Physics of Living Systems Program

Physics of Living Systems Program is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF). Advances physics-based approaches to study living systems, encompassing structural biomimicry for designing novel materials and systems. This program should be reviewed carefully against your organization's mission, staffing capacity, timeline, and compliance readiness before you commit resources to a full application. Strong submissions usually translate sponsor priorities into concrete objectives, clear implementation milestones, and measurable public benefit.

For planning purposes, treat rolling deadlines or periodic funding windows as your working submission target unless the sponsor publishes an updated notice. A competitive project plan should include a documented need statement, implementation approach, evaluation framework, risk controls, and a realistic budget narrative. Even when a grant allows broad program design, reviewers still expect credible evidence that the proposed work can be executed within the grant period and with appropriate accountability.

Current published award information indicates $500,000 - $2,000,000 Organizations should verify the final funding range, matching requirements, and allowability rules directly in the official opportunity materials before preparing a budget. Finance and program teams should align early so direct costs, indirect costs, staffing assumptions, procurement timelines, and reporting obligations all remain consistent throughout drafting and post-award administration.

Eligibility guidance for this opportunity is: Universities, research institutions If your organization has partnerships, subrecipients, or collaborators, define responsibilities and compliance ownership before submission. Reviewers often look for implementation credibility, so letters of commitment, prior performance evidence, and a clear governance model can materially strengthen the application narrative and reduce concerns about delivery risk.

A practical approach is to begin with a focused readiness review, then build a workback schedule from the sponsor deadline. Confirm required attachments, registration dependencies, and internal approval checkpoints early. This reduces last-minute issues and improves submission quality. For the most accurate requirements, always rely on the official notice and primary source links associated with Physics of Living Systems Program.

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These terms and conditions are consistent with the revised guidance specified in the OMB Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance published in the Federal Register on April 22, 2024.

Important information for proposers All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in this funding opportunity and in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) that is in effect for the relevant due date to which the proposal is being submitted. It is the responsibility of the proposer to ensure that the proposal meets these requirements.

Submitting a proposal prior to a specified deadline does not negate this requirement.

Updates to NSF Research Security Policies On July 10, 2025, NSF issued an Important Notice providing updates to the agency's research security policies, including a research security training requirement, Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program annual certification requirement, prohibition on Confucius institutes and an updated FFDR reporting and submission timeline.

Supports theoretical and experimental research that explores the fundamental physical processes used by living systems, with a focus on basic physical principles that underlie biological function. Supports theoretical and experimental research that explores the fundamental physical processes used by living systems, with a focus on basic physical principles that underlie biological function.

All proposals submitted to the Physics Division that are not governed by another solicitation (such as CAREER) must be submitted to its division-wide solicitation: Division of Physics: Investigator-Initiated Research Projects.

The program "Physics of Living Systems" (PoLS) targets synergy of theoretical and experimental research exploring the most fundamental physical processes that living systems utilize to perform their functions in dynamic and diverse environments. The focus of the research proposals should be on understanding basic physical principles that underlie biological function.

Proposals that use physics equipment only as a tool to study biological questions are of VERY low priority. PoLS encourages research that emphasizes the physical principles of organization and function of living systems, including the exploration of artificial life forms and how life began.

While the problems under study must be important to advancing our understanding of the living world in a quantitative way, particular emphasis will be placed on those projects in which lessons learned from the biological application also expand the intellectual range of physics.

Awards cover a broad spectrum of physics approaches in biology, ranging from the physical principles and mechanisms at the single cell level such as molecular architecture and dynamics inside cells, energy metabolism, gene regulation and intracellular and intercellular communication, to collective behavior and evolution of complexity in life forms and living populations of organisms.

This systems approach in physics has been very successful in understanding inanimate systems, and has the potential to bring deep understanding of the world of animated, replicating systems, through testable phenomenological theories. The program funds individual investigators, although collaborative proposals between physicists and biological researchers are welcome.

Proposals with potential societal impact such as renewable energy, human health, and education are good examples of strong broader impact and are of interest to the program.

Additional program resources Recently Funded Awards and Abstracts Map of Recent Awards from this Program News Associated with this Program Awards made through this program Browse projects funded by this program Map of recent awards made through this program Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) Division of Physics (MPS/PHY) Review full program guidelines and learn how to submit a proposal in the latest solicitation.

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