Funding Wizard

The Office of Science (SC) seeks applications from institutions historically underrepresented in the SC portfolio, including non-R1 minority serving institutions (MSIs) and emerging research institutions, to perform basic research in fields supported by SC. A list of institutions eligible to lead applications is provided at https://science.osti.gov/grants/Applicant-and-Awardee-Resources/Institu…. This FOA aims to build research capacity, infrastructure, and expertise at these institutions through mutually beneficial relationships between applicants and DOE national laboratories, SC scientific user facilities, or R1 MSIs. SC supports fundamental research in applied mathematics, biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, geoscience, isotope research, materials science, and physics to transform our understanding of nature and catalyze scientific discoveries that can lead to technical breakthroughs. SC does not support applied research, product development, or prototyping. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The SC mission is to deliver scientific discoveries and major scientific tools to transform our understanding of nature and advance the energy, economic and national security of the United States. SC is the Nation’s largest Federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences and the lead Federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for our Nation’s energy future. SC accomplishes its mission and advances national goals by supporting: The frontiers of science—exploring nature’s mysteries from the study of fundamental subatomic particles, atoms, and molecules that are the building blocks of the materials of our universe and everything in it to the DNA, proteins, and cells that are the building blocks of life. Each of the programs in SC supports research probing the most fundamental disciplinary questions. The 21st Century tools of science—providing the Nation’s researchers with 28 state-of-the-art national scientific user facilities, the most advanced tools of modern science, propelling the U.S. to the forefront of science, technology development and deployment through innovation. Science for energy and the environment―building the knowledge foundation to spur discoveries and innovations for advancing the Department’s mission in energy and environment. SC supports a wide range of funding modalities, from single principal investigators to large team-based activities, to engage in fundamental research on energy production, conversion, storage, transmission, and use, and on our understanding of the earth systems.

The computational workflows associated with modern science are becoming increasingly complex, often processing an astounding amount of data generated by geographically-distributed instruments. The data is analyzed using a variety of local and remote compute resources and integrated with simulations and artificial intelligence (AI)--enhanced models to both direct the ongoing experiments and inform scientific progress. The future continuation of this trend is outlined by the 2022 report on Envisioning Science in 2050 [1].Pursuing innovative research directions in techniques for advanced middleware and operating and runtime systems is critical to address the unprecedented challenges in implementing future workflows. These research directions may involve, but are not limited to, coordinating work on: a) billions of threads of execution on a supercomputer; b) several geographically-separated supercomputers; c) advanced experimental systems which produce hundreds of petabytes of data each day; and/or d), billions of distributed sensors monitoring the climate or other systems of interest. Recognizing that in systems of this size and complexity sporadic failures of individual components are inevitable, scientific workflows and their supporting middleware and system software must be designed with resilience in mind.

The DOE SC program in Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) hereby announces its interest in receiving new and renewal applications in Quantum Information Science (QIS). Responsive applications will propose research that could have a transformative impact on FES mission areas—including Fusion Science and Technology and Plasma Science and Technology—and / or advance QIS development enabled by FES-supported science. While fully recognizing the interdisciplinary and crosscutting nature of QIS, responsive applications will focus on areas consistent with the unique role of FES in this rapidly developing field. More specific information about responsive areas is included in the supplementary information section below.

The DOE Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DOE EPSCoR) announces its interest in receiving new and renewal applications from applicants within eligible jurisdictions for Implementation Grants. Grants awarded under this program are intended to improve research capability through the support of a group of scientists and engineers, including undergraduate students, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, working on a common scientific theme in one or more EPSCoR jurisdictions. These awards are not appropriate mechanisms to provide support for individual faculty science and technology research projects. While the academic, non-profit and industrial research communities are welcome to lead or to participate in applications, a strong component of student education in research is required for all applicants.DOE EPSCoR follows NSF EPSCoR RII Program eligibility determinations. Thus, entities located within the following jurisdictions will be eligible to apply under this FOA: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

The DOE SC program in Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) hereby announces its interest in receiving new or renewal single-investigator or small-group research applications to carry out frontier-level research in basic plasma science and engineering. The FES Discovery Plasma Science: Plasma Science and Technology–General Plasma Science (GPS) program supports research at the frontiers of basic and low temperature plasma science, including dynamical processes in laboratory, space, and astrophysical plasmas, such as magnetic reconnection, dynamo, shocks, turbulence cascade, structures, waves, flows and their interactions; behavior of dusty plasmas, non-neutral, single-component matter or antimatter plasmas, and ultra-cold neutral plasmas; plasma chemistry and processes in low temperature plasma, interfacial plasma, synthesis of nanomaterials, and interaction of plasma with surfaces, materials or biomaterials. In addition, this portfolio supports microelectronics and Quantum Information Science (QIS) research opportunities.

The DOE SC program in Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) and the NNSA Defense Program (DP) Office of Experimental Sciences jointly announce their interests in receiving applications for new and renewal awards for research in the SC-NNSA Joint Program in High-Energy-Density (HED) laboratory plasmas. All individual researchers or groups of researchers planning to submit applications for new or renewal funding in Fiscal Year 2023 should submit applications in response to this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).

This FOA describes two distinct funding opportunities for DOE: the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. Both Phase I and Fast-Track grant opportunities are included in this FY 2023 Phase I Release 2 competition. A. PHASE I Phase I grants resulting from this competition will be made during FY 2023 to small businesses with maximum award sizes of $200,000 or $250,000. Refer to the individual topic for its respective maximum award size (a proposal submitted that exceeds the maximum award size for the respective topic will be declined without review). The period of performance will depend on the scope of the effort but will not exceed 12 months. Please note that the Phase II grant application will be due approximately 9.5 months after the grant start date. This will be the only opportunity to submit a Phase II application for a Phase I award made under this FOA. Grantees that select a Phase I period of performance of 9 months or less will be able to complete their Phase I project prior to submission of their Phase II grant application. Grantees that select a Phase I longer than 9 months will be able to continue research and development (R&D) after their Phase II application is submitted but will not be able to utilize these results in the preparation of their Phase II application. Phase I is to evaluate, insofar as possible, the scientific or technical merit and feasibility of ideas that appear to have commercial potential and/or substantial application in support of DOE mission research. The grant application should concentrate on research that will contribute to proving scientific or technical feasibility of the approach or concept. Success in a DOE Phase I is a prerequisite to further DOE support in Phase II. Only awardees issued Phase I grants under this FOA are eligible to submit a Phase II application under the corresponding FY 2024 Phase II FOA, i.e., FY 2024 Phase II Release 2. Approximately 40% of Phase I awardees submitting a Phase II application will receive a Phase II award. Instructions and eligibility requirements for submitting Phase II grant applications will be posted at a later date on the internet at https://www.grants.gov/. B. FAST-TRACK (COMBINED PHASE I AND PHASE II) Fast-Track grants are opportunities to expedite the decision and award of SBIR and STTR Phase I and II funding for scientifically meritorious applications that have a high potential for commercialization. Fast-Track incorporates a submission and review process in which both Phase I and Phase II grant applications are combined into one application and submitted and reviewed together. The Project Narrative portion of a Fast-Track application must specify clear, measurable goals and milestones that should be achieved prior to initiating Phase II work. If these milestones are not met in Phase I, authorization to proceed to Phase II may not be provided and the grant will discontinue following Phase I efforts. The work proposed for Fast-Track, assuming that it proceeds, should be suitable in nature for subsequent progress to non-SBIR/STTR funding in Phase III. For a specific R&D effort, applicants may submit either a Phase I application or a Fast-Track application, but not both. If both Phase I and Fast-Track applications are submitted, the application with the most recent submission date and time to Grants.gov will be evaluated. An individual application may be made only to either the traditional Phase I or to the Fast-Track. A project selected for Fast-Track funding which fails to meet its objectives may not later apply for Phase II funding. Fast-Track grant awards resulting from this competition will be made during FY 2023 to small businesses with maximum award sizes of $1,300,000 or $1,850,000 depending on the topic. Please refer to the topic descriptions under the FOA found on the DOE SBIR/STTR website at https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Funding-Opportunities to determine the maximum award size for each topic. The period of performance under Fast-Track will depend on the scope of the effort but will not exceed 33 months. Grant opportunities are announced pursuant to the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-219), the Small Business Research and Development Enhancement Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-564), the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-81), and the SBIR/STTR Extension Act of 2022 (public Law 117-183). Small businesses (see definition in Section III – Eligibility Information) with strong research capabilities in science or engineering are encouraged to apply. Some topics may seek manufacturing-related innovations in accordance with Executive Order 13329, “Encouraging Innovation in Manufacturing.”

Program Objective Understanding fine-scale, local and community impacts of climate change across this nation is a critical gap in climate research and analysis today. Further, climate change is known to disproportionately impact people in disadvantaged communities due to increased exposure and vulnerability. BER seeks to establish CRCs at HBCUs, non-R1 MSIs, and emerging research institutions to address critical research questions in support of the needs of stakeholders and communities in the pursuit of equitable climate solutions. The CRCs will facilitate two-way engagement between BER sponsored research and regional communities, enhancing accessibility and translation of DOE research to inform and build climate resilience. Efforts focused at local levels are expected to identify data sets, technical and process information, tailored models, and community contexts that will aid in the new investigations as well as bring critically needed community and local perspectives more centrally within DOE’s climate research planning. CRCs will build upon and enhance the talent and capabilities at local institutions, providing a valuable resource to advance climate research, identify local resilience challenges, and develop equitable solutions. These centers have the potential to catalyze additional research activities in climate and energy, the development of future technology innovations, and new jobs in communities across the country. Background Climate resilience is the ability of a community or region to reach full recovery after being exposed to climate-induced stresses and damages, using strategies that adjust its adaptive capacity at minimal impact to natural, socioeconomic, infrastructure, and financial systems. A key component of climate resilience involves prediction of climate change induced stresses and damages to systems with the use of high-fidelity models. To offset potential stresses and damages in advance of their occurrence, scientists and stakeholders need to choose from a wide range of potential strategies that offer the best possible outcomes. Thus, the resilience challenge will be to inform the process of choosing appropriate equitable solutions that can prepare for climate-induced risks. Making effective, science-informed decisions will rely on the accuracy of predictions, evaluation of equitable strategies, and assessing the pace at which resources will be available to communities. Furthermore, improving climate resilience over mid- to long-term time horizons needs to include investigations and predictions that can inform future technologies and approaches, where local institutions can identify research priorities and participate in economic development. These predictions, for example, may include projecting when, where, and how the increasing pressures caused by sea level rise will affect coastal systems, how elevated heat stress will increasingly influence the security of energy systems, or the frequency and impact of wildfires or hurricanes on ecosystems and communities. Together, these all combine to measure the time-dependent stressors, influences, and adaptive capacities in a changing climate and how to increase resilience against climate-induced risks. CRCs will provide an embedded, community focused foundation to serve as both a resource and mechanism for advancing climate science and promoting climate resilience. The CRCs will develop a research agenda that aligns with the BER mission, priorities, and foundational capabilities, advancing new fine-scale research while engaging communities and stakeholders in ways that will improve the research and increase its accessibility and utility for subsequent use in community decision-making and action. Such engagements will also provide use-inspired feedback that can help inform future BER research opportunities and directions. The centers will conduct place-based climate change analyses to evaluate the potential societal and/or environmental impacts of current and future climate risks and the implications of potential future responses. In addition, each center will emphasize a set of local challenges to be addressed through a multidisciplinary effort that leverages DOE resources in modeling, data, observations, and/or analysis. Examples of science challenges that the CRCs may address include: · Developing contextualized, community-based definitions and models of resilience, illuminating the dynamic processes, quantifiable dimensions, and metrics that can be incorporated to measure progress. · Developing new and insightful prediction tools and exploring their use through stress testing to evaluate adaptation strategies that can achieve desired levels of equitable resilience over time horizons of interest. · Building or extending observational capabilities to provide the necessary data for new predictions or improve prediction accuracy in support of resilience strategies. Importantly, the centers will emphasize science translation, linking climate resilience science with the local climate resilience needs to accelerate the deployment of equitable solutions through participatory engagement. To ensure that CRCs can take advantage of the most up-to-date scientific information to achieve their goals, each center will be required to leverage the scientific products and/or capabilities at the DOE national laboratories, potentially through direct collaborations with BER-supported research at the laboratories, leveraging of research products, or utilizing available instrumentation and resources at the national laboratories and user facilities. To achieve these goals, CRCs may develop investments in research infrastructure needed to advance institutional research capacity. For example, a high-performance computing capability in support of modeling efforts, or new or expanded observation or analytical capabilities for collection of environmental information. Other important aspects of the centers are to foster next-generation, multidisciplinary climate scientists and to advance awareness and proficiencies in stakeholder engagement. Education, training, outreach, and public engagement will accelerate the innovations, translations, and subsequent applications of BER-sponsored science, as well as empower the science and stakeholder communities to identify future research and resilience challenges.

The BER program supports basic research to understand the fundamental nature of biological processes relevant to DOE energy and environmental mission goals. Within BER, the GSP supports systems biology research on microbial, plant, plant-microbe interactions, and environmental microbial communities to address DOE’s mission in sustainable bioenergy development. Understanding and harnessing the metabolic and regulatory networks of plants and microbes will enable their design and re-engineering for improved energy resilience and sustainability, including advanced biofuels and bio products. The widespread adoption of high-throughput, multi-omic techniques has revolutionized biological research, enabling a broader view and deeper understanding of cellular processes and the biological systems they drive. In pursuit of predictive modeling and genome-scale engineering of complex biological systems important for bioenergy, the research supported by the GSP generates vast amounts of complex omic’ and other data from a wide range of analytical technologies and experimental approaches. These data span multiple spatio-temporal scales, reflecting the organizational complexities of biological systems, and present significant computational challenges for identifying causal variants that influence phenotype. Accurate modeling of the underlying systems biology depends on surmounting those challenges.The collective characterization and quantification of pools of biological molecules (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) and their systems processes are essential to construct coherent knowledge of the systems underpinning and governing the diverse phenomics and functioning of plants, microbes, and their communities. Such characterizations necessitate the ability to combine data sets of heterogeneous types, integrated over time and space, and to represent emergent relationships in a coherent framework.The breadth of data types and the complexities inherent in the integration of different data layers present significant conceptual and implementation challenges. New algorithms for incorporating data derived from innovations in genomics, molecular imaging, structural biology, and spectroscopy are needed to work effectively with, and glean useful insights from, complex, integrated molecular, -omics’ data. Computational simulation and rigorous hypothesis testing depend on the ability to incorporate multiple experimental/environmental conditions and associated meta-datasets.Through this FOA, BSSD solicits applications that propose innovative computational solutions that can integrate large, disparate data types from multiple and varied sources, and/or the integration of data to achieve coordinated knowledge or integration of knowledge to decipher relationships of biological systems of relevance to DOE. Novel computational tools and analytical approaches of large-scale, multimodal, and multiscale data that will lead to scalable solutions for omics analysis, data mining, and knowledge extraction from complex data sets (experimental and calculated) are sought. Bioinformatics tools or computational applications that are interoperable and effective for computationally intensive data processing and analyses for systems-level investigations are desirable. Also encouraged is the enhancement of existing software or approaches that are demonstrated to be in broad use by the genomics community, to aid the interpretation of multimodal data for environmental sciences.

DOE SC hereby invites applications for support under the ECRP in the following program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR); Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); High Energy Physics (HEP); Nuclear Physics (NP); Isotope Research and Development (R&D) and Production (DOE IP); and Accelerator R&D and Production (ARDAP). The purpose of this program is to support the development of individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers and to stimulate research careers in the areas supported by SC. SC’s mission is to deliver the scientific discoveries and major scientific tools to transform our understanding of nature and advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States. SC is the Nation’s largest Federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences and the lead Federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for our Nation’s energy future. SC accomplishes its mission and advances national goals by supporting: · The frontiers of science—exploring nature’s mysteries from the study of fundamental subatomic particles, atoms, and molecules that are the building blocks of the materials of our universe and everything in it to the DNA, proteins, and cells that are the building blocks of life. Each of the programs in SC supports research probing the most fundamental disciplinary questions. · The 21st Century tools of science—providing the nation’s researchers with 28 state-of- the-art national scientific user facilities - the most advanced tools of modern science - propelling the U.S. to the forefront of science, technology development, and deployment through innovation. · Science for energy and the environment―paving the knowledge foundation to spur discoveries and innovations for advancing the Department’s mission in energy and environment. SC supports a wide range of funding modalities from single principal investigators to large team-based activities to engage in fundamental research on energy production, conversion, storage, transmission, and use, and on our understanding of the earth systems.