Surpassing Evolution Transformative Approaches to Enhance the Efficiency of Photosynthesis | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The grant opportunity "Surpassing Evolution: Transformative Approaches to Enhance the Efficiency of Photosynthesis" is a joint US-UK research funding initiative designed to push photosynthesis research beyond the incremental improvements that have historically been difficult to achieve. The central idea is that photosynthesis, as the core mechanism plants and algae use to capture solar energy, still leaves significant room for improvement in how efficiently light energy is converted into biomass. If that efficiency can be meaningfully increased, the downstream impact could be substantial across multiple sectors, including higher-yield crops for food security, greater biomass production for bioenergy, and improved biological routes for producing renewable chemicals. The program frames enhanced photosynthetic efficiency as a long-term lever for addressing intertwined food, energy, and environmental challenges.

This solicitation emphasizes that while decades of work have tried to increase photosynthetic efficiency, real-world gains have been limited, even as scientific understanding of photosynthetic machinery has become far more detailed. The opportunity is built around the belief that newer "integrative bioscience" toolkits and cross-disciplinary thinking can break through existing constraints. Areas specifically highlighted include functional genomics, metabolic flux analysis, and synthetic biology, along with related approaches such as systems biology, modeling, and metabolic engineering. Rather than rewarding small optimizations, the funders are explicitly seeking ideas that could change the field's direction, producing a step change in knowledge or capability. In practical terms, proposals are expected to be high-impact and conceptually bold, aiming to surpass what evolution has produced under natural selection pressures, which do not necessarily maximize agricultural or industrial productivity.

A defining feature of the program is its "Ideas Lab" mechanism, where multidisciplinary teams form and develop research concepts in an intensive workshop setting. The intention is to deliberately mix expertise that does not usually sit at the same table, pairing photosynthesis and plant biology specialists with researchers from physics, engineering, chemistry, computer science, mathematical modeling, and other disciplines that might provide fresh perspectives on bottlenecks like light harvesting, electron transport, carbon fixation, energy losses, and regulation under fluctuating environments. The organizers also strongly encourage participation from adjacent specialties such as bioenergetics, synthetic biology, and systems biology, on the premise that the long-standing problem of photosynthetic efficiency may require unconventional solutions and new ways of integrating data, models, and engineered biological systems.

The program is also designed to strengthen transatlantic collaboration. It is jointly run by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), with the explicit goal of building strong US-UK research alliances where combined expertise creates added value beyond what either side could do alone. Collaboration between US and UK researchers is strongly encouraged, particularly in full proposals, and the broader framing is that international teams can accelerate progress through shared resources, complementary strengths, and coordinated research directions.

From an applicant pathway standpoint, US and UK researchers had the option to submit preliminary proposals through NSF FastLane to be considered for participation in the Ideas Lab workshop (scheduled for September 13-17, 2010). Concepts developed through the Ideas Lab would then be submitted as full proposals. Importantly, participation in the Ideas Lab was not mandatory for submitting a full proposal: US researchers who could not participate, or who preferred not to, were still allowed to submit full proposals directly in response to the solicitation. Regardless of route, the expectation was that the funded work should be transformative, multidisciplinary where appropriate, and oriented toward meaningful increases in the efficiency and sustainability of photosynthesis.

In terms of funding details, this is a discretionary grant program in the science and technology research and development category, listed under CFDA 47.074 (Biological Sciences). The solicitation anticipated approximately 10 awards, with an estimated total program funding level of $6,000,000. Individual award sizes were expected to fall between $300,000 (floor) and $2,000,000 (ceiling), and there was no cost-sharing or matching requirement. Eligibility was broadly described as unrestricted (open to any type of entity), subject to any further clarifications in the full solicitation text. Key dates included an April 26, 2010 posting date, a June 15, 2010 deadline for preliminary proposals required for consideration for the Ideas Lab, and a November 1, 2010 deadline for full proposals. The official reference is NSF Publication 10-559, and applicants needing help accessing the announcement were directed to NSF grants.gov support.

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