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Biotechnology for Naval Applications


The aim of the Biotechnology for Naval Applications Program is to discover and develop biologically based and bioengineered solutions to expand current Warfighter capabilities in the domains of materials, manufacturing, electronics, sensors, and devices.


Research Concentration Areas

  • Biomaterials and Biomanufacturing: Understand and develop advanced materials by applying biological paradigms to materials design, synthesis, and manufacturing
  • Microbial Electronics: Understand and develop new sensing and electronic systems powered by biology

Research Challenges and Opportunities

  • Biomaterials Synthesis: Generate new materials from naturally occurring biological materials or using biological components or processes and the design and synthesis of biologically-based materials, including DNA nanotechnology as a tool for material synthesis, and synthesis and patterning of materials by microorganisms.
  • Bioengineering and Biomanufacturing: Extend the natural capabilities of microbes by using synthetic biology to create systems that will produce Naval-relevant materials, including production, testing, and scale-up of biosynthetically produced compounds of interest.
  • Biosensors and Bioelectronics: Engineer biological systems for environmental sensing, information processing with improved sensitivity, expanded analyte range, and decreased detection time, or for production of electronic materials and devices, including DNA based information processing and computing components, and mechanisms and characterization of microbial synthesis and repair of electronic components.

Note that this program is not investing in biomedical applications.

How to Submit

For detailed application and submission information for this research topic, please refer to our broad agency announcement (BAA) No. N0001425SB001.

Contracts: All white papers and full proposals for contracts must be submitted through FedConnect; instructions are included in the BAA.

Grants: All white papers for grants must be submitted through FedConnect, and full proposals for grants must be submitted through grants.gov; instructions are included in the BAA.


PROGRAM CONTACT INFORMATION

Name
Dr. Kristy Hentchel
Title
Biotechnology for Naval Applications Program Officer
Department
Code 342