A call for proposals is being issued. Precise information on the submission process is given in the Proposal Guidelines.

     CSUPERB is announcing a call for proposals for the CSU Faculty-Student Collaborative Research Seed grants. These awards will be made for requests up to $15,000. The deadline for receipt of applications to the CSU Faculty-Student Collaborative Seed Grant Program is Sept 30, 2007, with notifications by January 28, 2008. CSUPERB will consider only one proposal per PI/laboratory to the Faculty-Student Collaborative Research Seed Grant Program. However, investigators applying to the Faculty-Student Collaborative Research Seed Grant Program may also apply to other CSUPERB Grant Programs.
     Please note that CSUPERB welcomes and encourages applications from all related disciplines, including but not limited to biology, chemistry, math and computer science, agricultural science, engineering, and/or business. See below for CSUPERB's definition of biotechnology.

     The seed grant awards are intended principally for CSU untenured faculty who are building a research program. Proposals from tenured faculty will also be considered provided there is compelling justification that the proposed research is a complete change of direction from research currently being undertaken. This program has the following criteria:

Notably:

•	Matching funds are not required, but contributions of resources from any collaborators, participating organizations, companies, or academic departments should be identified.
•	Delineation of the sources to which the PI plans to apply for follow-on funding will be an essential part of the application. This must include the name(s) of the funding agency, the particular program, the timeline of submission and a brief justification of how the data funded by the seed grant will make the proposal to the external agency more competitive.
•	The duration of the award will be through May 31, 2009.
•	The PI’s and/or their student(s) will be strongly encouraged to present the results of their studies at the January 2009 or 2010 CSU Biotechnology Symposium.
•	A progress report, final report and budget audit will be required. A long-term impact survey may also be requested.

CSUPERB considers the definition of biotechnology to be a diverse collection of technologies that capitalize on the attributes, and/or the manipulation, of organisms or tissues, or cellular, sub-cellular, or biomolecular components to discover new knowledge, to solve problems and/or to create models, goods, products, services, and/or therapies and ethical considerations thereof.

Such technologies include, but are not limited to*:

•	Nucleic acids (DNA/RNA): genomics, pharmacogenetics, gene probes, gene mapping, DNA sequencing/synthesis/amplification, PCR or PCR amplification, restriction length polymorphism analysis, genetic engineering (e.g. recombinant DNA, gene therapy, cloning, antisense), viral vectors and related technologies.
•	Peptide and Proteins: protein/peptide sequencing/synthesis, protein engineering, lipid/protein glycoengineering, proteomics, hormones, and growth factors, cell receptors/signaling/pheromones hybridoma technology (to produce monoclonal antibodies).
•	Chemistry and chemical biology: synthesis, medicinal chemistry, drug development, analytical/computational/combinatorial chemistry, or cheminformatics of nucleic acids, peptides and proteins, or other biologically-relevant molecules related to the above technologies.
•	Cell and tissue culture and engineering: cell/tissue culture, tissue engineering, hybridization, cellular fusion, vaccine/immune stimulants, embryo manipulation, gene therapy.
•	Process biotechnologies: bioreactors, fermentation, bioprocessing, bioleaching, bio-pulping, bio-bleaching, biodesulphurization, bioremediation, and biofiltration.
•	Biomaterials and Biomedical Devices: biocompatability of materials for implants and biomedical devices with preference given to development and testing of therapeutic devices, environmental monitoring, and biosensors.

*For a more comprehensive list, please see, List of Biotechnologies and Biotechnological Processes