NSF/CASIS Collaboration on Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology on the International Space Station (ISS) to Benefit Life on Earth

The NSF/CASIS Collaboration on Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology on the International Space Station (ISS) aims to support research that utilizes the unique microgravity environment of the ISS to address fundamental challenges in tissue engineering and mechanobiology. This program, a partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), focuses on projects that bridge engineering and life sciences to advance biomedical knowledge and improve health outcomes on Earth. Proposals must address critical engineering gaps and align with the objectives of either the NSF Biomechanics and Mechanobiology (BMMB) Program or the Engineering of Biomedical Systems (EBMS) Program. The research must be transformative, focusing on developing innovative methods, models, or enabling tools for studying and controlling living systems, improving disease diagnosis and treatment, or enhancing healthcare delivery. The purpose of this solicitation is to harness the ISS's microgravity environment to overcome limitations faced by terrestrial research in tissue engineering and mechanobiology. Areas of interest include multi-scale mechanics, mechanobiology of tissue and organ systems, scaffold-free tissue cultures, cellular immunotherapies, and computational models validated using ISS data. Proposals must demonstrate clear terrestrial benefits and articulate how the ISS environment is essential for achieving research goals. Projects that solely address space exploration objectives are considered non-responsive. The program anticipates awarding two to four standard grants, with total NSF funding of up to $1.6 million for FY 2025. Individual projects may request up to $400,000 in total costs over a duration of up to three years. CASIS will provide additional support for translating experiments into flight-ready payloads, training ISS crews, and facilitating on-orbit research. Implementation Partner costs for flight hardware and support services are capped at $450,000 per proposal. Collaborative proposals across multiple institutions are allowed, provided they align with NSF's standard collaborative proposal mechanisms. Eligible applicants include accredited U.S.-based institutions of higher education, nonprofit non-academic organizations, and for-profit entities with strong research capabilities. The Principal Investigator (PI) and any co-PIs must be U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or affiliated with qualifying U.S.-based organizations. Each individual can only participate as a PI, co-PI, or Senior/Key Personnel in one proposal under this solicitation per fiscal year. Active recipients of NSF-CASIS Tissue Engineering/Mechanobiology awards are ineligible until their current awards are closed. Applicants must first submit a Feasibility Review Form to CASIS by January 15, 2025, to determine the operational feasibility and terrestrial benefit of their proposed research. Only proposals that pass this review will be eligible for NSF evaluation. The full proposal deadline is March 18, 2025. Proposals must include clear justifications for ISS utilization, detailed timelines, identified milestones, and explicit descriptions of flight hardware requirements and modifications. The NSF evaluation process will use the standard merit review criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts, with additional solicitation-specific criteria focusing on terrestrial benefits, necessity of ISS utilization, experimental design, and resource feasibility. Proposals must also address how ISS capabilities will enable the research and how outcomes will benefit life on Earth. Successful applicants will be required to coordinate closely with CASIS for flight implementation and comply with mandatory CASIS agreement provisions. Annual and final reports must be submitted to both NSF and CASIS to ensure project progress and deliverables align with program goals.