[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 17, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7773-7775]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-3843]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Research
Energy Research Financial Assistance Program Notice 98-10;
Biological Research Program, Use of Model Organisms to Understand the
Human Genome
AGENCY: Office of Energy Research, U.S. Department of Energy
ACTION: Notice inviting grant applications.
SUMMARY: The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER) of
the Office of Energy Research (ER), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE),
hereby announces its interest in receiving peer-reviewable applications
for research in support of the Biological Research Program. This
Program is a coordinated multidisciplinary research effort to develop
creative, innovative approaches, resources, and technologies that lead
to a molecular understanding of the human genome. This solicitation is
for research that capitalizes on our understanding and the
manipulability of the genomes of model organisms, including yeast,
nematode, fruitfly, Zebra fish, and mouse, to speed understanding of
human genome organization, regulation, and function.
DATES: Potential applicants are encouraged to submit a brief
preapplication. All preapplications, referencing Program Notice 98-10,
should be received by DOE by 4:30 P.M. E.S.T., March 26, 1998. A
response to the preapplications discussing the potential program
relevance of a formal application generally will be communicated within
7 days of receipt.
The deadline for receipt of formal applications is 4:30 P.M.,
E.D.T., May 7, 1998, in order to be accepted for merit review and to
permit timely consideration for award in FY 1999.
ADDRESSES: Preapplications, referencing Program Notice 98-10, should be
sent by E-mail to joanne.corcoran@oer.doe.gov, however, preapplications
will also be accepted if mailed to the following address: Ms. Joanne
Corcoran, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, ER-72, U.S.
Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290.
Formal applications, referencing Program Notice 98-10, should be
sent to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Research, Grants
and Contracts Division, ER-64, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD
20874-1290, ATTN: Program Notice 98-10, Ms. Debbie Greenawalt. This
address must be used when submitting applications
[[Page 7774]]
by U.S. Postal Service Express, any commercial mail delivery service,
or when hand carried by the applicant.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Marvin Stodolsky, telephone: (301)
903-4475 or Dr. David G. Thomassen, telephone: (301) 903-9817, Office
of Biological and Environmental Research, ER-72, U.S. Department of
Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In recent years, an astonishing conservation
of gene structure and function across species has been revealed. Future
biological understanding of the human will depend not only on
understanding the structure and function of the encoded proteins and
RNAs, but also on understanding the nature of the regulatory networks
that control expression of batteries of genes in space and time. For
example, we can more economically learn how genes and systems work in
the genetically manipulable organisms such as bacteria, yeast,
fruitfly, nematode, or Zebra fish. In addition, the mouse provides the
opportunity to model and analyze many complex human conditions less
suitably studied in invertebrates of lower vertebrates.
This solicitation is for research that capitalizes on our
understanding and the manipulability of the genomes of model organisms,
including yeast, nematode, fruitfly, Zebra fish, and mouse, to speed
understanding of human genome organization, regulation, and function.
The solicitation is for research at a genomic or near-genomic scale,
i.e., not, for example, for studies of individual enzymes, that
facilitates understanding of human genome organization, regulation, and
function. It is not for basic research on model organisms that only has
the promise of a long-term payoff for understanding the human genome.
Research is encouraged in a number of areas including, but not limited
to:
Interspecies comparisons of the organization of
functionally related genes and their regulatory elements including
automated approaches for interspecies genic comparisons;
Production and characterization of informative mutations
or gene transfers in model systems to elucidate gene function in the
human;
Development and application of approaches to characterize
developmental and regulatory pathways (these could include genetic
approaches, e.g., transgenics, knockouts, overexpression, antisense,
etc.);
Development and use of experimental systems to
characterize or analyze human gene function that match the speed of new
gene discovery on a genomic scale.
This solicitation is not intended to support the development of new
model systems that do not demonstrate utility for gene functional
analysis in the human. For that reason, we intend to focus on
relatively well-established model organisms.
Program Funding
It is anticipated that up to $1.5 million will be available in FY
1999, contingent upon the availability of funds. Multiple year funding
of grant awards is expected, and is also contingent upon the
availability of funds. It is expected that most awards will be from one
to three years and will range from $200,000 to $400,000 per year (total
costs).
Collaboration
Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with researchers in other
institutions, such as universities, industry, non-profit organizations,
federal laboratories and FFRDCs, including the DOE National
Laboratories, where appropriate, and to incorporate cost sharing and/or
consortia wherever feasible.
Collaborative research applications may be submitted in several
ways:
(1) When multiple private sector or academic organizations intend
to propose collaborative or joint research projects, the lead
organization may submit a single application which includes another
organization as a lower-tier participant (subaward) who will be
responsible for a smaller portion of the overall project. If approved
for funding, DOE may provide the total project funds to the lead
organization who will provide funding to the other participant via a
subcontract arrangement. The application should clearly describe the
role to be played by each organization, specify the managerial
arrangements and explain the advantages of the multi-organizational
effort.
(2) Alternatively, multiple private sector or academic
organizations who intend to propose collaborative or joint research
projects may each prepare a portion of the application, then combine
each portion into a single, integrated scientific application. A
separate Face Page and Budget Pages must be included for each
organization participating in the collaborative project. The joint
application must be submitted to DOE as one package. If approved for
funding, DOE will award a separate grant to each collaborating
organization.
(3) Private sector or academic organizations who wish to form a
collaborative project with a DOE FFRDC may not include the DOE FFRDC in
their application as a lower-tier participant (subaward). Rather, each
collaborator may prepare a portion of the proposal, then combine each
portion into a single, integrated scientific proposal. The private
sector or academic organization must include a Face Page and Budget
Pages for its portion of the project. The FFRDC must include separate
Budget Pages for its portion of the project. The joint proposal must be
submitted to DOE as one package. If approved for funding, DOE will
award a grant to the private sector or academic organization. The FFRDC
will be funded, through existing DOE contracts, from funds specifically
designated for new FFRDC projects. DOE FFRDCs will not compete for
funding already designated for private sector or academic
organizations. Other Federal laboratories who wish to form
collaborative projects may also follow guidelines outlined in this
section.
Preapplications
A brief preapplication may be submitted. The preapplication should
identify on the cover sheet the institution, Principal Investigator
name, address, telephone, fax and E-mail address, title of the project,
and the field of scientific research. The preapplication should consist
of a two to three page narrative describing the research project
objectives and methods of accomplishment. These will be reviewed
relative to the scope and research needs of the DOE Biological Research
Program.
Preapplications are strongly encouraged but not required prior to
submission of a full application. Please note that notification of a
successful preapplication is not an indication that an award will be
made in response to the formal application.
Applications will be subjected to scientific merit review (peer
review) and will be evaluated against the following evaluation criteria
listed in descending order of importance as codified at 10 CFR
605.10(d):
1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project
2. Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach
3. Competency of Applicant's Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed
Resources
4. Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget
The evaluation will include program policy factors such as the
relevance of the proposed research to the terms of
[[Page 7775]]
the announcement and an agency's programmatic needs. Note, external
peer reviewers are selected with regard to both their scientific
expertise and the absence of conflict-of-interest issues. Non-federal
reviewers may be used, and submission of an application constitutes
agreement that this is acceptable to the investigator(s) and the
submitting institution.
Information about the development and submission of applications,
eligibility, limitations, evaluation, selection process, and other
policies and procedures may be found in 10 CFR Part 605, and in the
Application Guide for the Office of Energy Research Financial
Assistance Program. Electronic access to the Guide and required forms
is made available via the World Wide Web at: http://www.er.doe.gov/
production/grants/grants.html. The Project Description must be 25 pages
or less, exclusive of attachments. The application must contain an
abstract or project summary, letters of intent from collaborators, and
short curriculum vitaes consistent with NIH guidelines.
Energy Research, as part of its grant regulations, requires at 10
CFR 605.11(b) that a recipient receiving a grant to perform research
involving recombinant DNA molecules and/or organisms and viruses
containing recombinant DNA molecules shall comply with the National
Institutes of Health ``Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant
DNA Molecules'', which is available via the world wide web at: http://
www.niehs.nih.gov/odhsb/biosafe/nih/nih97-1.html, (59 FR 34496, July 5,
1994), or such later revision of those guidelines as may be published
in the Federal Register.
(The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this program
is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 CFR Part
605)
Issued in Washington, D.C. February 6, 1998.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director for Resource Management, Office of Energy Research.
[FR Doc. 98-3843 Filed 2-13-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
