The U.S. National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and U.S. territories. NSF was established in 1950 by Congress to promote the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure the national defense.
The Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) Core Programs support research focused on understanding the structure and function of organisms. This includes a wide range of scientific areas such as developmental biology, evolutionary processes, nervous system development, biomechanics, physiological processes, organismal interactions with environments, genomics, and animal behavior. Projects should center on organisms as the primary unit of biological organization and employ systems approaches for new conceptual, theoretical insights, and predictions regarding emergent properties.