new NSF solicitation – Understanding the Rules of Life: Epigenetics

The URoL:Epigenetics Program is focused on understanding the relationships between epigenetic mechanisms as they relate to the resultant phenotypes of organisms, and the way that these mechanisms lead to robustness and adaptability of organisms and populations.

Research projects must use an interdisciplinary approach that integrates perspectives and approaches from more than one research discipline (e.g., biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics, social and behavioral sciences, etc.) to understand epigenetic mechanisms associated with environmental change, the resultant phenotypic characteristics of organisms, and the resultant robustness and adaptability of organisms and populations. Studies that cross multiple levels of organizational complexity (molecular, cellular, physiological, organismal, population) and temporal (including evolutionary) scales, and taxa within the tree of life – both unicellular and multicellular organisms, including humans — are particularly encouraged. Projects are expected to extend beyond model systems and controlled environments to demonstrate how broadly the epigenetic mechanism under study is conserved in living systems.