Funding Announcements

Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) is now accepting applications for its 2026 funding programs to support innovation, research, and health equity in the life sciences ecosystem.

• Biobank ($1M): Designed to break barriers by establishing Alzheimer’s Disease and Colorectal Cancer accessible biobanks sourced from diverse patient populations across Massachusetts.
• Bits to Bytes ($750,000): Grants for scientific projects that generate and analyze large datasets to answer pressing life science questions, and to attract and train data scientists in the Commonwealth.
• Frontiers Fund ($200,000+): Supports early-stage, high-risk translational research in historically underfunded and understudied sectors of the life sciences.
• Novel Therapeutics Delivery ($750,000): Capitalizes and incentivizes translational projects to address complex challenges in “therapeutic” delivery—from biomanufacturing, to targeted delivery, to biomaterials and more.
• Research Infrastructure and Equipment ($1.5–$5M): Grants for capital projects that catalyze the life sciences ecosystem by accelerating life sciences research and development in the Commonwealth.
• Women’s Health Initiative ($500,000): Supports projects in women’s health in the area of pregnancy-induced hypertension and perimenopause/menopause.
• Women’s Health Collaboration ($750,000): Supports collaborative projects that aim to improve the discovery, technical innovation, and/or analysis of datasets to answer pressing life science questions around women’s health.

Deadlines:

• Biobank: October 3 at 2 pm
• All other programs: November 21 at 10 am

Informational session zoom registration link

• October 23 at 11 am

Submission Process: There are no limits on the number of applications BU can submit. However, overlap between proposals is discouraged.

Interested investigators should submit a form expressing their interest to apply via InfoReady Review by Friday, October 17. For the Research Infrastructure and Equipment Grant, investigators will also be asked to provide an abstract (250 words maximum) describing their intended proposal.

For additional support:

• Bits to Bytes, Novel Therapeutics Delivery, ARC Awards, and Women’s Health Collaboration Programs require an industry partner. Please reach out to Industry Engagement at engagebu@bu.edu to help identify and facilitate these industry partnerships.
• All proposals must be submitted to Sponsored Programs per their proposal submission policy and well in advance of the submission deadline date.

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The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), in collaboration with the Applied Research Institute (ARI), has updated its long-term open call under the Expedited Research Innovation System (ERIS), now renamed the Expedited Research Innovation Series. This initiative seeks novel technologies, methods, or research that support DARPA-related objectives. Submitted ideas, presented via video pitches, will be evaluated and curated for potential rapid funding and acquisition by the Department of Defense. The update includes new ERIS topic areas and revised selection criteria.

The updated ERIS call introduces new topic areas:

• Detecting and tracking elusive objects across air, land, and space domains
• Overcoming limitations of current sensing systems
• Enhancing resilience, efficiency, and effectiveness of strategic systems
• Defending against chemical and biological threats (natural or human-made)
• Optimizing human health and performance across all phases of military operations
• Developing innovative methods and metrology for complex, emergent, and adaptive systems, including:
• Scalable quantum-aware metrology
• Engineering materials across length scales
• Designing adaptive, resilient human–AI ecosystems

Applicants must submit a video pitch (max seven minutes) outlining a DARPA-relevant problem, potential innovations, team expertise, and market impact. Selected pitches will be featured in the ERIS Marketplace for 12 months, allowing DARPA and other DoD entities to review and rapidly acquire promising technologies. DARPA recently used this process for its Ag X BTO initiative under the Biological Technologies Office (BTO).

Submission Criteria: DARPA’s updated ERIS submission criteria now include two categories: New Submissions (first-time submissions or those corrected for compliance issues) and Resubmissions (previously peer-reviewed submissions deemed “non-awardable”).

The updated call also includes revised ERIS selection criteria.

Evaluation Criteria: DARPA updated the Evaluation Criteria ERIS video submissions with the following weightings:

• Advancing the state of the art – 40%
• Team capability – 30%
• Problem definition – 20%
• Defense or commercial impact – 10%

DARPA emphasizes that being assessed as “awardable” and placed in the ERIS Marketplace does not guarantee a current or future award.

Due Date: ERIS submissions are accepted monthly, with a deadline at noon (ET) on the last day of each month. Early submissions may receive feedback and can resubmit before the deadline if necessary.

Additional information:

• Submission checklist: ERIS Checklist v2
• Training course: ARI Navigating and Using the DARPA ERIS Marketplace

Contact: Email the ERIS coordinator at eris@darpa.mil

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The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) new Translation to Practice (TTP) program purpose is to identify and support translational research, develop partnerships between higher education and industry, government, open-source ecosystems and other entities, and advance STEM education and training for all Americans, especially students and post-doctoral researchers. NSF TIP’s goal for translation of research to practice is to ensure that innovations developed through research have tangible and positive impacts for the U.S. such as improving quality of life, promoting economic and job growth, ensuring national security, and maintaining global competitiveness.

The NSF Translation to Practice (TTP) program offers three funding tracks representing different stages of research translation.

• TTP-Explore (TTP-E): For researchers with active NSF awards to pursue early, high-risk translational work. Offers up to two years of extended funding. Requires pre-approval from the NSF Program Officer.
• TTP-Translate (TTP-T): Supports use-inspired research and translational activities like prototyping and community engagement. No prior NSF funding required, but awardees must complete I-Corps training.
• TTP-Partner (TTP-P): Funds projects involving strategic partnerships beyond academia (e.g., industry, government) to support commercialization. Requires collaboration with an NSF-Catalyzed Partner and inclusion of their personnel on the proposal.

NSF emphasizes that TTP tracks are independent and applicants should choose the track that aligns with their innovation’s maturity. While NSF Catalyzed Partnerships are only required for the TTP-Partner track, they are allowed and strongly encouraged in TTP-Explore and TTP-Translate proposals. NSF also plans to pursue direct partnerships with external stakeholders for potential co-funding and may issue additional Dear Colleague Letters to announce future partner-specific TTP opportunities.

Total Funding and Award Size: NSF expects to award $30M across 29 projects. Award limits by track are:

• TTP-Explore: Up to $600,000
• TTP-Translate: Up to $1.2M (36 months),
• TTP-Partner: Up to $2M (48 months)

Each PI or Co-PI may submit only one TTP proposal at a time across all tracks. PIs must hold a full-time research, teaching position. They must wait for a decision on any submitted TTP proposal before applying again.

Due Dates:

• TTP-Explore (TTP-E): Rolling submission, allowed anytime after email approval from the NSF Program Officer.
• TTP-Translate (TTP-T) and TTP-Partner (TTP-P): Submit on the third Tuesday of September, January, and May each year.
  • Upcoming deadlines:
    • Sept. 16, 2025
    • Jan. 20, 2026
    • May 19, 2026

Webinars: Register for the NSF TTP informational webinars to be held July 22 and Aug. 12, at 2 p.m. ET.

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