[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 17, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7773-7775]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-3843]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Research


Energy Research Financial Assistance Program Notice 98-10; 
Biological Research Program, Use of Model Organisms to Understand the 
Human Genome

AGENCY: Office of Energy Research, U.S. Department of Energy

ACTION: Notice inviting grant applications.

SUMMARY: The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER) of 
the Office of Energy Research (ER), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), 
hereby announces its interest in receiving peer-reviewable applications 
for research in support of the Biological Research Program. This 
Program is a coordinated multidisciplinary research effort to develop 
creative, innovative approaches, resources, and technologies that lead 
to a molecular understanding of the human genome. This solicitation is 
for research that capitalizes on our understanding and the 
manipulability of the genomes of model organisms, including yeast, 
nematode, fruitfly, Zebra fish, and mouse, to speed understanding of 
human genome organization, regulation, and function.

DATES: Potential applicants are encouraged to submit a brief 
preapplication. All preapplications, referencing Program Notice 98-10, 
should be received by DOE by 4:30 P.M. E.S.T., March 26, 1998. A 
response to the preapplications discussing the potential program 
relevance of a formal application generally will be communicated within 
7 days of receipt.
    The deadline for receipt of formal applications is 4:30 P.M., 
E.D.T., May 7, 1998, in order to be accepted for merit review and to 
permit timely consideration for award in FY 1999.

ADDRESSES: Preapplications, referencing Program Notice 98-10, should be 
sent by E-mail to [email protected], however, preapplications 
will also be accepted if mailed to the following address: Ms. Joanne 
Corcoran, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, ER-72, U.S. 
Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290.
    Formal applications, referencing Program Notice 98-10, should be 
sent to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Research, Grants 
and Contracts Division, ER-64, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 
20874-1290, ATTN: Program Notice 98-10, Ms. Debbie Greenawalt. This 
address must be used when submitting applications

[[Page 7774]]

by U.S. Postal Service Express, any commercial mail delivery service, 
or when hand carried by the applicant.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Marvin Stodolsky, telephone: (301) 
903-4475 or Dr. David G. Thomassen, telephone: (301) 903-9817, Office 
of Biological and Environmental Research, ER-72, U.S. Department of 
Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In recent years, an astonishing conservation 
of gene structure and function across species has been revealed. Future 
biological understanding of the human will depend not only on 
understanding the structure and function of the encoded proteins and 
RNAs, but also on understanding the nature of the regulatory networks 
that control expression of batteries of genes in space and time. For 
example, we can more economically learn how genes and systems work in 
the genetically manipulable organisms such as bacteria, yeast, 
fruitfly, nematode, or Zebra fish. In addition, the mouse provides the 
opportunity to model and analyze many complex human conditions less 
suitably studied in invertebrates of lower vertebrates.
    This solicitation is for research that capitalizes on our 
understanding and the manipulability of the genomes of model organisms, 
including yeast, nematode, fruitfly, Zebra fish, and mouse, to speed 
understanding of human genome organization, regulation, and function. 
The solicitation is for research at a genomic or near-genomic scale, 
i.e., not, for example, for studies of individual enzymes, that 
facilitates understanding of human genome organization, regulation, and 
function. It is not for basic research on model organisms that only has 
the promise of a long-term payoff for understanding the human genome. 
Research is encouraged in a number of areas including, but not limited 
to:
     Interspecies comparisons of the organization of 
functionally related genes and their regulatory elements including 
automated approaches for interspecies genic comparisons;
     Production and characterization of informative mutations 
or gene transfers in model systems to elucidate gene function in the 
human;
     Development and application of approaches to characterize 
developmental and regulatory pathways (these could include genetic 
approaches, e.g., transgenics, knockouts, overexpression, antisense, 
etc.);
     Development and use of experimental systems to 
characterize or analyze human gene function that match the speed of new 
gene discovery on a genomic scale.
    This solicitation is not intended to support the development of new 
model systems that do not demonstrate utility for gene functional 
analysis in the human. For that reason, we intend to focus on 
relatively well-established model organisms.

Program Funding

    It is anticipated that up to $1.5 million will be available in FY 
1999, contingent upon the availability of funds. Multiple year funding 
of grant awards is expected, and is also contingent upon the 
availability of funds. It is expected that most awards will be from one 
to three years and will range from $200,000 to $400,000 per year (total 
costs).

Collaboration

    Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with researchers in other 
institutions, such as universities, industry, non-profit organizations, 
federal laboratories and FFRDCs, including the DOE National 
Laboratories, where appropriate, and to incorporate cost sharing and/or 
consortia wherever feasible.
    Collaborative research applications may be submitted in several 
ways:
    (1) When multiple private sector or academic organizations intend 
to propose collaborative or joint research projects, the lead 
organization may submit a single application which includes another 
organization as a lower-tier participant (subaward) who will be 
responsible for a smaller portion of the overall project. If approved 
for funding, DOE may provide the total project funds to the lead 
organization who will provide funding to the other participant via a 
subcontract arrangement. The application should clearly describe the 
role to be played by each organization, specify the managerial 
arrangements and explain the advantages of the multi-organizational 
effort.
    (2) Alternatively, multiple private sector or academic 
organizations who intend to propose collaborative or joint research 
projects may each prepare a portion of the application, then combine 
each portion into a single, integrated scientific application. A 
separate Face Page and Budget Pages must be included for each 
organization participating in the collaborative project. The joint 
application must be submitted to DOE as one package. If approved for 
funding, DOE will award a separate grant to each collaborating 
organization.
    (3) Private sector or academic organizations who wish to form a 
collaborative project with a DOE FFRDC may not include the DOE FFRDC in 
their application as a lower-tier participant (subaward). Rather, each 
collaborator may prepare a portion of the proposal, then combine each 
portion into a single, integrated scientific proposal. The private 
sector or academic organization must include a Face Page and Budget 
Pages for its portion of the project. The FFRDC must include separate 
Budget Pages for its portion of the project. The joint proposal must be 
submitted to DOE as one package. If approved for funding, DOE will 
award a grant to the private sector or academic organization. The FFRDC 
will be funded, through existing DOE contracts, from funds specifically 
designated for new FFRDC projects. DOE FFRDCs will not compete for 
funding already designated for private sector or academic 
organizations. Other Federal laboratories who wish to form 
collaborative projects may also follow guidelines outlined in this 
section.

Preapplications

    A brief preapplication may be submitted. The preapplication should 
identify on the cover sheet the institution, Principal Investigator 
name, address, telephone, fax and E-mail address, title of the project, 
and the field of scientific research. The preapplication should consist 
of a two to three page narrative describing the research project 
objectives and methods of accomplishment. These will be reviewed 
relative to the scope and research needs of the DOE Biological Research 
Program.
    Preapplications are strongly encouraged but not required prior to 
submission of a full application. Please note that notification of a 
successful preapplication is not an indication that an award will be 
made in response to the formal application.
    Applications will be subjected to scientific merit review (peer 
review) and will be evaluated against the following evaluation criteria 
listed in descending order of importance as codified at 10 CFR 
605.10(d):

1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project
2. Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach
3. Competency of Applicant's Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed 
Resources
4. Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget

    The evaluation will include program policy factors such as the 
relevance of the proposed research to the terms of

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the announcement and an agency's programmatic needs. Note, external 
peer reviewers are selected with regard to both their scientific 
expertise and the absence of conflict-of-interest issues. Non-federal 
reviewers may be used, and submission of an application constitutes 
agreement that this is acceptable to the investigator(s) and the 
submitting institution.
    Information about the development and submission of applications, 
eligibility, limitations, evaluation, selection process, and other 
policies and procedures may be found in 10 CFR Part 605, and in the 
Application Guide for the Office of Energy Research Financial 
Assistance Program. Electronic access to the Guide and required forms 
is made available via the World Wide Web at: http://www.er.doe.gov/
production/grants/grants.html. The Project Description must be 25 pages 
or less, exclusive of attachments. The application must contain an 
abstract or project summary, letters of intent from collaborators, and 
short curriculum vitaes consistent with NIH guidelines.
    Energy Research, as part of its grant regulations, requires at 10 
CFR 605.11(b) that a recipient receiving a grant to perform research 
involving recombinant DNA molecules and/or organisms and viruses 
containing recombinant DNA molecules shall comply with the National 
Institutes of Health ``Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant 
DNA Molecules'', which is available via the world wide web at: http://
www.niehs.nih.gov/odhsb/biosafe/nih/nih97-1.html, (59 FR 34496, July 5, 
1994), or such later revision of those guidelines as may be published 
in the Federal Register.

(The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this program 
is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 CFR Part 
605)

    Issued in Washington, D.C. February 6, 1998.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director for Resource Management, Office of Energy Research.
[FR Doc. 98-3843 Filed 2-13-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P