According to a program solicitation issued today, the Instrument Development for Biological Research (IDBR) program "supports the development of novel or of substantially improved instrumentation likely to have a significant impact on the study of biological systems at any level."
Instrumentation under the program includes analytical instruments, microscopes, sensors, and "related devices for detection or measurement of biological molecules, structures, or phenomena at any level, from that of individual molecules to that of whole ecosystems." Eligible projects should aim at providing instruments with new or enhanced performance, NSF said.
Software "for the operation of instruments, analysis of data, or the analysis of images" will also be supported, according to the NSF, "where these have the effect of improving instrument performance."
Full proposals are due Oct. 5, 2005.