The Joint DMS/NIGMS Initiative to Support Research at the Interface of the Biological and Mathematical Sciences is a funding opportunity jointly administered by the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This program supports innovative research at the intersection of mathematics and life sciences, promoting collaborations between mathematicians, statisticians, and biomedical scientists.

The initiative offers two tracks for project funding. Track 1 is designed for exploratory projects or those from new teams of collaborators, with a total budget of up to $600,000 for a three-year duration. Track 2 supports projects from well-established teams, with a budget of up to $1,200,000 for a three- to four-year duration. The program aims to advance mathematical and statistical methods applied to biological and biomedical research, with proposals expected to address significant biological or biomedical questions.

The program has an anticipated total funding of up to $5 million annually, with approximately 15 to 25 awards. The funding is split between NSF and NIH, depending on the agency's budget availability and the merit of the proposals.

Eligible applicants include researchers from institutions that are eligible under NSF’s Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG). There are no restrictions on who may serve as Principal Investigator (PI) or the number of proposals submitted per organization or individual. However, proposals must align with the mission of NIGMS, which focuses on fundamental biological processes rather than specific diseases or conditions.

Applications must be submitted through Research.gov or Grants.gov, following the guidelines provided in the NSF PAPPG. The proposal preparation process includes submission of a project narrative, a management plan, and results from prior NSF or NIH support if applicable. Proposals will be evaluated based on NSF's merit review criteria, including intellectual merit and broader impacts, as well as NIH’s specific review criteria, such as significance, investigators, innovation, approach, and environment.

The submission window is from September 1 to September 18 annually.