NSF and USDA Earmark $15M for Microbial Sequencing in 2006

NEW YORK, Dec. 5 (GenomeWeb News) - The National Science Foundation and the US Department of Agriculture have allocated nearly $15 million for the 2006 Microbial Genome Sequencing Program, according to a program solicitation on the NSF web site.

NSF said it expects to award between 20 and 30 standard or continuing grants under the program, with most awards ranging between $100,000 and $2.5 million, for periods up to three years.

The program will consider proposals that involve high-throughput sequencing of the genomes of microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, archaea, fungi, oomycetes, protists, and agriculturally important nematodes.

The proposals should also conssider developing and implementing strategies, tools, and technologies to make currently available genome sequences "more valuable to the user community," NSF said.

Of the $15 million allocated, $10 million is funded by the NSF and $5 million by the USDA.

The proposal deadline is March 2, 2006. The full program solicitation is available here.