Systematics and Biodiversity Science | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Systematics and Biodiversity Science (SBS) opportunity is a discretionary grant program within the Biological Sciences directorate that funds research aimed at improving what we know about the diversity of life, how organisms are classified, and how they are evolutionarily related. The central focus is organismal biodiversity in natural systems, framed by big questions such as: what organisms exist, how they are related across the tree of life, how evolutionary processes produced modern global biodiversity patterns across time and space, and how phylogenetic history can be used to interpret evolution in the natural world. NSF places particular emphasis on projects that are transformative, meaning they do more than add incremental knowledge; they introduce approaches, syntheses, datasets, or analytical strategies that significantly change how biodiversity is discovered, documented, and interpreted.

A defining feature of SBS is its preference for integrative systematics, both in research design and in training. Competitive projects typically connect multiple parts of the biodiversity pipeline rather than treating them as separate tasks. That includes combining biodiversity discovery and field or collection-based work with rigorous taxonomy, phylogenetic inference, comparative analyses, and explicit evolutionary interpretation. The program also values training outcomes that produce researchers capable of working across these components, such as students or early-career scientists who can move from collecting and vouchering specimens to building phylogenies, revising classifications, and making results broadly reusable through open data resources.

SBS is organized around two core programs that applicants must choose between when submitting: Biodiversity Discovery and Analysis, and Phylogenetic Systematics. There is also a special proposal category called Advancing Revisionary Taxonomy and Systematics, which has specific requirements referenced in NSF Dear Colleague Letter NSF 11-037, but proposals are still submitted through one of the two core programs. In practice, this means applicants should align their narrative, methods, and deliverables with the expectations of the program that best matches the project’s primary goals, while still showing integration when appropriate.

The Biodiversity Discovery and Analysis program supports expeditionary and exploratory biodiversity research intended to accelerate discovery, identification, description, classification, and cataloguing of species and other organismal diversity. Projects can focus on any group of organisms in any natural habitat, but they should be framed at the organismal level and within an evolutionary context. NSF highlights three common organizing approaches: clade-based inventories (species-level inventories for a particular taxonomic group across a region up to planetary scales), guild-based studies (organized around ecological assemblages, shared habitats, or host-symbiont systems), and geographically based efforts (focused on a specific place). A strong proposal in this track makes a convincing case that the targeted clade, guild, or area is poorly known at the species level and that the proposed work will materially close that gap. Suitable activities include fieldwork, research using existing museum or herbarium collections, taxonomic identification, revisionary classification and monographs, hypothesis testing tied to discovery efforts, and bioinformatics that enables discovery and synthesis. NSF also encourages innovative workflows such as rapid identification and description, cybertaxonomy, and automated identification tools.

Because discovery-oriented projects can generate large volumes of specimens and data, Biodiversity Discovery and Analysis proposals are expected to include detailed, practical plans for execution and long-term value. This includes fieldwork coordination and permitting, vouchering of new collections, specimen preparation, and long-term storage arrangements that are openly accessible. Proposals should also cover specimen identification and description workflows, georeferencing, data modeling and databasing, and rapid dissemination of outputs into public biodiversity databases. In other words, the work is not just about collecting or naming; it is about building an enduring, well-curated, widely usable biodiversity resource with transparent methods and accessible products.

The Phylogenetic Systematics program supports research that uses phylogenetic approaches to answer major questions about organismal evolution and to resolve relationships among species and higher taxa across the hierarchy of life. This program includes tree-building projects at any taxonomic scale, tree-based analyses of character evolution, and tree-enabled comparative biology. Examples of appropriate topics include phylogenetic studies of biogeography, timing and tempo of diversification, evolution of morphological, physiological, developmental, behavioral, or molecular traits, adaptation, and other macroevolutionary patterns. Projects that use phylogenies to produce revisionary classifications and monographs are also within scope, and NSF explicitly welcomes proposals that develop or advance phylogenetic theory, analytical methods, or comparative approaches, as long as they are clearly motivated and broadly useful.

Phylogenetic Systematics proposals are expected to be methodologically explicit and well-justified in terms of sampling and analytical strategy. Applicants should clearly explain the phylogenetic methods to be used, why the chosen taxa are the right system for the question, and how data will be sampled (for example, taxon coverage, character or sequence sampling, and how missing data or uncertainty will be handled). If comparative methods are used, they should be justified and described in a way that shows the applicant understands assumptions and limitations. For proposals centered mainly on comparative biology, NSF expects a sufficient phylogeny component to ensure the tree used is strongly supported and appropriate for the proposed inferences. That may mean generating new phylogenetic data, or substantially improving and expanding existing published trees, including sampling that matches the scope of the biological question.

Both programs share similar expectations when fieldwork or new specimen collection is involved. Applicants should address permitting, coordination, vouchering, preparation, long-term specimen storage in accessible repositories, identifications and descriptions, georeferencing, data management, and rapid public release of data into biodiversity databases. This emphasis reflects NSF’s interest in making SBS-funded work durable and broadly reusable, not only through publications but through specimens, curated collections, and discoverable datasets.

NSF also notes that organismal biodiversity and evolution research is funded across multiple programs in the Biological Sciences Directorate, and SBS commonly co-reviews proposals with other clusters. Applicants are cautioned that some topics may fit better elsewhere, including projects focused primarily on demography or evolutionary processes below the species level, studies centered on genes and genomes without an organismal, phylogenetic, or comparative framing, form-and-function research that lacks a phylogenetic or organismal focus, or ecosystem-level functional diversity work. When a project sits near these boundaries, NSF encourages investigators to consult the BIO directorate program listings and contact a program officer to confirm the best fit before submission.

Administrative details in the opportunity listing indicate it is an NSF grant (CFDA 47.074, Biological Sciences) with no cost sharing requirement and unrestricted eligibility, meaning it is broadly open to applicant organizations, subject to any clarifications NSF provides in the full solicitation. The listing reported an estimated total funding level of $22,813,000 and an expected 26 awards. At the time of the posting (March 2011), the annual full proposal deadlines were set as July 9 and January 9 each year. The agency is the National Science Foundation, and logistical support for accessing the opportunity through Grants.gov is provided through NSF’s Grants.gov support contact.

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