutionary change. Second, it encourages new approaches and enabling technologies to manipulate, control, and study non-coding RNA activity, which could include novel experimental platforms, computational methods, measurement tools, or engineering strategies that make non-coding RNA function more predictable and testable. Third, it calls for biotechnological innovations that could emerge from this knowledge, with an emphasis on strengthening the bioeconomy and improving society's ability to predict and mitigate the impacts of environmental change on organisms and ecosystems.

The opportunity also makes clear why this area is considered ripe for discovery. While research has already established that non-coding RNAs influence gene regulation, development, metabolism, physiology, and even interactions between organisms, the majority of non-coding RNAs remain uncharacterized and their functions are often unknown. The solicitation argues that this gap represents both a fundamental scientific frontier and a practical bottleneck: without understanding what these RNAs do and how they work, it is difficult to rationally design or reprogram biological systems for biotechnology applications. By illuminating these "dark dimensions" of the RNA regulome, NSF is aiming to catalyze a wave of discoveries that not only explain previously mysterious genomic signals but also enable new tools and applications grounded in non-coding RNA biology.

Administratively, this is an NSF discretionary grant opportunity in the science and technology research and development category, open to unrestricted eligible applicants (meaning any entity type may apply, subject to any additional eligibility details in the full text). The solicitation was created on October 20, 2021, and listed an original closing date of August 31, 2022. The central pathway to funding is participation in the Ideas Lab process, where teams form around especially promising concepts and then pursue support to carry out the proposed research agenda.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Dark Dimensions of the RNA Regulome" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.074.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 20, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 31, 2022. (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 7 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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