Attend our NIH fellowship workshop in June!

NIH Announces Major Change to Foreign Subaward Structure

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced significant changes to how foreign subawards will be structured in NIH-funded research. Starting May 1, 2025, NIH will no longer issue awards that include subawards to foreign entities under the parent grant structure. Instead, foreign components must be structured as independent subprojects directly linked to the prime award.

This policy change, detailed in Guide Notice NOT-OD-25-104, aims to enhance tracking of foreign subawards, improve reporting consistency, and strengthen national security protections for biomedical research. The change follows recommendations from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and congressional concerns.

During this transition period (expected to last until September 30, 2025), NIH will:

• Not issue any awards containing foreign subawards
• Reject prior approval requests for adding new foreign components
• Work with recipients to renegotiate existing awards
• Provide funding for safe shutdown of research involving human participants or laboratory animals when necessary

NIH emphasizes that international scientific collaboration will continue to be supported when structured appropriately. Researchers with current foreign subawards should prepare by considering options such as relocating research to the U.S., pausing ongoing work to reapply under the new structure, or beginning project wind-down procedures.

NIH Public Access Policy Implementation Delayed to July 1, 2025

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced an updated timeline for the implementation of its 2024 Public Access Policy. According to Notice NOT-OD-25-101, the effective date has been pushed back to July 1, 2025, at which time it will replace the 2008 Public Access Policy currently in effect.

The policy maintains NIH's commitment to maximum transparency in research and applies to any Author Accepted Manuscript that results from NIH funding (in whole or in part) and is accepted for publication on or after July

NSF Seeks Public Input for 2025 National AI Research and Development Strategic Plan

The National Science Foundation (NSF), on behalf of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public input to help develop the 2025 National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan. This plan will outline federal priorities for AI research and development over the next 3-5 years, with particular focus on areas where government leadership is needed because private sector investment may be insufficient.

The RFI, published on April 29, 2025, invites contributions from AI researchers, industry leaders, and other stakeholders to help the U.S. "secure its position as the unrivaled world leader in artificial intelligence." The plan will align with President Trump's Executive Order 14179 (Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence) signed on January 23, 2025, and the forthcoming AI Action Plan.

Priority research areas may include fundamental AI algorithms, high-risk/high-reward research, next-generation AI hardware, AI for scientific discovery, reasoning systems, AI security and reliability, national security applications, physically embodied AI, infrastructure support, cybersecurity applications, government use cases, and workforce development.

Interested parties can submit comments until May 29, 2025, through the Regulations.gov portal using Docket ID No. NSF-2025-OGC-0001. Submissions should ideally be 2 pages (maximum 10 pages) and include required disclaimers about public dissemination.

Call for Proposals: NIAMS P30 Skin Biology Resource-based Center Seed Grants

The UC Irvine NIAMS P30 Skin Biology Resource-based Center is now accepting applications for seed grants to support innovative skin research projects. Four grants of $40,000 each will be awarded to new projects that align with the NIAMS mission.

Key Information:

• Deadline: June 2, 2025
• Eligibility: UCI faculty with PI status and external members of the P30 Skin Center Research Community
• Focus: New and innovative projects in skin biology/disease without current funding

Priority will be given to:

• Collaborative projects between skin biologists and scientists from other disciplines
• Projects utilizing at least one Resource Core (Imaging-Engineering, Multi-omics, or Systems Biology)
• Applications where at least one PI is an assistant professor
• Projects translating basic research into clinical applications

Proposals must include project title, PI name(s), lay summary, narrative (max 3 pages), budget plan, NIH-format biosketch, and other support documentation. Submit proposals through the online submission portal.

Questions? Contact Dr. Bogi Andersen at bogi@uci.edu.

May

Developmental and Cell Biology

Beauty is Skin Deep: Epithelial Stem Cell Plasticity, Immune Crosstalk, and Metabolism

Dr. Xing Dai, University of California, Irvine 

Skin is a dynamic organ that relies on the proper regulation of adhesive properties and metabolic activities of epithelial stem and progenitor cells for optimal development, homeostasis, and regeneration. Dr. Dai will summarize her work on transcription factors that modulate epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity and how they coordinate epithelial fate with stem cell function. Additionally, she will discuss her findings on how skin epithelial stem and progenitor cells interact with immune cells to regulate inflammation. Finally, she will present her recent research on the role of amino acid metabolism in controlling the proliferation and differentiation of skin epithelial stem and progenitor cells.

4201 Natural Sciences II

May

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Integrating phylogenetic and genomic approaches to study fish macroevolution.

Dr. Ricardo Betancur-R, University of California, San Diego

Research in the Fish Evolution lab is broadly concerned with the evolutionary biology of fishes and is oriented around five major aims: (1) inferring phylogenetic relationships and testing evolutionary hypotheses in the context of such relationships, (2) uncovering macroevolutionary drivers of morphological and lineage diversification, (3) elucidating patterns and processes that explain spatial and temporal distributions of species and populations within species, (4) understanding the genetic bases of adaptive traits at macroevolutionary scales, and (5) documenting the diversity of fish faunas.

1114 Natural Sciences 1

2025 NSF CAREER Program Informational Webinar

During these webinars, U.S. National Science Foundation program directors will provide information on the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program solicitation NSF 22-586. The agency-wide NSF CAREER program supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.

Webinar Dates and Times (Pacific Time):

• Wednesday, May 14, 2025, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PDT
• Monday, May 19, 2025, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PDT

Climate Collaboration Project Grants: Up to $200,000 Available for Cross-Disciplinary Climate Research

The UC Irvine Climate Collaboration has announced a new funding opportunity for faculty interested in climate, resilience, and sustainability research. The Climate Collaboration Project (CCP) grants will provide up to $100,000 annually over a 1-2 year period to support promising cross-disciplinary collaborations that engage with community partners.

Climate Collaboration Matching Grants: $50,000 Available to Match Community Partner Funding

The UC Irvine Climate Collaboration has announced a new funding opportunity designed to strengthen partnerships between UCI researchers and community organizations working on climate challenges. The Climate Collaboration Matching Grants program will provide up to $50,000 in matching funds when paired with an equivalent commitment from a Community Partner.

Deadline: July 1, 2025

Limited Submission: Burroughs Wellcome Fund Cimate + Health Excellence (CHEX) Centers

Supports innovative basic, clinical, translational, epidemiological, behavioral, or health services research relevant to any diabetes type, diabetes-related disease state, or diabetes complication. The Association seeks exceptional candidates from a broad range of disciplines, including medicine, biology, chemistry, computing, physics, mathematics and engineering. This call for nominations will prioritize translational applications that move knowledge and discovery gained from basic research to its eventual translation into patient and population benefit. The ideal applicant will propose innovative research that will be an important step towards the eventual goal of improving the lives of people at risk of diabetes or living with the disease - and the pathway to this impact is clear. ADA’s vision is to create a pathway to launch the next generation of trailblazers in diabetes research.

Internal application deadline: May 27, 2025
Sponsor LOI deadline: August 7, 2025

2026 American Diabetes Association Pathway to Stop Diabetes Grants

Supports institutions or consortia that are already moving toward establishing themselves as centers of excellence for understanding climate change’s impact on human health and for leadership in climate education OR public communication around climate and health.

Internal application deadline: May 27, 2025
Sponsor full application deadline: July 23, 2025