National Science Foundation (NSF) directs much of the federal government’s research across a wide range of disciplines and projects designed to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense.

Division of Biological Infrastructure - Supports varied activities that provide the infrastructure for contemporary research in biology, which includes computational biology, databases, the curatorial improvement and computerization of research collections, living stock collections, the purchase of major items of multi-user instrumentation and the development of new instrumentation, and improvement of research facilities at biological field stations and marine laboratories.

Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) - Supports fundamental research on populations, species, communities, and ecosystems. Scientific emphases range across many evolutionary and ecological processes and include biodiversity, molecular genetic and genomic evolution, mesoscale ecology, macroscale ecology, ecosystem services, conservation biology, global change, biogeochemical cycles, and restoration ecology.

Frontiers in Integrative Biological Research (FIBR) Program - Supports integrative research that addresses major questions in the biological sciences. FIBR encourages investigators to identify major under-studied or unanswered questions in biology and to use innovative approaches to address them by integrating the scientific concepts and research tools from across disciplines including biology, math and the physical sciences, engineering, social sciences and the information sciences.

Division of Integrative Organismal Biology (IOB) - Supports research aimed at integrative understanding of organisms as units of biological organization, with particular emphasis on their development, form, function, and evolution.

Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) - Supports research and related activities that contribute to a fundamental understanding of life processes at the molecular, sub-cellular, and cellular levels.

Plant Genome Research Program - Part of the National Plant Genome Initiative established by the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The long-term goal of this program is to understand the structure, organization and function of plant genomes important to agriculture, the environment, energy and health.

Environmental Research and Education Biocomplexity in the Environment Program (BE) - The BE program is a multi-year investment designed to promote new approaches to investigating the interactivity of biota and the environment.

Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) - promotes and coordinates international cooperation by supporting new partnerships between U.S. scientists and engineers and their foreign colleagues, or new cooperative projects between established collaborators. Activities can be in any field of science and engineering research and education supported by NSF.