BUILDING EPSCOR-STATE/NATIONAL LABORATORY PARTNERSHIPS | DE F0A 0001897

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE F0A 0001897

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, through its Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), offered this grant opportunity to help researchers in EPSCoR jurisdictions form or strengthen research partnerships with DOE National Laboratories. The central goal is to seed fundamental, early-stage energy research collaborations that connect universities and other eligible entities in EPSCoR states and territories with the unique expertise, equipment, and large-scale capabilities housed at the national labs. The program is designed as a partnership-building mechanism rather than a large, long-term project award, with an emphasis on launching collaborative work that can mature into sustained research efforts.

A key feature of the opportunity is its strong focus on research workforce development and integration with the national laboratory system. Proposals were required to include participation by graduate students and/or postdoctoral fellows, making training and hands-on research experience a built-in expectation rather than an optional add-on. The solicitation also explicitly encouraged applications from junior faculty in EPSCoR jurisdictions, signaling an intent to broaden the pipeline of investigators who have active collaborations with DOE labs and who are positioned to compete for larger federal research programs later on.

Applicants were also encouraged to leverage DOE user facilities, which are major shared scientific resources supported by DOE (for example, facilities supported by the Office of Science, and user facilities associated with the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy). This encouragement reflects a practical objective of the program: to connect EPSCoR-based teams to specialized instruments, experimental stations, advanced computing resources, and other facility capabilities that may not be available locally, while also embedding these teams in the broader DOE research ecosystem.

Eligibility was tied to the National Science Foundation EPSCoR determinations for the EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) program, which DOE EPSCoR follows for this type of opportunity. As a result, only entities located in the listed EPSCoR jurisdictions were eligible to apply. Those jurisdictions were Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, the Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The eligible applicant category was listed broadly as "Others," with clarification provided in the full announcement, but the practical constraint is location within an eligible EPSCoR jurisdiction.

From an administrative standpoint, this was a discretionary grant opportunity in the science and technology/research and development category (CFDA 81.049), issued by the DOE Office of Science. The funding opportunity number was DE-FOA-0001897, originally posted March 28, 2018, with an original closing date of May 16, 2018. The award ceiling was $250,000, and DOE expected to make about 20 awards. Overall, the solicitation reflects a relatively small, targeted investment strategy intended to catalyze new or deepened state-to-national-lab collaborations, build human capital through graduate and postdoctoral involvement, and increase the use of DOE national lab and user facility resources by researchers in EPSCoR jurisdictions.

• The Department of Energy - Office of Science, Office of Science in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BUILDING EPSCOR-STATE/NATIONAL LABORATORY PARTNERSHIPS" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.049.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 28, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 16, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for DE F0A 0001897

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