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BER seeks to advance our understanding of bioimaging by using new quantum science-enabled areas that could resolve limitations of classical optics including resolution and detection limits, signal-to-noise ratio, limitations on temporal dynamics, long term signal stability, sample photodamage and limited penetration, or selective biomolecule sensing. Fundamental research concepts and use-inspired, early prototype research are needed to realize quantum-enabled bioimaging and sensing. Promising approaches could employ photon entanglement, tunneling, quantum correlation, or other quantum phenomena to production and detection of photons or electrons for bioimaging. Applications must enable in situ imaging of live or preserved plant and microbial systems relevant to bioenergy research supported by BER. Current bioimaging techniques measure structure and dynamics to complement biomolecule identification and reactions in plant-microbe biosystems. This information is often crucial for validating hypotheses of cellular metabolism or synthetically engineered pathways. Biological macromolecules that catalyze metabolic and transport reactions exist in spatially defined or membrane-bound regions in the cell often deep within the living organism. Spatial and temporal information characterize the dynamic, sequential context for biochemical steps and substrates, metabolites, enzymes, and regulatory molecules within a biological process or metabolic pathway of interest.A major challenge is to understand how metabolic pathways are organized within topological constraints at the subcellular scale deep within living systems. Techniques to understand the dynamic organismal function, and location of macromolecules involved in these pathways is key towards developing a better understanding of the spatiotemporal dependence of metabolic processes in biological systems at cellular and subcellular levels.

BER supports fundamental, interdisciplinary research to achieve a predictive systems-level understanding of Earth, environmental and biological systems. The overarching goals of the BER Program are to support transformative science to solve critical challenges in energy security and environmental stewardship. As part of its mission, BER invests in crosscutting technologies and programs to enable multiscale, systems-level research to achieve a predictive understanding of systems biology, biological community function, and environmental behavior. BSSD within BER aims to provide the necessary fundamental science to understand, predict, manipulate, and design biological processes that underpin innovations for bioenergy and bioproduct research and to enhance our understanding of natural environmental processes relevant to DOE. BSSD supports fundamental research to understand the systems biology of plants and microbes through the GSP. The GSP’s portfolio includes systems biology research that builds on a foundation of multi-omics data and integrates multidisciplinary experimental and computational approaches. Within this framework, one of the objectives of the GSP is to develop the next generation of genome engineering technologies to unlock the potential of plants and microorganisms for the safe and efficient conversion of renewable biomass, captured CO2 from the atmosphere, and/or petroleum-derived polymers into fuels, valuable chemicals, and materials with novel properties, advancing towards a sustainable and secure bioeconomy. The iterative application and testing of those engineering technologies to design living organisms with new functional properties also leads to a deeper understanding of the fundamental principles governing those organisms. Therefore, this “design, build, test, learn” (DBTL) cycle not only results in improved biosystems design, but also leads to a more comprehensive knowledge of relevant biological systems. During the last decade, the fields of systems and synthetic biology and artificial intelligence have seen momentous advances that have dramatically accelerated the DBTL cycle for engineering biology. More efficient approaches for genome-wide editing, analysis, and phenotyping become available, and new computational tools and modeling algorithms can handle increasingly large datasets while continuously improving their prediction accuracy. To bring these advances to the next level, integrative multidisciplinary applications are solicited for highly innovative, fundamental multi-omics and systems biology research and technology development for biosystems design. Applications should respond to one of the following two research topics: Microbial biosystems design for the production of biofuels, bioproducts, and biomaterials: Applications should pursue multidisciplinary approaches to develop genome-wide design and editing, and in vivo or cell-free engineering technologies for eukaryotic or prokaryotic microbes to produce biofuels, bioproducts, or biomaterials from lignocellulosic biomass, petroleum-derived synthetic polymers, or as a byproduct of photosynthesis. Applications are expected to propose the development of highly innovative, high-throughput platforms for biological design and testing, supported by advanced modeling and computational tools. A focus on new or emerging model systems to expand the breadth of platform microorganism for engineering is encouraged. Genome engineering strategies to develop organisms that efficiently produce chemicals or materials while sequestering atmospheric CO2 are also encouraged. Research areas of interest include but are not limited to: i) in vivo, cell-free, or intercellular systems to confer new functionalities such as biosensors, tunable genetic circuits, and subcellular compartmentalization that enable the synthesis of desirable products; ii) orthogonal metabolic, macromolecular synthesis, and signaling pathways that equip cells to biologically carry out processes not found in nature; iii) design of recoded, minimal, and/or synthetic genomes with novel properties; iv) engineering microorganisms that can break down petroleum-derived synthetic polymers and/or convert them into valuable products; and v) design and engineering microorganisms for the production of biominerals, inorganic-organic composites, and composites of inorganic materials and living cells (living materials) with wholly new properties not found in known organisms. Plant biosystems design for bioenergy, bioproducts, and biomaterials: Applications should focus on integrative studies to engineer plant systems to achieve sustainable production of biofuels, bioproducts, and biomaterials; substantially improve bioenergy crop performance in marginal environments; and/or increase biomass yield while making it more amenable to deconstruction and conversion into desirable chemicals. Relevant goals for crop design and engineering include but are not limited to: i) increasing abiotic stress tolerance, ii) achieving higher water and/or nutrient use efficiency, iii) improving photosynthetic capacity, iv) facilitating cell wall deconstruction and subsequent conversion to advanced biofuels and bioproducts, and v) engineering the production of bioproducts or biomaterials. Proposed research should include innovative technologies for the introduction and expression of large, stable, multigene DNA constructs, genome-wide editing and recombineering, and high-throughput phenotyping, supported by computational approaches for modeling and design. Epigenetic engineering approaches to attain programable and tunable gene expression across the genome are encouraged. Research on model plants should be kept to a minimum and the main focus of the applications should be on potential or emerging bioenergy crops, including but not limited to switchgrass, poplar, Miscanthus, eucalyptus, sorghum, energy cane, and non-food oilseed crops.

The DOE Office of Science (SC) program in Biological and Environmental Research (BER) hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for a Research Development and Partnership Pilot (RDPP) within BER’s Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences Division (EESSD). BER has a goal to broaden and diversify institutional representation in the EESSD portfolio with institutions that have limited familiarity and/or engagement with EESSD supported efforts. BER recognizes that there are many academic scientists at institutions not currently supported by BER who have limited familiarity with EESSD programs and research support mechanisms; and BER further recognizes that this lack of familiarity can be a significant barrier to participation in BER research activities, application to BER EESSD funding opportunities, and use of BER scientific user facilities. This barrier is exacerbated by limited opportunities to gain such familiarity. To help provide technical assistance to build capacity and achieve the goal of broadening institutional participation, this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will provide seed funding for institutions to: 1) develop new partnerships with other academic institutions and/or national laboratories to enable future participation in EESSD-relevant research; 2) facilitate participation in planned EESSD research programmatic and user facility outreach and training activities; and 3) foster the development of climate and environmental science research and training capacity at under-represented institutions.

The DOE SC program in Basic Energy Sciences (BES) announces a re-competition of the Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) program and encourages both new and renewal applications. Applications from multi-disciplinary teams will be required to propose both discovery science and use-inspired basic research that addresses priority research directions and opportunities identified by a series of BES workshop and roundtable reports. DOE encourages applications that propose fundamental chemical sciences, materials sciences, geosciences, and biosciences research that will enable future clean energy technologies and advanced manufacturing. Coordination across programs is a high priority for DOE. EFRCs under this FOA will include awards for fundamental science that underpins the Energy Earthshots Initiative.

The DOE SC program in Basic Energy Sciences (BES) announces its interest in receiving new applications from single principal investigators (PIs) and from small teams to advance basic and fundamental chemical and materials sciences that underpin clean energy technologies and low-carbon manufacturing. The goal is creation of foundational knowledge to support the development of approaches that will minimize climate impacts of energy technologies and manufacturing. For this FOA, clean energy technologies include approaches to capture, produce, convert, store, and use energy that reduce or eliminate unwanted emissions such as greenhouse gases (e.g., carbon dioxide, methane, etc.). These technologies also include approaches such as direct air capture (DAC) and carbon storage/sequestration to decrease emissions that have been released into the environment from energy production and use. Low-carbon manufacturing refers to manufacturing processes that minimize carbon emissions and energy consumption. Investments from this FOA are anticipated to include awards that build foundational knowledge underpinning the Energy Earthshots Initiative.

The DOE SC program in High Energy Physics (HEP) hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for the DOE Traineeship in Computational HEP, which will provide support to train the next generation of scientists and researchers in this field. Up to two cooperative agreements may be awarded to provide funding to universities or teams of universities to support tuition, stipend, and travel costs for students enrolled in specific academic programs aimed at training graduate students in software and computing for particle physics and related fields, and to provide modest support for curriculum development and program administration. Award terms are expected to be up to five years, with the possibility of renewal for a second term. This program does not support dedicated research efforts to develop new software or computing technologies related to HEP-supported research; such efforts are supported through the Computational HEP subprogram.

The DOE Office of Science (SC) program in Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) announces its interest in receiving applications for Fusion Energy Sciences - Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (FES-RENEW).RENEW aims to build foundations for SC research and training at institutions historically underrepresented in the SC research portfolio. RENEW leverages SC’s unique national laboratories, user facilities, and other research infrastructures to provide undergraduate and graduate training opportunities for students and academic institutions not currently well represented in the U.S. science and technology (S&T) ecosystem. The hands-on experiences gained through the RENEW initiative will open new career avenues for the participants, forming a nucleus for a future pool of talented young scientists, engineers, and technicians with the critical skills and expertise needed for the full breadth of SC research activities. Principal Investigators, key personnel, and students and postdocs of RENEW awards will be invited to participate in FES researcher meetings and/or SC-wide professional development and collaborator events.The goal of the FES-RENEW program is to increase participation of underrepresented groups in FES’s fusion and plasma science and technology research portfolio. FES is fully committed to advancing a diverse, equitable, and inclusive research community, which is key to providing the scientific and technical expertise for U.S. scientific leadership. Critical to this initiative are institutional efforts for recruiting diverse participation and creating and maintaining positive, inclusive, and professional research and learning environments, including but not limited to providing mentoring and professional development resources to students and early career researchers and fostering a sense of belonging among all research personnel.

Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) aims to build foundations for Office of Science (SC) research and training at institutions historically underrepresented in the SC research portfolio. RENEW leverages SC’s unique national laboratories, user facilities, and other research infrastructures to provide undergraduate and graduate training opportunities for students and academic institutions not currently well represented in the U.S. science and technology (S&T) ecosystem. The hands-on experiences gained through the RENEW initiative will open new career avenues for the participants, forming a nucleus for a future pool of talented young scientists, engineers, and technicians with the critical skills and expertise needed for the full breadth of SC research activities. PI’s, key personnel, and students and postdocs of RENEW awards will be invited to participate in cross Isotope R&D and Production (DOE Isotope Program or DOE IP) researcher meetings and/or SC-wide professional development and collaborator events.

The DOE SC High Energy Physics (HEP) program hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for the REaching a New Energy sciences Workforce for High Energy Physics (RENEW-HEP) initiative. This program is intended to support training and research experiences in support of particle physics for members of underserved communities, with the dual goals of : (1) increasing the likelihood that participants from underrepresented populations, such as those present at minority serving institutions (MSIs) , will pursue a career in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) related field; and (2) supporting investigators and building research infrastructure at institutions that have not traditionally been part of the particle physics portfolio.

Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) aims to build foundations for Office of Science (SC) research and training at institutions historically underrepresented in the SC research portfolio. RENEW leverages SC’s unique national laboratories, user facilities, and other research infrastructures to provide undergraduate and graduate training opportunities (i.e., internships) for students and academic institutions not currently well represented in the U.S. science and technology (S&T) ecosystem. The hands-on experiences gained through the RENEW initiative will open new career avenues for participants, forming a nucleus for a future pool of talented young scientists, engineers, and technicians with the critical skills and expertise needed for the full breadth of SC research activities. Principal Investigators, key personnel, students and postdocs of RENEW awards will be invited to participate in cross-Basic Energy Sciences researcher meetings and/or SC-wide professional development and collaborator events.The goal of the Basic Energy Sciences (BES) RENEW program is to increase participation of underrepresented groups in BES’s clean energy research portfolio. BES is fully committed to advancing a diverse, equitable, and inclusive research community, which is key to providing the scientific and technical expertise for U.S. scientific leadership. This pilot program is intended to leverage BES’s world-unique national laboratories and user facilities to provide training and research opportunities for students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty from non-R1 minority serving institutions (MSIs) [1,2], including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) [3], currently underrepresented in the BES portfolio [4]. Institutions with the R1 Carnegie Classification are excluded from applying. The hands-on experiences gained through research internships at a DOE national laboratory can open new career avenues for the participants, who will gain the critical skills and expertise needed for the full breadth of BES research activitiesProposals for BES-RENEW awards are limited to hypothesis-driven basic and fundamental chemical and materials sciences research that underpins clean energy technologies and low-carbon manufacturing in at least one of two topic areas:• Basic and Fundamental Science to Enable Clean Energy: Research to provide understanding and scientific foundations for clean energy, including but not limited to direct air capture of carbon dioxide; hydrogen production, storage, and use; solar energy conversion to electricity and fuels; and electrical and thermal energy storage.• Basic and Fundamental Science to Transform Low-Carbon Manufacturing: Research to understand fundamental chemical and materials processes for low-carbon, circular, clean, and scalable manufacturing, synthesis, and processing; to advance transformational operando characterization and multiscale models and tools related to these areas; and to co-design materials, processes, and products for functionality and use.