Division of Integrative Organismal Systems

The U.S. National Science Foundation Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) supports research that improves our understanding of organisms as integrated units of biological organization. IOS promotes interdisciplinary research that combines experimentation, computation and modeling to address organismal-level questions. **What we support** IOS invests in research and education that seeks to expand our understanding of organisms and how they behave, move, develop, think and interact with the world around them. Insights from IOS-funded research advance fields from climate resilience to biotechnology, energy technology and human health. **Core programs** IOS maintains a range of core programs, grouped into clusters, that are designed to support diverse approaches to research addressing organismal-level questions. **[Behavioral Systems Cluster](https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/behavioral-systems "Behavioral Systems")** Supports integrative research on the behavior of individuals and groups of animals. Supports species-specific and comparative studies, as well as modeling and theoretical approaches. **[Developmental Systems Cluster](https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/developmental-systems "Developmental Systems")** Supports research on how the properties of organisms emerge from the interactions of developmental processes. Focus areas include plant, fungal and microbial development; animal development; and the evolution of developmental mechanisms. **[Neural Systems Cluster](https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/neural-systems "Neural Systems")** Supports mechanistic studies in neuroscience, from structure to function in a natural context, that span multiple levels of analysis, from molecular and cellular to complex behavioral aspects of organisms. **[Physiological and Structural Systems Cluster](https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/pss-physiological-structural-systems "Physiological and Structural Systems (PSS)")** Supports research on whole-organism physiology and functional morphology, including mechanisms underlying interactions among viruses, prokaryotes and eukaryotes; organismal structural features; and organismal responses to abiotic/biotic environments. **[Plant Genome Research Program](https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/pgrp-plant-genome-research-program "Plant Genome Research Program (PGRP)")** Supports genome-scale plant research and the development of tools and resources that advance functional plant genomics — addressing challenges of biological, societal and economic importance.