The Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR), part of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN), sponsors foreign assistance activities funded by the Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining and Related Programs (NADR) account, and focuses on mitigating weapons of mass destruction (WMD), related delivery systems, and advanced conventional weapons proliferation and security threats from proliferator states and non-state actors.

ISN/CTR administers the Biosecurity Engagement Program (BEP) as part of the Global Threat Reduction (GTR) portfolio. BEP’s national security mission is to mitigate global biological threats by minimizing the access of proliferator states and non-state actors to biological expertise, materials (e.g., high consequence pathogens (HCP), pathogens and toxins included on control lists such as the U.S. Select Agent List, etc.), and dual-use equipment that could be misused to conduct biological weapons (BW) attacks against the United States, U.S. allies, or U.S. interests abroad.

Program Pillars

• Pillar 1: Denying non-state actors the expertise, materials, and equipment necessary to conduct biological attacks, and preventing and mitigating accidental and natural outbreaks of high consequence pathogens
• Pillar 2: Thwarting state actors from developing and/or advancing bw efforts by safeguarding advanced bioscience research facilities and preventing access to bw applicable knowledge, materials, and equipment

Program Objectives

• Preventing non-state or state actor acquisition of HCPs and other weaponizable biological materials, dual-use equipment, and/or scientific expertise;
• Securing life science institutions and HCPs from both insider and outsider threats;
• Assessing and disrupting emerging proliferation pathways related to biological material, dual-use equipment, or WMD-relevant expertise;
• Improving the detection, disruption, and attribution of biological attack plots, emphasizing those using crude or “low effort” agents such as toxins (e.g., ricin);
• Training foreign partners to identify and deter the use of clandestine BW laboratories by proliferator state and non-state actors;
• Enhancing partner capacity to safely and securely identify, control, and attribute outbreaks caused by HCPs;
• Partnering with non-scientific interlocutors such as policymakers, law enforcement, military, and diplomatic audiences to prevent biological attacks;
• Promoting the adoption of and compliance with international frameworks that advance U.S. biological nonproliferation objectives; and
• Identifying and/or disrupting efforts by proliferator states to subvert or evade international biological science treaties/norms through strategic investments or partnerships.

Funding Information

• Total available funding: $14,000,000.
• Award amounts: ISN/CTR prefers projects that cost less than $300,000 though awards may involve multiple projects that cumulatively exceed $500,000. ISN/CTR will prioritize proposals that efficiently meet NOFO and programmatic goals at the lowest technically acceptable cost.

Eligibility Criteria

• The following organizations are eligible to apply (both domestic and international):
  • Not-for-profit organizations
  • Public and private educational institutions
  • For-profit organizations
  • Federally funded research and development centers
  • Public International Organizations
• BEP’s priority countries lie in the following geographic regions, as defined by the U.S. Department of State: East Asia and Pacific (EAP), South and Central Asia (SCA), Sub-Saharan Africa (AF), Near East (NEA), and Europe and Eurasia (EUR). Other countries or regions, such as the Western Hemisphere (WHA), will be considered provided a strong non-proliferation and threat reduction justification is supplied.
• In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a unique entity identifier (Data Universal Numbering System/DUNS number from Dun & Bradstreet), as well as a valid registration on www.SAM.gov.
• Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding.

For more information, visit Bureau of ISN.