NSF/CASIS Collaboration on Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology on the International Space Station (ISS) to Benefit Life on Earth | 22 535

Opportunity Information: Apply for 22 535

This NSF funding opportunity (NSF 22-535) is a collaboration between the National Science Foundation and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the organization that manages access to the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory. It invites research proposals in tissue engineering and mechanobiology that specifically take advantage of the ISS environment to produce results that will benefit people and technologies on Earth. The program sits within NSF Engineering, led by the Divisions of Chemical, Bioengineering and Environmental Transport (CBET) and Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation/Infrastructure (CMMI), and it is framed as a science and technology R and D grant opportunity rather than a procurement or contract.

The central idea is to use the unique conditions available on the ISS, especially microgravity, as a research tool. Tissue engineering and mechanobiology are both strongly shaped by physical forces and the mechanical environment surrounding cells and tissues. On Earth, gravity-driven effects like sedimentation, buoyancy-driven convection, and constant weight-bearing loads can complicate experiments or mask subtle biological and mechanical signals. In microgravity, many of those factors change or diminish, which can make it possible to observe cell organization, tissue formation, extracellular matrix development, fluid behavior around tissues, and mechanotransduction pathways in ways that are difficult or sometimes impossible to isolate in normal laboratory settings. The solicitation is aimed at projects that do not treat space as a novelty, but instead use the ISS as a purposeful platform to answer well-justified research questions with clear terrestrial relevance.

A key requirement highlighted in the notice is eligibility tied to ISS National Lab use. To utilize the ISS through this solicitation, applicants must qualify as "U.S. Persons" under 22 U.S. Code 6010. In plain terms, that means the proposing entity and the relevant participants must be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, or U.S.-organized corporations, partnerships, or similar organizations formed under U.S. law. The eligibility line in the source data is listed as "Others (see text...)," but the practical constraint emphasized is the U.S. Person status tied to access and compliance rules for ISS utilization.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant program with an expected three awards. The listing shows an award ceiling of 0, which typically indicates the ceiling is not expressed as a single fixed number in the public synopsis and that award sizes may vary based on project scope, ISS integration needs, and available funds. The opportunity was posted December 5, 2021, with an original closing date of March 8, 2022. The CFDA assistance listings provided are 43.007 and 47.041, reflecting the federal assistance categories associated with the participating agencies and NSF research support.

In terms of what NSF and CASIS are looking for, the emphasis is on rigorous, engineering-oriented biological research that can translate to improvements in health, biomedical devices, manufacturing of biological products, or fundamental understanding that enables better therapies and engineered tissues on Earth. Competitive concepts would typically spell out why the ISS environment is essential for the experiment, what measurements will be taken, how the work will be designed to function within spaceflight constraints, and how the results will inform Earth-based biomedical engineering or mechanobiology. Because this is a joint NSF and CASIS effort, proposals generally need to be realistic about flight hardware, sample handling, automation, crew time, safety constraints, and the overall path from ground development to on-orbit execution, while still maintaining a clear scientific payoff that justifies using a limited national laboratory resource.

Overall, the opportunity can be read as a targeted call for research teams that sit at the intersection of engineering and biology and can credibly leverage microgravity as a variable to uncover new mechanistic insights or enable tissue engineering outcomes that have practical value back on Earth.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NSF/CASIS Collaboration on Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology on the International Space Station (ISS) to Benefit Life on Earth" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 43.007, 47.041.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 05, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 08, 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 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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