Early Career Research Program (ECRP)

DE-FOA-0003602

Early Career Research Program (ECRP)
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Number:
DE-FOA-0003602
NOFO Type: Initial
Assistance Listing: 81.049
NOFO Issue Date: March 3, 2026
Submission Deadline for Pre-Applications: March 24, 2026, at 5:00 PM ET
A Pre-Application is required.
Pre-Applications must be submitted by an
authorized institutional representative.
Pre-Application Response Date: April 21, 2026, at 5:00 PM ET
Submission Deadline for Applications: June 2, 2026, at 11:59 PM ET

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Table of Contents
I. Basic Information ....................................................................................................................... 1
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... 1
Funding Details ......................................................................................................................... 1
Key Facts .................................................................................................................................... 2
Key Dates ................................................................................................................................... 2
Agency Contact Information .................................................................................................... 2
Informational Webinar / Office Hours ............................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Recommendation ...................................................................................................................... 3
II. Eligibility ................................................................................................................................... 4
A. Eligible Applicants ................................................................................................................ 4
B. Cost Sharing .......................................................................................................................... 6
C. Eligible Individuals ............................................................................................................... 6
D. Limitations on Submissions ................................................................................................. 8
III. Program Description ............................................................................................................... 9
A. Purpose .................................................................................................................................. 9
B. Program Goals, Objectives, and Priorities ........................................................................... 9
C. Award Contribution to Goals and Objectives ................................................................... 71
D. Performance Goals ............................................................................................................. 71
E. Substantial Involvement ..................................................................................................... 71
F. Program Unallowable Costs ............................................................................................... 71
G. Citations to Statute and Regulations ................................................................................. 71
H. Program History ................................................................................................................. 72
I. Other Information ................................................................................................................ 72
IV. Application Contents and Format........................................................................................ 74
A. Preliminary Submissions ................................................................................................... 74
B. Application .......................................................................................................................... 77
C. Component Pieces of the Application ............................................................................... 77
D. Information that Must be Submitted After Application but Before Award ................... 92
V. Submission Requirements and Deadlines ............................................................................ 93
A. Address to Request Application Package .......................................................................... 93
B. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM.gov) .......... 93
C. Submission Instructions ..................................................................................................... 94
D. Submission Dates and Times ............................................................................................. 94

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VI. Application Review Information .......................................................................................... 96
A. Responsiveness Review ...................................................................................................... 96
B. Review Criteria .................................................................................................................... 96
C. Review and Selection Process ............................................................................................ 98
VII. Award Notices .................................................................................................................... 101
A. Type of Award Instrument ............................................................................................... 101
B. Anticipated Timeline for Notice of Selection for Award Negotiation ........................... 101
VIII. Post-Award Requirements and Administration ............................................................. 103
A. Administrative and National Policy Requirements ....................................................... 103
B. Reporting ........................................................................................................................... 104
C. Reporting of Matters Related to Recipient Integrity and Performance (December 2015)
................................................................................................................................................. 104
D. Interim Conflict of Interest Policy for Financial Assistance ......................................... 104
IX. Other Information ............................................................................................................... 106
A. Checklist for Avoiding Common Errors ......................................................................... 106
B. How-To Guides ................................................................................................................. 108
C. Administrative and National Policy Requirements ....................................................... 137
D. Reference Material............................................................................................................ 163

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I. Basic Information
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Office of Science (SC)
Executive Summary
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 and Production
(DOE IP). 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:
• Science for energy, economic and national security―building a foundation of scientific
and technical knowledge to spur discoveries and innovations for advancing the
Department’s mission. 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 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.
Funding Details
Expected total available funding $145 million total, including $79 million in FY
2026 funding and $66 million in outyear funding,
subject to the availability of future year
appropriations
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Expected number of awards 100
Expected total dollar amount of $875,000 for an Institution of Higher Education
individual awards1 $2,750,000 for a DOE/NNSA National Laboratory
$2,750,000 for an SC Scientific User Facility
Expected award project period 5 years
Key Facts
NOFO Title Early Career Research Program (ECRP)
NOFO Number DE-FOA-0003602
Announcement Type Initial
Assistance Listing 81.049
Statutory Authority The programmatic authorizing statutes are:
Section 646 of Public Law 95-91, U.S. Department of Energy
Organization Act
Section 901, et seq. of Public Law 109-58, Energy Policy Act of
2005
Governing Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and
Regulations Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, codified at 2 CFR 200
U.S. Department of Energy Financial Assistance Rules, codified at
2 CFR 910
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science Financial Assistance
Program Rule, codified at 10 CFR 605
Key Dates
Key dates are printed on the cover of this NOFO.
Agency Contact Information
Grants.gov 800-518-4726 (toll-free)
Customer Support support@Grants.gov
PAMS 855-818-1846 (toll-free)
Customer Support 301-903-9610
sc.pams-helpdesk@science.doe.gov
Technical/Scientific Questions regarding the specific program areas/technical
Program Contact requirements can be directed to the program
managers/technical contacts listed for each program within
the NOFO.
Administrative Contact SC.Early@science.doe.gov
(questions about budgets
and eligibility)
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Recommendation
SC encourages you to register in all systems as soon as possible. You are also encouraged to
submit pre-applications and applications well before the deadline.
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II. Eligibility
A. Eligible Applicants
In accordance with 2 CFR 910.126, Competition, eligibility for award is restricted to U.S.
Institutions of Higher Education, DOE/NNSA National Laboratories (listed at
https://www.energy.gov/national-laboratories), and institutions operating SC Scientific User
Facilities (listed at https://science.osti.gov/User-Facilities).
This eligibility restriction is intended to create an opportunity for scientists who are (a) early
in their careers, (b) in positions with sufficient permanence to support independent research
efforts, and (c) for investigators not at DOE-affiliated institutions, in positions that require
working with the students who will become the scientific workforce of the future.
1. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories
DOE/NNSA National Laboratories are eligible to submit applications under this NOFO. If
recommended for funding as a lead applicant, funding will be provided through the DOE
Field-Work Proposal System and work will be conducted under the laboratory’s contract
with DOE. If recommended for funding as a proposed subawardee, the value of the
proposed subaward will be removed from the prime applicant’s award and will be provided
to the laboratory through the DOE Field-Work Proposal System. No administrative
provisions of this NOFO will apply to the laboratory or any laboratory subcontractor.
Additional instructions for securing authorization from the cognizant Contracting Officer
are found in Section IX of this NOFO.
Submission of a pre-application (in PAMS) or an application (in Grants.gov) by an
authorized institutional representative is a confirmation that the proposed research idea fits
within the scope of SC-funded programs at the national laboratory. Proposing research that
falls within this category ensures that investigators have the opportunity to belong to or join,
at the laboratory’s discretion, funded research groups. Applications from DOE National
Laboratories should not: (a) attempt to revive previously terminated research areas within
the laboratory, or (b) topically isolate investigators.
Investigators funded under this program are encouraged to charge at least 50% of their time
to the award, allowing time to develop or maintain funded collaborations within the lab
over the course of the award. Amounts less than 50% should be as close to 50% as possible.
Making sure that investigators have potential connections with SC funded programs
encourages the laboratory to actively plan to address funding transition issues that may arise
when an award ends.
Eligibility exemptions will not be granted.
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2. SC Scientific User Facilities not at a DOE/NNSA National Laboratory
Institutions operating SC Scientific User Facilities are eligible to submit applications under
this NOFO. If recommended for funding as a lead applicant, funding will be provided as a
financial assistance award to the non-Governmental entity operating the User Facility.
Submission of a pre-application (in PAMS) or an application (in Grants.gov) by an
authorized institutional representative is a confirmation that the proposed research idea fits
within the scope of SC-funded programs at the User Facility. Proposing research that falls
within this category ensures that investigators have the opportunity to belong to or join, at
the facility’s discretion, funded research groups. Applications from SC Scientific User
Facilities should not (a) attempt to revive previously terminated research areas within the
facility or (b) topically isolate investigators.
Investigators funded under this program are encouraged to charge at least 50% of their time
to the award, allowing time to develop or maintain funded collaborations within the facility
over the course of the award. Amounts less than 50% should be as close to 50% as possible.
Making sure that investigators have potential connections with SC funded programs
encourages the facility to actively plan to address funding transition issues that may arise
when an award ends.
Eligibility exemptions will not be granted.
3. Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs
Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs are neither eligible to submit applications under this NOFO nor
to be proposed as subrecipients under another organization’s application.
4. Other Federal Agencies
Other Federal Agencies are neither eligible to submit applications under this NOFO nor to
be proposed as subrecipients under another organization’s application.
Notes for applicants of all types:
Eligibility is restricted to the above entities due to the requirement for an applicant
institution to have already made a career commitment to individuals as exemplified by
putting them on the tenure track or in a permanent position at a national laboratory or an
SC Scientific User Facility. Non-tenure-track positions and fellowships lack the expected
permanence required by the ECRP. Outside of DOE/NNSA National Laboratories and SC
Scientific User Facilities, tenure track faculty positions at academic institutions involve a
long-standing growth and evaluation process committed to by the institution. Achieving
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tenure is a uniquely academic pursuit: No equivalent positions exist in industry or non-
profit organizations.
This NOFO seeks to support basic research to advance understanding rather than to address
commercial opportunities. Applications that propose research related to current commercial
activity or current customer needs may be declined without merit review.
B. Cost Sharing
Cost sharing for basic and fundamental research is not required pursuant to an exclusion
from the requirements of Section 988 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Cost sharing is not required of DOE/NNSA National Laboratories or their subcontractors at
any tier. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories may impose cost-sharing requirements on their
contractors subject to their policies and procedures.
Cost sharing will not be considered as a factor during merit review or award selection.
C. Eligible Individuals
Individuals with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed
research as a Principal Investigator (PI) are invited to work with their organizations to
develop an application.
SC does not require that individuals be U.S. citizens or permanent residents to be proposed
as a PI or in any other role under an award, but all personnel working or proposed to work
under an award must have the legal right to perform such work in the jurisdiction where the
work will be performed.
Awards under the Early Career Research Program must be under the sole and indivisible
leadership of the PI. Other senior or key personnel may be proposed provided their efforts in
the research are clearly and unambiguously under the direction and supervision of the PI.
Other senior or key personnel must commit less time and effort and request less support
than the PI. SC’s intent is to support the PI’s development of an independent research
career. The presence of a co-PI – or substantial support for other senior or key personnel – is
incompatible with this intent. There can be no co-PIs. Applications including co-PIs may be
declined without review. A Co-PI is an individual designated by the applicant as sharing, or
being delegated, a significant aspect of the PI’s authority and responsibility for the proposed
project as a whole. Not all PIs on subawards or collaborative proposal submissions are
necessarily co-PIs on the project as a whole.
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PIs who have received awards previously under the SC ECRP are not eligible. PIs of early
career awards funded by other agencies or entities are eligible, but the proposed research
must have a scope different from that already funded by the other organization.
No more than 10 years can have passed between the year the PI’s Ph.D. was awarded and
the calendar year at the start of the Federal fiscal year in which this NOFO is released. For
the present competition, those who received doctorates on or after January 1, 2015, are
eligible. If a PI has multiple doctorates, the discipline of the one they have earned within the
10-year eligibility window must be relevant to the proposed research.
Extensions to eligibility due to major life events (three months or longer) must be validated
by a letter from the university dean, research vice president, laboratory division director, or
equivalent official. The letter must be included in the pre-application.
PIs from Institutions of Higher Education, DOE/NNSA National Laboratories, and SC
Scientific User Facilities must adhere to the respective eligibility standards below.
The eligibility requirements improve the quality of applications submitted and encourage
those who are strong candidates to submit applications to the program.
1. PIs from Institution of Higher Education
The PI must be an untenured Assistant Professor on the tenure track or an untenured
Associate Professor on the tenure track at a U.S. academic institution where the application
is originating from and as of the deadline for the application. The PI must be employed in
the eligible position as of the closing date for this NOFO. If a PI has multiple doctorates, the
discipline of the one they have earned within the 10-year eligibility window should be
relevant to the proposed research.
2. PIs from DOE/NNSA National Laboratories
The PI must be a full-time, permanent, non-postdoctoral national laboratory employee as of
the deadline for the application. If a PI has multiple doctorates, the discipline of the one
they have earned within the 10-year eligibility window should be relevant to the proposed
research.
3. PIs from SC Scientific User Facilities not at a DOE/NNSA National Laboratory
The PI must be a full-time, permanent, non-postdoctoral user facility employee as of the
deadline for the application. If a PI has multiple doctorates, the discipline of the one they
have earned within the 10-year eligibility window should be relevant to the proposed
research.
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D. Limitations on Submissions
While there is no limit on the number of pre-applications from a DOE/NNSA National
Laboratory or an SC Scientific User Facility in a given year, each laboratory or user facility is
responsible for ensuring that the research ideas submitted in its pre-applications fit within
the scope of SC-funded programs at the national laboratory or the user facility.
LIMITATIONS ON PI
Only one pre-application on behalf of a PI may be submitted in any given SC ECRP
competition. A PI may not submit an application in more than three SC ECRP competitions.
Participation in the competition is defined as submission of a full application that completed
the review/decision process. In rare cases, it is necessary to withdraw an application; an
application withdrawn prior to it being officially declined will not count as a submission.
Likewise, an application declined without merit review by the DOE SC will not count as a
submission.
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III. Program Description
A. Purpose
The 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 and
Production (DOE IP). 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.
B. Program Goals, Objectives, and Priorities
The Office of Science’s (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 (U.S.). 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.
• Science for energy, economic and national security―building a foundation of scientific
and technical knowledge to spur discoveries and innovations for advancing the
Department’s mission. 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 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.
SC is an established leader of the U.S. scientific discovery and innovation enterprise. Over
the decades, SC investments and accomplishments in basic research and enabling research
capabilities have provided the foundations for new technologies, businesses, and industries,
making significant contributions to our nation’s economy, national security, and quality of
life.
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ECRP opportunities exist in the following SC research programs. Additional details about
each program, websites, and technical points of contact are provided in the materials that
follow.
Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)
(1) Extreme-Scale Applied Mathematics for Scientific Computing
(2) Scalable Scientific Artificial Intelligence and Automation
(3) Quantum Computing and Networking
Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
(1) Materials Chemistry
(2) Biomolecular Materials
(3) Synthesis and Processing Science
(4) Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
(5) Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics
(6) Physical Behavior of Materials
(7) Mechanical Behavior and Radiation Effects
(8) Quantum Information Science in Materials Sciences and Engineering (QIS-MSE)
(9) X-ray Scattering
(10) Neutron Scattering
(11) Electron and Scanning Probe Microscopies
(12) Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences (AMOS)
(13) Gas Phase Chemical Physics (GPCP)
(14) Computational and Theoretical Chemistry
(15) Condensed Phase and Interfacial Molecular Science (CPIMS)
(16) Quantum Information Science Research in Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and
Biosciences (QIS-CSGB)
(17) Catalysis Science
(18) Separation Science (SEP)
(19) Heavy Element Chemistry (HEC)
(20) Geosciences (GEO)
(21) Photochemistry and Radiation Chemistry
(22) Photosynthetic Systems
(23) Physical Biosciences
(24) Accelerator and Detector Research
(25) Instrumentation and Technique Development for BES User Facilities
Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
(1) Systems Biology Research to Advance Bioenergy Crop Production
(2) Energy, Land, and Human Interdependencies in Coastal-Urban or Coastal-Rural
Systems within Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling (EESM)
Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
(1) Toroidal Long Pulse: Tokamak and Stellarator Research
(2) Compact Toroidal Concepts Research
(3) Magnetic Fusion Energy Science Theory and Simulation
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(4) General Plasma Science Experiment and Theory
(5) Fusion Nuclear Science
(6) Materials Research for Fusion
(7) Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Fusion Energy Sciences
High Energy Physics (HEP)
(1) Experimental Research at the Energy Frontier in High Energy Physics
(2) Experimental Research at the Intensity Frontier in High Energy Physics
(3) Experimental Research at the Cosmic Frontier in High Energy Physics
(4) Theoretical Research in High Energy Physics
(5) Accelerator Science and Technology Research & Development in High Energy
Physics
(6) Instrumentation and Detector R&D in High Energy Physics
(7) Computational Research in High Energy Physics
(8) Quantum Information Science in High Energy Physics (HEP-QIS)
(9) Accelerator Stewardship and Accelerator Production
Nuclear Physics (NP)
(1) Medium Energy Nuclear Physics
(2) Heavy Ion Nuclear Physics
(3) Nuclear Structure and Nuclear Astrophysics
(4) Fundamental Symmetries
(5) Nuclear Theory
(6) Nuclear Theory Computing
(7) Nuclear Data
(8) Accelerator Research and Development for NP Facilities
(9) Quantum Information Science for Nuclear Physics Research
Isotope R&D and Production (DOE IP)
(1) Targetry and Isotope Production Research
(2) Nuclear and Radiochemical Separation, Purification, and Radiochemical
Synthesis
(3) Biological Tracers, Imaging and Therapeutics
Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)
Program Website: https://www.energy.gov/science/ascr/advanced-scientific-computing-
research or https://science.osti.gov/ascr
The Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program supports research in applied
mathematics, computer science and networking, and artificial intelligence, including
leveraging the latest quantum computing and networking approaches; delivers the most
advanced computational scientific applications in partnership with disciplinary science;
advances computing and networking capabilities; and develops future generations of
computing hardware and tools for science, in partnership with the research community and
U.S. industry. The program supports the development, maintenance, and operation of first-
of-a-kind large-scale high-performance computing, network and data scientific user
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facilities, including the Leadership Computing Facilities at Oak Ridge and Argonne
National Laboratories, the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Energy Sciences Network; and future
computing and networking technology testbeds for artificial intelligence, quantum, analog,
and other computing.
Proposed research under ASCR for the ECRP must be responsive to one of the specific topic
areas below. Pre-applications must clearly articulate the main scientific motivations and
barriers to progress, the technical basis for overcoming those barriers, and the key insights
or novel approaches for addressing the scientific and technical challenges.
The specific topic areas of interest are:
(1) Extreme-Scale Applied Mathematics for Scientific Computing
Technical Contact: David Rabson, david.rabson@science.doe.gov
The scientific computing research community faces a broad array of challenges in the
development of high-performance algorithms and solvers for emerging computing
architectures. Because algorithms, solvers, and decision support methods can dominate the
overall execution time of computational and data science applications, research in
developing efficient, robust, resilient, and portable techniques is essential for scientific
advances over the next decade.
Research areas of interest include novel approaches for addressing grand challenges:
1. High computational and communication complexity and the development of efficient
algorithms;
2. Better algorithm scalability for high-performance computing;
3. Reduced ill-conditioning and sensitivity for inverse problems; and
4. Improved algorithm reliability and robustness to noise on future architectures where
extreme parallelism, data placement and movement, resilience, and extreme
heterogeneity may be significant considerations.
Recent ASCR workshop reports on “Randomized Algorithms for Scientific Computing” [1]
and "Inverse Methods for Complex Systems under Uncertainty" [2] describe some of the
kinds of algorithms and research directions that are in scope for this topic area.
Pre-applications that are out of scope for sub-topic (1) include
• Research that does not address one or more of the four grand challenges described
above;
• Research that does not address creating a body of knowledge and understanding that
will inform future advances in extreme-scale science;
• Proposed research that does not clearly articulate the main scientific motivations and
barriers to progress, the technical basis for overcoming those barriers, and the key
insights or novel approaches for addressing the scientific and technical challenges; and
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• Research in cryptography algorithms.
• Research into AI or its scientific applications, which should be submitted instead under
topic (2) below;
• Research into quantum computing, quantum networking, or their applications in
science, which should instead be submitted under topic (3) below.
References:
1. A. Buluc et al., Randomized Algorithms for Scientific Computing (2021),
https://doi.org/10.2172/1807223.
2. J. Donatelli et al., Basic Research Needs for Inverse Methods of Complex Systems under
Uncertainty (2025), https://doi.org/10.2172/2583339.
(2) Scalable Scientific Artificial Intelligence and Automation
Technical Contact: Ravinder Kapoor, Ravinder.Kapoor@science.doe.gov
This topic focuses on the research and development of scientific artificial intelligence (AI) in
two different scenarios: models and analysis 1) for large-scale distributed data sets that
occur without moving the data (static), and 2) in real-time, streaming environments
(dynamic). As the scientific process is increasingly accelerated by AI, scientific AI
innovation is needed not only on HPC systems but also at the edge and in automated
systems; and digital twins of scientific edge systems, instrumentation, and even entire
laboratories might play an important role in enabling future AI development. The design,
build, and training of physical AI systems for advancing and accelerating scientific discovery
introduces a new era of AI/ML. The topic encompasses
• The rigorous mathematical and computationally efficient approaches are needed for
analyzing and extracting information and insight from large-scale data relevant to the
DOE missions (see PRD #4 from the Scientific Machine Learning workshop [2]);
• Hardware/software co-design, which is a method for designing and/or adapting both
hardware and software design as part of a holistic process, for efficiently executing
scientific AI algorithms; and
• Advancing the science of autonomous and semi-autonomous robotic systems tightly
integrated with advanced AI/ML, high-performance computing (HPC), and real-time
sensor data fusion to accelerate scientific discovery.
Research areas that are out of scope for this topic include:
• Approaches that apply scientific AI to a new application, rather than advancing
fundamental aspects of scientific AI and/or automation.
• Biomedical, agricultural, warehouse, or consumer robotics use-cases unrelated to DOE
missions.
• Hardware refresh, commercial deployment, or routine engineering lacking new
scientific insight.
• Pure teleoperation without a pathway to scalable autonomy.
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• Work whose main deliverable is a product or service rather than fundamental
knowledge.
• Cyber-physical security or facility-management projects without experiment-centric
autonomy goals.
• Research into quantum computing, quantum networking, or their applications in
science, which should instead be submitted under topic (3) below.
References:
1. Basic Research Needs for Scientific Machine Learning: Core Technologies for Artificial
Intelligence, https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1478744/
2. Report for the 2022 Workshop Series “Advanced Research Directions on AI for Science,
Energy and Security,”https://www.anl.gov/sites/www/files/2023-06/AI4SESReport-
2023-v6.pdf
3. James Ahrens, Amber Boehnlein, Rich Carlson, Joshua Elliot, Kjiersten Fagnan, Nicola
Ferrier, Ian Foster, Lee Gimpel, John Shalf, Dan Ratner. “Envisioning Science in 2050”.
United States Department of Energy, Advanced Scientific Computing Research, 2022.
doi:10.2172/1871683 ( https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1871683 )
4. ASCR Integrated Research Infrastructure Task Force. Toward a Seamless Integration of
Computing, Experimental, and Observational Science Facilities: A Blueprint to
Accelerate Discovery. USDOE Office of Science (SC), Washington, DC (United States).
Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), 2021.
(https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1863562)
(3) Quantum Computing and Networking
Technical Contact: Marco Fornari, Marco.Fornari@science.doe.gov, Pavel Lougovski,
Pavel.Lougovski@science.doe.gov
This topic involves innovative research in the area of quantum technologies ––computing
or/and networking–– that integrate computer science and applied mathematics concepts to
address obstacles hindering the demonstration of quantum utility and the application of
quantum technology to advance the DOE and ASCR mission. Possible areas include the
development of modules of end-to-end software toolchains aimed to program and control
quantum computing systems at scale, or/and the understanding of utility and new
applications of quantum networking concepts, systems, and protocols. Research should be
backed by rigorous theory and should delineate a path to success with clear metric and
milestones. Engagement with quantum computing and quantum networking ASCR testbeds
is encouraged.
Topics that are out of scope include:
• Pre-applications and applications that do not address the specific topics described above,
• Development of new candidate physical qubit systems and improvements to physical
qubits,
• Quantum key distribution,
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• Cryptography and cryptanalysis,
• Projects that are duplicative of or competitive with industry.
References:
1. “Report for the ASCR Workshop on Basic Research Needs in Quantum Computing and
Networking,” https://doi.org/10.2172/2001045, July 2023.
Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Program Website: https://www.energy.gov/science/bes/basic-energy-sciences or
https://science.osti.gov/bes/
BES’s mission is to support fundamental research to understand, predict, and ultimately
control matter and energy at the electronic, atomic, and molecular levels in order to provide
the foundations for new energy technologies and to support DOE missions in energy,
environment, and national security. The portfolio supports work in the natural sciences by
emphasizing fundamental research in materials sciences, chemistry, geosciences, and
biosciences. BES- supported scientific facilities provide specialized instrumentation and
expertise that enable scientists to carry out experiments not possible at individual
laboratories.
More detailed information about BES sponsored research can be found at the BES website
listed above. There you will find BES-sponsored workshop reports that address the current
status and possible future directions of some important research areas. Also, PI Meetings
Reports contain abstracts of recent BES-supported research in each topical area. Finally, the
websites of individual BES Divisions may also be helpful.
The following web pages are listed for convenience:
a. BES Workshop Reports: https://science.osti.gov/bes/community-resources/reports/
b. Materials Sciences and Engineering Division PI Meetings:
https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/principal-investigators-meetings/
c. Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, & Biosciences Division PI Meetings:
https://science.osti.gov/bes/csgb/principal-investigators-meetings/
d. Scientific User Facilities Division web page: https://science.osti.gov/bes/suf/
Proposed research must be responsive to a supported topic in one of the core research areas
listed below. Many of the core research areas limit early career Applications to a subset of
topics within their regular research activities. In those cases, the intention is to rotate topics
on an annual basis.
(1) Materials Chemistry
Technical Contact: Christopher Chervin, Christopher.Chervin@science.doe.gov (Select
Christopher Chervin in PAMS) and Craig Henderson, Craig.Henderson@science.doe.gov
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This program supports scientific research on materials with a focus on the chemical
synthesis, chemical control, and chemical dynamics of composition and structure and a view
to elucidating chemical aspects of materials’ structure-property relationships and resulting
functionality. The major programmatic focus is on the discovery, design and synthesis of
novel, energy-relevant materials that span length scales beyond molecular, from which the
consequent materials properties and functionalities emerge. The desired outcome is
fundamental knowledge of the chemistry of materials, which may be widely applied to the
development of next-generation materials to provide the foundations for new energy
technologies.
Applications MUST pose scientific questions and propose hypothesis-driven research
leading to scientific understanding of chemical phenomena observed to play a role in the
synthesis, function, or degradation of energy-relevant materials. Applications will be
evaluated based on their ability to formulate and address 'why' questions related to materials
chemistry phenomena, prioritizing causal explanations over correlative observations.
Further, to be considered for this year’s ECRP, applications must propose basic research in
one of these three (3) topical areas:
• Applied Materials Theory – New theoretical approaches to predict chemistry-related
materials synthesis, properties, and/or functionality
• Materials Chemistry Dynamics – Understand the evolution and control of the
composition, structure, and/or chemistry-related properties of materials in operating
environments
• Chemical Synthetic Methodology – New synthetic methodology for energy-relevant
materials that transform materials synthesis beyond incremental improvements of
established methods.
For any of these topics, applications that propose materials chemistry research aimed
primarily at electrochemical energy storage technologies, including ion transport properties
of soft matter, will not be supported this year. The Materials Chemistry program does NOT
support research on heterogeneous catalysis or otherwise on the molecular-scale
mechanism of electrocatalysis. Additionally, the Materials Chemistry program does NOT
support applications aimed primarily at improvement, optimization, or tuning of material
properties for any application or as the basis for generating predictive design rules.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE) Division funded programs at that laboratory.
(2) Biomolecular Materials
Technical Contact: Aura Gimm, Aura.Gimm@science.doe.gov
This activity supports fundamental materials science research in the discovery, design and
synthesis of functional synthetic materials and complex structures based on principles and
concepts of biology. Biology provides a blueprint for translating atomic and nanoscale
phenomena into mesoscale materials that display complex yet well-coordinated collective
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behavior. The major programmatic direction is on the science-driven creation of resilient
materials and multiscale systems that exhibit well-coordinated functionality and
information content approaching that of biological materials but capable of functioning
under harsher, non-biological environments.
Biomolecular Materials research activity seeks innovative fundamental science approaches
for co-design and scalable synthesis of materials that coherently and actively manage
multiple complex, and simultaneous functions and tolerate abuse through autonomous
repair and regrowth. New synthesis approaches and unconventional assembly pathways are
sought to accelerate discovery/design of materials with transformative impacts on advanced
manufacturing, and energy transfer and storage technologies. An area of emphasis will be
activities to understand and control assembly mechanisms to seamlessly integrate
capabilities developed over one length scale across multiple length scales as the material is
constructed. Included is the development of predictive models and AI/ML for data-driven
science that accelerate materials discovery and support fundamental science to direct energy
efficient scalable synthesis with real-time adaptive control. Applications MUST propose
hypothesis-driven research with clear connections to biological principles.
Two separate topics (A and B shown below) are planned for alternate fiscal years in pursuit
of these goals. Science-driven coupling of theory and experiment to achieve Topic objectives
are encouraged. For this announcement, only applications focused on Topic B will be
considered.
• Topic A (Alternate years): The specific focus will be on fundamental materials science
underpinning design of next-generation materials and systems that incorporate low-
energy mechanisms found in biology for electrical and thermal energy transformation
and/or ion transport with programmable selectivity based on biophysical gating.
• Topic B (This year): The focus will be on control of fundamental mechanisms for
precise synthesis and assembly, including self-replication approaches for multiscale
materials and systems that self-regulate structure repair, based on biological principles.
Hierarchical materials assembly strategies and effective temporal/spatial control of
biomolecular building blocks will be emphasized.
For both topics, bio-centric research will not be supported, including activities focused on
understanding underlying biological mechanisms, creation of bio-hybrid materials, or use of
living cells as materials or as molecular factory. The program will not support projects that
lack a clear focus on fundamental materials science or are aimed at optimization of
materials properties for any applications including device fabrication, sensor development, or
tissue engineering. The program will not support biological or biomedical research.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE) Division funded programs at the laboratory of the
applicant.
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(3) Synthesis and Processing Science
Technical Contact: Shawn Chen, shawn.chen@science.doe.gov
This program supports basic scientific research on materials to understand the physical
principles that underpin materials synthesis and processing including diffusion, nucleation,
and phase transitions and diagrams, often using in situ diagnostics and new techniques. An
important element of this activity is the use of real-time monitoring tools that probe the
dynamic environment and the progression of structure and properties as a material is
formed. This information is essential to the physical understanding of the underlying
mechanisms that help gain atomic level control in materials synthesis and processing.
Recent BES Basic Research Needs (and other) workshops and reports, particularly the
reports on Synthesis Science and Transformative Manufacturing, have identified the needs
and challenges in the science of synthesis and processing that are relevant to energy
materials and technologies.
For this year’s ECRP, proposed research must focus on hypothesis driven research that
pursues new fundamental understanding and creative approaches that underpin the
scientific foundation for the science of synthesis and processing. This year, applications
must focus on the prediction of phase diagrams and the ability to change such
phase spaces in real-time via applied external fields for metastable energy relevant
materials. Additionally, applications in this program are encouraged to include
complementary in-situ characterization and modeling techniques to achieve a detailed
understanding of the onset of crystal growth, with the potential to expand fundamental
nucleation and growth theory for multicomponent materials. The focus of the research
should be on materials discovery and design by physical means, which is complementary to
the BES Materials Chemistry and Biomolecular Materials research activities, where
chemical and bio-inspired approaches are emphasized.
Applications focusing on the following areas will not be supported this year:
• Remote epitaxy or van der Waals epitaxy.
• 2D Membranes.
• Wafer scale deposition.
Additionally, the program does not support applications that involve biological materials or
applications aimed at optimization of material properties for specific applications. The
program will not support applications with a primary goal of engineering development,
device fabrication, nanoparticle synthesis, tribology, fluid dynamics, or projects using
advanced manufacturing techniques without emphasizing the potential advances in
fundamental science.
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For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE) Division funded programs at the laboratory of
the applicant.
(4) Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
Technical Contact: Claudia Cantoni, claudia.cantoni@science.doe.gov
The Experimental Condensed Matter Physics (ECMP) program supports research that will
advance our fundamental understanding of the relationships between intrinsic electronic
structure and the properties of complex materials.
This year the Early Career NOFO in ECMP will focus on quantum materials in the form of
low-dimensional systems like 2D materials and heterostructures, wherein fundamental
electronic, lattice, spin, and valley degree of freedom are investigated and controlled to add
functionality. Examples of material forms of interest are deposited or exfoliated monolayers,
heterostructures comprising few-layer systems, nanowires, nanodots, and their combination
with 2D structures. Systems requiring the use of a bulk substrate for deposition or assembly
but addressing 2D physics are considered responsive.
To be considered responsive, applications must propose fundamental research in one of the
following topics:
1. emergent fractional quasiparticles as realized in topological superconductors, fractional
Chern insulators, and chiral spin liquid candidates;
2. flat band systems and unconventional superconductivity;
3. hybrid quasiparticles for energy transfer and transduction;
4. 2D topological quantum magnets;
5. ferroelectric and multiferroic 2D materials;
6. organic-inorganic hybrid materials, including interfacial spin transfer effects and 2D
material functionalization via molecular adsorption or intercalation.
For any of the topics encouraged, ECMP welcomes the incorporation of computational tools
and domain aware scientific machine learning algorithms to aid the interpretation of
experiments and/or predictions of material properties.
The ECMP Program does not support applications on electrochemistry, or photovoltaic
materials; nor does it support projects aimed at materials and/or device optimization, or
metrology. In addition, the ECMP Early Career Program will NOT accept applications on
topics in the following areas: conventional semiconductors, heavy fermion (non-topological)
superconductivity, quantum Hall physics in conventional semiconductor materials, cuprate
superconductivity, and cold atom physics. Bulk materials and single crystals, including
layered and van der Waals 3D materials will NOT be considered responsive to this year’s call
but are anticipated to be the focus of next year’s call.
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For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE) Division funded programs at the laboratory of
the applicant.
(5) Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics
Technical Contacts: Matthias Graf, Matthias.Graf@science.doe.gov and Claudia Mewes,
Claudia.Mewes@science.doe.gov (Select Claudia Mewes in PAMS)
This program supports research in theoretical condensed matter physics developing
quantum methods and techniques for quantum materials, materials discovery and design,
out-of-equilibrium quantum dynamics, materials theory related to energy efficient
technologies, and materials design of alternates to critical materials/minerals. Research
spans from analytical to computational approaches, including data-driven and physics-
guided AI/ML, with a strong emphasis on theory, methods, and technique development, as
well as prediction and interpretation of novel quantum phenomena. Physics-guided AI/ML
approaches must combine both AI/ML models and physics-based models.
For the ECRP, two separate topics (A and B shown below) are planned for alternate fiscal
years. For this announcement, only applications focused on Topic B will be
considered. Applications on Topic A will NOT be considered responsive to this year’s
NOFO.
• Topic A (alternate years): Computational discovery and design of functional
materials with unique physical properties, including methods and algorithms
development.
• Topic B (this year): Development of theories and methods to understand (i) materials
with emergent and ordered magnetic, ferroelectric, and/or superconducting properties,
including their dynamics, or (ii) the role critical materials/minerals (e.g., rare earth
elements) play in functional materials.
Exclusions: Applications focusing solely on high-throughput calculations, the application
of existing AI/ML tools, the creation of a database, classical transport, classical molecular
dynamics, optimization of physical properties, quantum phase transitions, and/or fractional
quantum Hall effect are excluded. Excluded are applications on molecules, cold atoms, ionic
liquids, electrolytes, batteries, catalysts, soft matter, polymers, glasses, structural materials,
and granular materials.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE) Division funded programs at the laboratory of
the applicant.
(6) Physical Behavior of Materials
Technical Contact: Tim Mewes, tim.mewes@science.doe.gov
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The Physical Behavior of Materials (PBM) Program supports hypothesis-driven basic
research that aims to advance understanding of fundamental processes that take place in
materials and in response to external stimuli, such as temperature, pressure,
electromagnetic fields, chemical dopants and disorder, strain, and the proximity effects of
surfaces and interfaces. The program supports diverse research including two-dimensional
(2D) materials and heterostructures, spintronics and magnetic, plasmonics, nanophotonics,
and other complex and disordered systems.
This year, applications to the program must focus on basic research in opto-spintronics that
combines spintronics and optoelectronics. Of particular interest are light-matter interactions
on magnetically ordered semiconducting van der Waals materials that are sensitive to
external stimuli, which have potential for use as atomically thin opto-spintronic device
architectures. Research on the interplay between optical and exciton-magnon interactions
should have a strong spin- and charge-based characterization component and may include
fabrication and theory. Applications solely focused on materials synthesis, theory and
software development, and optimization of materials/properties for device applications
(neuromorphic computing and non-volatile memory, high-frequency devices) are excluded.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE) Division funded programs at the laboratory of
the applicant.
(7) Mechanical Behavior and Radiation Effects
Technical Contact: John Vetrano, John.Vetrano@science.doe.gov
This activity supports hypothesis-driven basic research to understand defects in materials
and their effects on the properties of strength, structure, deformation, and failure. Defect
formation, growth, migration, and propagation are examined by coordinated experimental
and modeling efforts over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Topics include
fundamental studies of deformation in nanostructured materials, and intelligent
microstructural design for understanding mechanisms dictating strength, formability, and
fracture in energy relevant materials. The goals are to develop scientific underpinnings for
predictive design of materials having superior mechanical properties.
This year the emphasis is on mechanical behavior of interfaces in materials, with the plan to
alternate this topic with radiation effects annually. Within the area of mechanical behavior,
applications must include a scientific hypothesis and focus on research opportunities in one
of the following two areas:
• Fundamental understanding of mechanical behavior related to the general area of
interface behavior under extreme environments (temperature, stress, strain, corrosion)
of structural materials. Radiation damage is excluded.
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• Fundamental understanding of novel mechanisms of deformation and failure at
interfaces of other materials used in energy systems (e.g., polymers, membranes, coating
materials, electrodes).
Applications taking advantage of advanced synthesis methods to create tailored structures to
better isolate mechanisms, utilizing AI/ML to uncover novel mechanisms, and taking
advantage of advanced characterization techniques, are of particular interest.
The topics of wear, bio-inspired materials, and high-strain rate deformation will not be
explored in this program at this time. Applications emphasizing mechanics of materials and
simple structure-property correlations, rather than fundamental materials science
mechanisms, will not be considered responsive.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE) Division funded programs at the laboratory of the
applicant.
(8) Quantum Information Science in Materials Sciences and Engineering (QIS-
MSE)
Technical Contact: Athena Sefat, Athena.Sefat@science.doe.gov
This activity supports research in Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE) to advance
fundamental understanding of quantum materials relevant for quantum information
science (QIS) in support of crosscutting MSE Division research areas (Materials Discovery,
Design, and Synthesis; Condensed Matter and Materials Physics; Scattering and
Instrumentation Sciences) within the Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES).
This program encompasses QIS topics as noted in the Basic Energy Sciences Roundtable:
Opportunities for Basic Research for Next-Generation Quantum Systems and Basic Energy
Sciences Roundtable on Opportunities for Quantum Computing in Chemical and Materials
Sciences reports. The program also supports characterization of QIS-relevant materials, and
use or development of cutting-edge techniques to measure quantum phenomena, with the
goal of advancing QIS.
Applications must propose fundamental research, based on a specific QIS-inspired research
topic, with a potential transformative technological impact. Early Career applications must
state specifically which (one or more) of the eight Priority Research Opportunities identified
in the two BES Roundtable Reports mentioned above are targeted. Theory/simulation
centric proposals must articulate how they advance the understanding of specific properties
or quantum dynamics of materials relevant to QIS in MSE.
This program will not fund applications that are solely based on engineering, manufacturing
of prototypes/devices, or optimization of hardware/software.
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For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE) Division funded programs at the laboratory of
the applicant.
(9) X-ray Scattering
Technical Contact: Helen Kerch, Helen.Kerch@science.doe.gov
This activity supports basic research on the fundamental interactions of photons with
matter to achieve an understanding of atomic, electronic, and magnetic structures and
excitations and their relationships to materials properties. The main emphasis is on x-ray
scattering, spectroscopy, and imaging research, primarily at major BES-supported user
facilities. Instrumentation development and experimental research directed at the study of
ultrafast physical phenomena in materials is an integral part of the portfolio. Based on
programmatic priorities, this activity will not support ultra-fast source development but
will focus on the application of ultra-fast probe interactions with materials and the resulting
connection to materials dynamics.
Advances in x-ray scattering and ultrafast sciences will continue to be driven by scientific
opportunities presented by improved source performance and optimized instrumentation.
The x-ray scattering activity will continue to fully develop and extend the capabilities at the
DOE facilities by providing support for novel instrumentation, techniques, and research. For
example, research is sought that will take advantage of unprecedented levels of coherent
brightness and of controlled timing structures at upgraded light source facilities.
New investments in ultrafast science will also focus on research that uses radiation sources
associated with BES facilities and beam lines. New pump schemes to manipulate dynamic
states of quantum materials will be supported, especially those which can be adapted to x-
ray free electron laser (XFEL) and ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) probe environments.
Additionally, new approaches to improve the collection, processing and analysis of large
data sets obtained with high repetition- rate pulsed sources or with fast multi-mega-pixel
detector arrays are encouraged under the cross-cutting emerging domain of Data Sciences.
Novel x-ray techniques are sought that enable detailed investigations of the fundamental
dynamic mechanisms of energy conversion systems and their active material components.
This involves the interaction of complexity at atomic to mesoscopic length scales and
requires the development of multimodal experimental techniques that examine the same
active sample positions, in place and under operational boundary conditions. Of particular
emphasis for new energy saving quantum computational devices is the in-place study of the
evolution of quantum coherence and evolving transient quantum phase transitions at the
shortest relevant time scales.
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The program will not support research considered “mature use” of existing x-ray or ultrafast
techniques. Typically, the emphasis on new techniques enables new access to
inhomogeneous and dynamic systems and therefore the program will de-emphasize steady-
state research of bulk and equilibrium systems.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE) Division funded programs at the laboratory of the
applicant.
(10) Neutron Scattering
Technical Contact: Helen Kerch, Helen.Kerch@science.doe.gov
This activity supports hypothesis-guided research on the fundamental interactions of
neutrons with matter to achieve an understanding of the atomic, magnetic or hierarchical
structures and excitations of (hard or soft) materials and their relationship to macroscopic
properties. The program’s emphasis is transformative research on materials and phenomena
using neutron beams, accompanied by advancement of neutron scattering techniques
primarily at the BES user facilities. A continuing theme of this program is that integration of
neutron scattering measurements on high quality samples with theory and data science is
vital for an in-depth understanding of the relationship between structure, dynamics, and
macroscopic properties.
Fundamental research on materials that exhibit novel emergent phenomena or unique
properties resulting from out-of-equilibrium conditions or structural inhomogeneity is
encouraged. Characterizing and controlling such emergent behavior are keys to optimizing
and exploiting a wide range of materials’ performance and functionality. In situ and
operando characterizations can measure structure and dynamics of materials in the
appropriate environment and at realistic conditions, yielding data for comparison to
predictions. The program encourages development of novel measurement and/or analysis
techniques that exploit the unique aspects of neutron scattering to facilitate the proposed
materials research. Of particular interest is observation and interpretation of three-
dimensional inhomogeneous structures over decades of length scales using novel
approaches, e.g., gratings, neutron ptychography, neutron tomography, etc.
The program will de-emphasize research resulting in incremental advances of
understanding of materials, such as conventional and high-temperature (cuprate)
superconductivity and magnetic systems in quiescent conditions.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE) Division funded programs at the laboratory of
the applicant.
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(11) Electron and Scanning Probe Microscopies
Technical Contact: Jane Zhu, Jane.Zhu@science.doe.gov
This activity supports basic research in materials sciences using microscopy and
spectroscopy techniques. The research includes experiments and theory to understand the
atomic, electronic, and magnetic structures and properties of materials. This activity also
supports the development of new methodologies, including ultrafast diffraction and imaging
techniques, to advance basic science and materials characterizations for energy applications.
The goal is to develop a fundamental understanding of materials through advanced
microscopy and spectroscopy.
For this NOFO, applications must include a scientific hypothesis and focus on the
fundamental understanding of quantum materials and phenomena using innovative
electron and scanning probe microscopy approaches. New methods and approaches could
provide an array of opportunities for groundbreaking science that will accelerate discovery
and technological deployment of advanced materials. These include understanding and
controlling quantum systems, nano- or meso-scale inhomogeneity, and the interplay
between charge, orbital, spin and lattice degrees of freedom. Research opportunities also
include functionality imaging and spectroscopy of nanostructures; integrating multimodal
imaging for functional studies of quantum materials and behaviors; and utilizing advanced
computational methods, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, for
integrating complex datasets from multimodal imaging and faster and more accurate data
reconstruction and analysis.
Based on programmatic priorities, projects aimed at technique development without science
goals will not be considered.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE) Division funded programs at the laboratory of
the applicant.
(12) Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences (AMOS)
Technical Contact: Patrick El Khoury, patrick.el-khoury@science.doe.gov
The BES AMOS program supports fundamental experimental and theoretical research in
ultrafast chemical sciences. The aim of this program is to develop accurate quantum
chemical descriptions of photophysical and photochemical processes to establish the
foundational knowledge required to control ultrafast (coherent) electronic and vibrational
dynamics. The program currently supports efforts to develop and use novel probes of
ultrafast phenomena, to understand the dynamics of molecules in intense electromagnetic
fields, and to observe and control quantum (de)coherence on increasingly faster timescales.
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The program supports ultrafast, strong-field, short-wavelength science, and studies of
correlated dynamics in molecular systems. Examples include ultrafast x-ray science at the
Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS-II) and the use of high-harmonic generation and its
variants for probing ultrafast dynamics. Applications of these light sources include ultrafast
imaging of chemical reactions, inner-shell photoionization of molecules, and probing and
controlling non-adiabatic dynamics. The program encourages research exploiting next-
generation capabilities of x-ray free electron lasers and modern data science approaches,
including tools of artificial intelligence, to provide new insights into electronic and
molecular dynamics on the attosecond-to-femtosecond time scale. Coherent control of
nonlinear optical processes and tailoring of wavefunctions with lasers continues to be of
interest, particularly in the context of non-adiabatic photochemistry.
In addition to core programmatic emphases, the AMOS program is currently seeking
proposals for research at the interface of ultrafast chemical and quantum information
sciences. Research topics that potentially fall within this growing area of the AMOS
portfolio include tailoring both classical and quantum light sources to control
electronic/vibrational wave packets in molecular systems as well as quasiparticle dynamics
(excitons and phonons) in low dimensional quantum systems. ECRP proposals aimed at
taking advantage of quantum phenomena to enhance classical approaches to probing
chemical dynamics, ultimately in real space-time (femto-nano scale), are strongly
encouraged. Overall, proposals in this area must include elements of quantum information
sciences research (quantum light, quantum materials, quantum metrology) and AMOS,
with an aim of gaining a deeper fundamental understanding of ultrafast phenomena.
The AMOS program is not currently accepting ECRP applications in the areas of plasma
physics and the physics of atomic and ultracold systems. Projects involving theoretical,
computational, and instrument development must include well-integrated scientific
research focused on ultrafast chemical sciences.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB) Division funded programs at the
laboratory of the applicant.
(13) Gas Phase Chemical Physics (GPCP)
Technical Contact: Tom Settersten, Thomas.Settersten@science.doe.gov
This program supports research on fundamental gas-phase chemical processes. Research in
this program explores chemical reactivity, kinetics and dynamics in the gas phase at the level
of electrons, atoms, molecules and nanoparticles. A continuing goal of this program is to
understand energy flow and reaction mechanisms in complex, nonequilibrium, gas-phase
environments. A crosscutting theme for the GPCP program concerns systems chemistry, in
which complex molecular behavior emerges from ensembles of molecules or large reaction
networks in the gas phase. The GPCP program seeks to understand, model, and ultimately
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control this emergent molecular complexity. Of particular interest are gas phase and/or
gas/surface chemical systems in which emergent behavior manifests as a significant and
possibly precipitous change in chemical reaction rates, branching ratios, particle growth,
and/or product energy distributions with changes in conditions, e.g. temperature, pressure,
ion concentration (plasma) and reactions included in a reaction network.
The major focus of research in this area is in four thrust areas: Light-Matter Interactions,
Chemical Reactivity, Gas-Particle Interconversion, and Gas-Surface Chemical Physics.
Research applications will be accepted from only a subset of the selected five research
thrusts in response to each year’s NOFO, with the remaining thrusts offered in alternate
years. For this NOFO, only applications focused on thrusts 1 and 2 will be considered
(designated as OPEN). Research applications for thrusts 3 and 4 will not be considered this
year (designated as CLOSED) but considered in alternate years.
1. Light-Matter Interactions includes research in the development and application of
innovative tools for probing the nuclear and electronic structure and dynamics of gas-
phase molecules in complex environments. Proposed technical developments must yield
new insights on processes such as energy flow, nuclear rearrangements, and loss of
coherence and entanglement. Applications are encouraged that develop automated
methods based on AI/ML to facilitate the analysis of complex molecular spectra or
provide critical new insights on quantum phenomena in systems that could be used for
quantum information science. (OPEN)
2. Chemical Reactivity comprises research in chemical kinetics and mechanisms, chemical
dynamics, collisional energy transfer, and construction of, and calculations on,
molecular potential energy surfaces to develop fundamental insight into energy flow and
chemical reactions. Applications are encouraged that develop AI/ML methods for the
construction of potential energy surfaces and optimization of chemical kinetic
mechanisms. (OPEN)
3. Gas-Particle Interconversions comprises research on the chemistry of small gas-phase
particles, including their interactions with gas-phase molecules and dynamic evolution
to understand the molecular mechanisms of formation, growth and transformation
(such as evaporation, phase transition, and reactive processing) of small particles.
(CLOSED)
4. Gas-Surface Chemical Physics retains a strong emphasis on molecular-scale
investigations of gas-phase chemical processes with the goal of gaining a better
understanding of the cooperative effects of coupling gas phase chemistry with surface
chemistry. Applications are encouraged that explore the cooperative effects of gas-
surface coupling. (CLOSED)
The GPCP program does not support research in the following areas: non-reacting fluid
dynamics and spray dynamics, reacting and non-reacting turbulent flow, data-sharing
software development, end-use combustion device development, and characterization or
optimization of end-use combustion devices.
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For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB) Division funded programs at the
laboratory of the applicant.
(14) Computational and Theoretical Chemistry
Technical Contact: Aaron Holder, Aaron.Holder@science.doe.gov
Computational and Theoretical Chemistry (CTC) emphasizes sustained development1,
innovation and integration of theoretical and computational approaches for the accurate
and efficient prediction of chemical processes and mechanisms relevant to the BES mission.
Part of the focus is on simulation of dynamical processes that are so complex that efficient
computational implementation must be accomplished in concert with development of new
theories and algorithms. Efforts must be tightly integrated with the research and goals of
BES and provide theories and computational approaches to advance the fundamental
science of chemical transformations and energy and information transduction processes
across multiple scales in complex environments and systems. Applications may include the
development or improvement of modular computational tools that enhance interpretation
and analysis of advanced experimental measurements, including those acquired at DOE
user facilities, or efforts aimed at enhancing the accuracy, precision, applicability and
scalability of quantum-mechanical simulation methods. Also included are development of
spatial and temporal multiscale methodologies that allow for time-dependent simulations of
relativistic, coherent, entangled, and dissipative processes as well as rare events.
Development of novel theories and simulation capabilities for the theory-guided control of
externally driven electronic and spin-dependent processes in real environments is
encouraged.
The CTC focus for this year’s Early Career NOFO is on the innovation of predictive
mechanistic theories and practical, systematically improvable and hierarchical methods for
describing and simulating dynamical processes occurring in complex molecular ensembles
and environments. Topics of interest within this focus include the development and
integration of quantum chemical approaches for the accurate simulation and prescriptive
design of (i) systems-level behaviors and other emergent functionalities and phenomena for
manipulating information and energy transduction, with specific emphasis on dynamical
chemical systems that exploit coordinated effects of chirality, topology, and magnetoelectric
interactions to achieve novel functionalities, (ii) non-biological cooperative reaction
networks and mechanisms leading to programmable matter, chemical artificial intelligence
and/or molecular cybernetic functionalities, or (iii) correlated multi-electron, multi-photon,
and/or interacting quasiparticle governed chemical transformation and energy transduction
processes, including those that may require consideration of symmetry violations or non-
Hermitian or non-memoryless dynamical approaches to describe, in field-driven complex
open quantum systems.
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CTC does not support projects based on (i) the “mature use” of presently available
implementations of computational and theoretical chemistry methods and/or approaches,
(ii) the development of phenomenological models and empirical parameterization of
models, (iii) methods for, or applications to, systems that do not explicitly consider
rearrangements of quantum-mechanical degrees of freedom, or (iv) the development of
density functional theory approximations or machine-learned potentials. AI/ML focused
efforts in CTC must develop run-time compute intensive algorithms and methods, such as
those that require reasoning and/or inference modelling to be performed during their
execution, to advance the current state-of-the-art in exascale, quantum hardware-based, or
other novel computing paradigm-based simulations of chemical systems and processes for
fundamental knowledge discovery.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB) Division funded programs at the
laboratory of the applicant.
1. A Perspective on Sustainable Computational Chemistry Software Development and
Integration, R. Di Felice et al., J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2023, 19, 7056.
(15) Condensed Phase and Interfacial Molecular Science (CPIMS)
Technical Contact: Gregory Fiechtner, Gregory.Fiechtner@science.doe.gov
The CPIMS program emphasizes basic research at the boundary of chemistry and physics,
pursuing a molecular-level understanding of chemical and physical processes in liquids and
at interfaces. With its foundation in chemical physics, the impact of this crosscutting
program is far reaching, providing understanding and scientific foundations underpinning a
variety of areas of importance to the DOE, including energy, quantum information science,
chemical synthesis and manufacturing, and microelectronics. The CPIMS program also
supports efforts related to research priorities such as artificial Intelligence and machine
learning that can form the basis for new approaches to understanding science questions of
interest to the CPIMS program.
Experimental and theoretical investigations in the gas phase, condensed phase, and at
interfaces aim at elucidating the molecular-scale chemical and physical properties and
interactions that govern chemical reactivity, solute/solvent structure, and transport. Studies
of reaction dynamics at well-characterized surfaces and clusters lead to the development of
theories on the molecular origins of surface-mediated catalysis and heterogeneous
chemistry. Studies of model condensed-phase systems target first-principles understanding
of molecular reactivity and dynamical processes in solution and at interfaces. The transition
from molecular-scale chemistry to collective phenomena in complex systems is also of
interest, allowing knowledge gained at the molecular level to be exploited through the
dynamics and kinetics of collective interactions. In this manner, the desired evolution is the
understanding of molecular-scale interactions as well as their role in complex, collective
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behavior at larger scales. A molecular level understanding of complex molecular systems is
sought, capturing the essence of chemical behavior, knowledge of the main molecular-level
driving forces behind the behavior, and discovery of universal principles that can be applied
more widely.
The CPIMS program also seeks new projects in the chemistry of dissipative, nonequilibrium
molecular systems, looking to understand how interacting molecular networks can lead to
emergent reactive behavior. Examples include reaction-diffusion systems, positional
information, compartmentalized reaction networks, substrate-induced reactive systems,
chemical replication, self-organized biomimetic chemical reaction networks, and the
dynamics of nonequilibrium catalysis. The CPIMS program seeks additional new projects on
chemistry at the boundaries of condensed matter physics, including topics where
unexpected emergent behavior has been identified. For example, recent CPIMS-supported
projects include 1) a study of how chemical reactions might be supported at the surface of
topological materials, 2) a study of the impact of Moiré effects on electrochemistry, 3) a
study that explores theories of topological physics to change the way chemical reactions are
understood and manipulated, and 4) studies at the intersection of cavitronics and chemistry.
The CPIMS program does not fund research in mechanics or dynamics of bulk fluids,
technological applications, or device development.
A more extensive description of program evolution can be found at the link:
https://science.osti.gov/bes/csgb/Research-Areas/Condensed-Phase-and-Interfacial-
Molecular- Sciences.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB) Division funded programs at the
laboratory of the applicant.
(16) Quantum Information Science Research in Chemical Sciences, Geosciences,
and Biosciences (QIS-CSGB)
Technical Contact: Marat Valiev, Marat.Valiev@science.doe.gov
The Quantum Information Science (QIS) program in CSGB supports fundamental research
at the intersection of chemistry, quantum physics, and the theory of computation to provide
a foundational understanding of quantum information processing in complex molecular
systems.
The program adopts an integrated approach that combines foundational QIS research, the
fundamental understanding of quantum processes underlying quantum technologies, and
the translation of QIS advances into applications central to the BES mission.
Applicable research areas include:
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Fundamental understanding of complex chemical systems from QIS-centric perspective,
including
• Development of physically grounded measures of non-classical correlations in molecular
systems, using quantum resource theory to investigate their generation, manipulation,
and interconversion under physically motivated constraints.
• Development of algebraic and geometric methods, such as operator algebras, quantum
space geometry, and noncommutative frameworks, to identify general principles that
connect molecular structure and dynamics to the evolution of quantum information in
high-dimensional and strongly interacting molecular systems.
• Investigation of quantum information scrambling and chaotic dynamics in molecular
systems to uncover how complex interactions and many-body effects govern the flow,
delocalization, and irreversibility of quantum information.
Molecular design principles for quantum technology, targeting
• Use of dynamically modulated external fields and measurement-based feedback control
to enable the generation, manipulation, and resiliency of quantum information
resources.
• Investigation of high-dimensional quantum information encoding in molecular systems,
including continuous-variable representations and qudit architectures, with
opportunities for both theoretical and experimental research.
• Advancing the concept of the single-molecule quantum processor by developing
strategies to isolate, control, and interconnect multiple quantum degrees of freedom
within an individual molecular system, enabling compact and multifunctional on-chip
molecular units suitable for quantum information encoding, processing, and
transduction.
• Development of quantum thermodynamics approaches to uncover novel mechanisms of
energy, entropy, and information flow at the quantum scale, with potential to enable
new quantum technologies for energy conversion and storage.
Novel quantum computing paradigms aiming at the development of
• Alternative models of quantum computation for molecular systems that move beyond
circuit-based approaches, drawing on paradigms such as measurement-based quantum
computing, quantum cellular automata, and other spatially and structurally informed
frameworks that take advantage of the inherent locality, symmetry, and dynamical
structure of molecular processes.
• Universal mappings of molecular processes into abstract and controllable quantum
surrogate models that not only support simulation on quantum hardware but also serve
as standalone representations for exposing hidden structure and extracting fundamental
physical insight for the underlying system.
• Interpretable quantum machine learning approaches to uncover physically meaningful
structure within molecular quantum systems, including the extraction of patterns,
universal representations, and resource features from trained models; the discovery of
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underlying mechanisms and control principles; and the refinement of theoretical
frameworks.
To be considered responsive, proposals must pursue high impact foundational research that
incorporates one or more of the research topics listed above and clearly articulates its
importance to the molecular systems relevant to the CSGB domain sciences.
Proposals will be nonresponsive if they focus on
• materials science, engineering, synthesis, device optimization, or designing/building
quantum computers
• algorithmic translation of established quantum chemistry methods to quantum
computers, without addressing foundational QIS questions
• computational simulation, including those based on AI/ML, without contributing to the
understanding or advancement of foundational QIS principles
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB) Division funded programs at the
laboratory of the applicant.
(17) Catalysis Science
Technical Contacts: Viviane Schwartz, Viviane.Schwartz@science.doe.gov and Chris
Bradley, Chris.Bradley@science.doe.gov
This program supports basic research pursuing novel catalyst design and quantum- and
molecular-level control of chemical transformations applicable to energy and industrial
processes. A central element of the program is the elucidation of catalytic reaction
mechanisms in diverse chemical environments and the structure-reactivity relationships of solid
and molecular catalysts. Applications and pre-applications MUST clearly identify the
fundamental hypothesis to be tested and the reaction system to be studied, as well as their
relevance to the development of structure-reactivity relationships.
Strategies and feedstocks emphasized this year are:
• New mechanisms and catalytic transformations mediated by Earth-abundant metals.
• Reducing the dependence on catalysts containing platinum group or other critical
elements by advancing novel concepts to increase active site efficiency.
• Approaches that explore catalysts and mechanisms associated with transformations in
multicomponent mixtures, multiple reactions, and integrated processes.
• Examination of the dynamics of catalyst and electronic structures occurring during
catalytic cycles and deactivation via the development of novel spectroscopic techniques
and structural probes for in situ/operando characterization of catalytic processes.
• Advanced theory, modeling, data-science and artificial intelligence/machine learning
approaches to mechanism identification and catalyst discovery and development.
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• Transformations involving light hydrocarbons or lignocellulosic-derived molecules
towards chemicals and fuels.
The FY26 Early ECRP in Catalysis Science will exclude the following types of applications:
• The primary focus is new synthetic approaches of catalytic materials.
• The main objective is developing theoretical, computational, or characterization
methods, while understanding the catalytic reaction mechanism is secondary.
• Applications with a focus primarily on battery chemistry.
• Transformations mediated by biocatalytic systems.
• Topics primarily focused on electrocatalytic reduction of CO .
2
This program does not support: (1) the study of transformations appropriate for
pharmaceutical synthesis; (2) studies where the primary focus is photophysics or
photochemistry; (3) non-catalytic stoichiometric reactions; (4) whole cell or organismal
catalysis; (5) studies primarily focused on process or reactor design and optimization; or (6)
device development or optimization.
Examples of research funded in catalysis can be found in Catalysis Science Program Meeting
Reports on the ‘Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, & Biosciences Division PI Meetings’
webpage (https://science.osti.gov/bes/csgb/Principal-Investigators-Meetings). A 2017
BESAC-sponsored workshop, Basic Research Needs for Catalysis Science, outlining the
current challenges and needs in this field, can also be found on the ‘Basic Research Needs
Reports’ webpage as well as a 2019 BES roundtable report on Chemical Upcycling of
Polymers, discussing the challenges of polymer deconstruction and redesign
(https://science.osti.gov/bes/Community-Resources/Reports) .
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB) Division funded programs at the
laboratory of the applicant.
(18) Separation Science (SEP)
Technical Contact: Amanda Haes, Amanda.Haes@science.doe.gov
This program supports hypothesis-driven experimental and computational fundamental
research questions that seek to discover, understand, predict, and control de-mixing
chemical and physical states. Goals should enable chemical separation mechanisms and
paradigms that may become the basis for solutions to current and long-term energy and
separation science challenges. Research questions that could enable the availability and
separation of critical materials and minerals are of particular interest. Basic research in
these areas relies on understanding chemical and physical properties at multiple scales,
quantum through macroscopic, and molecular interactions and energy exchanges that
determine the efficiency and sustainability of chemical separations.
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The program supports emerging fundamental scientific areas within separation science that
are in a nascent stage and would result in molecular understanding. Selected topics of
interest include:
• discovering, understanding, and predicting mechanistic paradigms for removal of dilute
constituents from a mixture, including but not limited to (a) reactive separations, (b)
intermolecular interactions leading to formation of a new phase, and (c) emergent
phenomena that result from correlation and amplification of individual atomic or
molecular processes, such as aggregation and their effects on kinetics or transport
properties;
• elucidating how dynamics and molecular criteria limit mass transfer at
interfaces/interfacial regions;
• understanding non-thermal and other mechanisms that have the potential to drive
efficient and selective energy-relevant separations, such as magnetic, mechanic,
electromagnetic, electrochemical, magneto-reactive, bio-inspired, and other means to
affect transport kinetics;
• elucidating how separation parameters and processes such as high selectivity, capacity,
and throughput are impacted by emergent system properties;
• understanding and controlling temporal changes in separation systems, such as
activation, degradation, self-repair, or solvation.
The above topics are agnostic to the separation system. Issues of selectivity, capacity,
throughput, durability, and energy input are important for most separations, and should be
of concern in separation science research although they may not be the singular focus. Pre-
applications and proposals must explicitly identify the fundamental hypothesis to be tested
and the separation science knowledge gap that will be addressed. Scientific research
questions that utilize experimental, computational, or artificial intelligence/machine
learning approaches are encouraged.
The Separation Science program will exclude the following topics:
• The primary focus is on engineering design, optimization, or scale-up.
• The primary goal is to develop narrowly defined processes or devices.
• The objective is to advance established desalination approaches, microfluidics
technology, or sensors.
• The primary focus is on new synthetic approaches for materials or ligands rather than on
advancing separation science.
• The main objective is developing databases, characterization methods, computational
methods, or theoretical methods, rather than advancing separation science.
Research opportunities identified in recent reports from the National Academies of
Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee
(BESAC) serve as references for some of the basic science topics outlined above: A Research
Agenda for Transforming Separation Science (https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25421/a-
research-agenda-for-transforming-separation-science). Applicants should also examine
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relevant reports of Basic Energy Needs workshops and roundtables
(https://science.osti.gov/bes/Community-Resources). These contain multiple chemical
separation challenges that this program will help tackle over the next decades.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB) Division funded programs at the
laboratory of the applicant.
(19) Heavy Element Chemistry (HEC)
Technical Contact: Philip Wilk, Philip.Wilk@science.doe.gov
This program supports actinide and transactinide fundamental chemical research that
underpins the DOE missions in energy, environment, and national security. The unique
molecular bonding of these elements is explored using experiment and theory to elucidate
electronic and molecular structure, reaction thermodynamics, as well as quantum
phenomena, such as coherence and entanglement. Emphasis is placed on the chemical and
physical properties of the transuranic elements to determine their bonding and reactivity,
the fundamental transactinide chemical properties, and the overarching goal of resolving
the f-electron challenge. The f-electron challenge refers to the inadequacy of current
electronic structure methods to accurately describe the behavior of f-electrons, in particular
strong correlation, spin-orbit coupling, multiplet complexity, and associated relativistic
effects. Theoretical applications are considered , which integrate closely with experimental
research or otherwise demonstrate impact outside the theory community. The HEC
program does not fund code development.
The role of 5f electrons in bond formation remains the fundamental topic in actinide
chemistry and is an overarching emphasis for this program. Theory and experiment show
that 5f orbitals participate significantly in molecular actinide compounds. Resolving the role
of the f-electrons is one of the three grand challenges identified in the Basic Research Needs
for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (ANES) report of the Basic Energy Sciences Workshop
(2006) and echoed in the report from the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee:
Science for Energy Technology: Strengthening the Link between Basic Research and Industry
(2010). Applicants should also look at the priority research directions and opportunities
discussed in the reports from the 2017 Basic Research Needs for Future Nuclear Energy
workshop and the July 2022 Foundational Science to Accelerate Nuclear Energy Innovation
roundtable.
Catalytic reactivity involving actinides is of current interest to this program, if the project
yields insight into f-electron behavior and is not better aligned with the BES Catalysis
Science program described in section (17). Exotic catalytic and redox behavior exhibited by
actinides in extreme environments, such as the legacy nuclear waste tanks or molten salts, is
also of particular interest to this program. Also of particular interest is the exploitation of the
unique electronic properties of the f-elements for quantum information science (QIS)
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purposes (e.g., actinide qubits or the synthesis and investigation of strongly correlated
multidimensional lattices).
The inclusion of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing methods
are particularly desirable and aligned with current BES priorities. The HEC program will
consider applications to understand how the unique electronic structure of rare earth
elements, including the role of f-electrons, determines the physical and chemical properties
of molecules and materials, with the goal of accelerating their design to reduce or eliminate
the use of critical elements. Research that is focused primarily on separations and does not
address the unique properties of the heavy elements would be better aligned with the BES
Separation Science (SEP) program, which is described in section (18). More information
about the Heavy Element Chemistry program can be found at
https://science.osti.gov/bes/csgb/Research-Areas/Heavy-Element-Chemistry.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB) Division funded programs at the
laboratory of the applicant.
(20) Geosciences (GEO)
Technical Contact: Philip Wilk, Philip.Wilk@science.doe.gov
This program supports hypothesis-driven experimental and theoretical research in
fundamental geochemistry and geophysics that have clear connections to energy production
or recovery of critical elements. Geochemical research emphasizes fundamental
understanding of the reaction mechanisms and rates associated with geochemical processes,
focusing on molecular-mesoscale aspects of minerals and interfaces and on the molecular
origins of critical element/isotope distributions and their influence on
migration/separation/fractionation pathways in the earth, ranging from weathering
environments to magmatic/hydrothermal systems. Geophysical research focuses on new
approaches to understand subsurface processes that characterize the evolution of fractures
in the upper crust, particularly when associated with enhanced geothermal systems and
hydrocarbon prospection & recovery.
Applicants should look at the geosciences-aligned priority research directions and
opportunities discussed in the BES workshop and roundtable reports. The reports that
contain particularly topical geosciences topics include Basic Research Needs for Geosciences:
Facilitating 21st Century Energy Systems (2007) and Controlling Subsurface Fractures and
Fluid Flow: A Basic Research Agenda (2015).
The inclusion of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing methods
are particularly desirable and aligned with current BES priorities. While it is necessary that
the work has a well-defined connection to energy or critical elements, priority in BES
Geosciences is given to research that has strong potential for breakthrough science.
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Applicants must make a strong case for (i) the relevance of the work to energy or critical
elements and (ii) the fundamental science nature of the work (i.e., why the work belongs in
the BES Geosciences program and not a more applied program). Preapplications that do not
make a strong case for both will be discouraged. Research focused primarily on separation
science and does not address subsurface science, would be better aligned with the BES
Separation Science (SEP) program, which is described in section (18). Modeling-focused
applications that do not clearly indicate and discuss direct engagement with novel and
compelling data sets will also be discouraged. Applications that do not describe subsurface
science (e.g. oceanography), will be discouraged. The Geosciences program does not fund
code development, engineering design or scale-up, development of narrowly defined
processes or devices, microfluidics, or sensors.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB) Division funded programs at the
laboratory of the applicant.
(21) Photochemistry and Radiation Chemistry
Technical Contacts: Jennifer Roizen, Jennifer.Roizen@science.doe.gov (Select Jennifer
Roizen in PAMS) and Chris Fecko, Christopher.Fecko@science.doe.gov
This activity supports fundamental, molecular-level research on photochemistry and
radiation chemistry in the condensed phase and at interfaces.
Photochemical processes initiated by the absorption of visible or near-infrared light may
ultimately form the basis of reliable, secure energy technologies that generate electricity or
energy-rich chemicals. Advances in these areas will require a thorough understanding of
elementary processes such as light absorption, charge separation, and charge transport
within a number of chemical systems, including those with significant nanostructured
composition. Supported research areas include organic and inorganic photochemistry, light-
driven electron and energy transfer in condensed phase and interfacial molecular systems,
photocatalysis of fuel-relevant reactions, semiconductor photoelectrochemistry, light-driven
generation or manipulation of quantum coherence in artificial molecular systems, and
artificial assemblies that mimic natural photosynthetic systems. An enhanced theory and
modeling effort is needed to improve current understanding of many photochemical
phenomena.
To enable the light-driven production of fuels and other energy-rich chemicals, knowledge
of photoinduced charge transfer needs to be closely coupled with the conversion of
abundant, feedstocks like H O, CO , or N . Fundamental research to enable robust
2 2 2
photochemical water oxidation continues to be a particularly challenging and important
area of research. Basic science that could underpin light-driven cascade approaches to
generate energy-rich chemicals from CO and/or N is a topic of increasing emphasis. More
2 2
generally, considerable challenges remain in understanding degradation mechanisms to
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enhance photochemical durability, designing catalytic microenvironments that promote
selective reaction outcomes, exploiting direct coupling of light-driven phenomena and
chemical processes to enhance performance, and tailoring interactions of complex
phenomena to achieve integrated multicomponent assemblies for fuels production.
Another regime of interest is the chemistry initiated through the creation of high-energy
states with ionizing radiation, as can be produced through electron pulse radiolysis, to
investigate reaction dynamics, structure, and energetics of short-lived transient
intermediates in the condensed phase. Basic research on radiation chemistry is needed to
enable continued advances in nuclear energy production and environmental waste
management. Supported topics include fundamental research to understand the radiation-
induced speciation and redox chemistry of coolants and solvents being considered for next-
generation nuclear energy systems, the degradation mechanisms and mitigation strategies of
molecular reagents employed for separations processes in the nuclear cycle, and the
radiation chemistry of solid-liquid interfaces encountered in nuclear waste processing and
storage.
Photochemistry and Radiation Chemistry does support systems-level investigations, but it
does not fund applied research on device development or optimization.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB) Division funded programs at the
laboratory of the applicant.
(22) Photosynthetic Systems
Technical Contact: Stephen Herbert, Stephen.Herbert@science.doe.gov
This activity supports basic research on the capture of light energy and its utilization by the
photosynthetic systems of plants, algae, and photosynthetic microbes. General topics of
study include light harvesting, electron transport, proton transport, conversion of carbon
dioxide into useful organic compounds, and the self-assembly and self-repair of
photosynthetic proteins, complexes, and membranes. The goal of the program is to foster
greater knowledge of the useful biochemistry of photosynthesis. Examples include
prolonged coherence of excitation energy transfers in photosystems, oxidation of water to
provide electrons for synthesis of energy-rich carbon compounds, precise transfers of
electrons through large and complex molecular systems, and the protein-protein
interactions that assemble and repair photosynthetic membranes.
Photosynthetic Systems supports projects that seek to understand the chemical mechanisms
of photosynthesis. The program does not fund: 1) development or optimization of devices or
processes; 2) development or optimization of microbial strains or plant varieties for biofuel
or biomass production; 3) phenotype analyses that do not test specific hypotheses relevant to
the program; 4) genomic or other “omic” data acquisition that does not test specific
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hypotheses relevant to the program; and 5) projects that are primarily computational in
nature.
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB) Division funded programs at the
laboratory of the applicant.
(23) Physical Biosciences
Technical Contact: Katherine Brown, Katherine.Brown@science.doe.gov
This activity supports basic research into biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology to
understand the fundamental principle of how plants and non-medical microbes move,
manage, and transform energy. Fundamental research supported by the program includes:
• structure/function, mechanism, and electrochemical properties of enzymes that catalyze
complex multielectron energy-relevant reactions (e.g. those involved in the
interconversion of CO /CH , N /NH , C-H activation, C-C bond formation, etc.)
2 4 2 3
• complex metallo-cofactors and active site biosynthesis
• cofactor redox tuning by ligand coordination and local chemical environment that
control overpotentials, manage electron transfer, and enable efficient catalysis
• mechanisms that enable electron bifurcation and/or catalytic bias electron flow over
larger spatial and temporal scales, proton and electron tunneling, and other quantum
phenomena in enzyme systems
• biosynthesis, structure, and biophysics of complex compounds and materials (e.g., plant
cell walls, lipids, terpenes, etc.)
The fundamental research supported by this program provides foundational knowledge for
affordable, reliable, and secure energy technologies and critical materials. A mechanistic
understanding of the processes and unique structure-function relationships in biological
systems can provide the basis for the design of highly selective and efficient bioinspired
catalysts, enable control of electron flow to achieve desired metabolic outcomes, and provide
an unprecedented architectural and mechanistic understanding of natural systems. Such
insights can guide design of chemical pathways for affordable and reliable production of
fuels, commodity chemicals and other products.
Submitted applications must clearly state how the proposed research will further our
fundamental understanding of the ways biological systems capture, convert, and/or store
energy. Projects must be hypothesis-driven. Physical Biosciences does not fund research in:
1) animal systems; 2) prokaryotic systems related to human/animal health or disease; 3)
development and/or optimization of devices and/or processes; 4) development and/or
optimization of microbial strains or plant varieties for biofuel/biomass production; 5) cell
wall breakdown or deconstruction; 6) transcriptional or translational regulatory
mechanisms and/or processes; 7) environmental remediation and/or identification of
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environmental hazards; 8) genomic or other “omic” data acquisition that does not test
specific hypotheses relevant to the program; and 9) computational projects that do not
contain some experimental components (by PI or collaborator).
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within the BES
Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB) Division funded programs at the
laboratory of the applicant.
(24) Accelerator and Detector Research
Technical Contact: Mikhail Zhernenkov mikhail.zhernenkov@science.doe.gov
This program supports research that advances the instruments, techniques, and capabilities
of the existing and/or future BES Scientific User Facilities. The program will not support
applications to establish new, unrelated types of facilities or to develop techniques that do
not relate to the missions of the BES light source and neutron scattering user facilities
The program supports:
• research to understand the fundamentals of beam generation and to probe parameters’
behavior near or at their theoretical limits;
• research to explore scientific mechanisms that limit system performance and utilization;
• mechanisms to tailor and control beams with unprecedented precision and speed to
probe complexity in matter;
• detectors concepts with higher computational capabilities per pixel, improved readout
rates, radiation hardness, and better energy and temporal resolution;
• research leading to high atomic weight sensors to expand the range of experiments
possible at synchrotrons and allow operando probes of diverse materials;
• co-design of optics in conjunction with detector leading to efficient optics that couple
photons for complex detector systems (e.g., cryogenic detectors with limited collections
areas); separate development of optics components will be given lower priority;
• research leading to ultrafast beam instrumentation capable of accurate measurement of
femto- and atto-second bunch lengths;
• tight control of beam losses, and detectors designed for advanced neutron imaging with
very high throughput for high-intensity H‒ currents; and
• advances in probabilistic digital twins that incorporate errors present in physical systems
and real-time integration to predict outcomes of specific experiments (with real-time
parameter optimization) and facility operations.
References: Accelerator physics needs for light sources: Nuclear Instruments and Methods
in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated
Equipment, Volume 618, Issues 1-3. Opportunities for future neutron and photon detector
development: BES Workshop on Neutron and X-ray Detectors report. AI/ML for User
facilities: Basic Energy Sciences Roundtable on Producing and Managing Large Scientific
Data with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning report. Opportunities for future
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accelerator-based tool development: Basic Research Needs for Accelerator-based
Instrumentation brochure (full report will be available soon).
For DOE national laboratory applicants, the proposed research must fit within and advance
BES Scientific User Facilities Division funded programs at the laboratory of the applicant.
(25) Instrumentation and Technique Development for BES User Facilities
Technical Contacts: Dava Keavney, Dava.Keavney@science.doe.gov (select Dava Keavney in
PAMS) and Misha Zhernenkov, Mikhail.Zhernenkov@science.doe.gov
The program is open to national laboratory applications only. University PIs interested in x-
ray, neutron, or nanoscale instrumentation technique development should consider the
topics discussed above under (9) X-ray Scattering, (10) Neutron Scattering, or (11) Electron
and Scanning Probe Microscopy.
This program supports research that emphasizes the development of novel concepts that
advance/contribute to the instrumentation, techniques, and capabilities of existing and/or
future BES-supported light source, neutron, and nanoscale science research facilities.
Applications are encouraged to include hypothesis-driven scientific research relevant to the
instrumentation, technique, or capability being developed. Priorities include development of
novel techniques to enable innovative discoveries in energy, transformational
manufacturing processes, microelectronics, quantum materials, and biopreparedness.
Research on new techniques or capabilities for BES user facilities may incorporate materials
innovation, sample environments, optics, detectors, etc. Also of interest are novel,
innovative AI/ML, data science, and analysis workflows that accelerate the realization of the
full potential of current and next-generation user facilities. Research leading to incremental
advances will not be supported.
This program will only support instrumentation/technique developments directly
applicable to BES user facilities. While the program supports new, innovative technique
development for existing instruments, it will not support research considered to be “mature
use” of existing instruments. Also, applications focused primarily on development of
neutron polarization techniques will be discouraged.
The proposed work must contribute to the user program at the applicant’s facility and fit
within and advance the scientific capabilities of the BES Scientific User Facilities Division
funded programs at the laboratory of the applicant.
Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Program Website: https://www.energy.gov/science/ber/biological-and-environmental-
research or https://science.osti.gov/ber
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BER’s mission is to support transformative science and scientific user facilities to achieve a
predictive understanding of complex biological, earth, and environmental systems for
energy and infrastructure security and resilience.
Biological Systems Science
The Biological Systems Science Division (BSSD) within BER supports fundamental systems
biology and ‘omics research to elucidate the complex networks and molecular mechanisms
of bioenergy crop growth, development, and metabolism to drive broader efforts in plant
biotechnology for producing fuels, chemicals and materials from plant biomass.
Understanding the interaction between bioenergy crops, their microbiome, and their
environment at the ecosystem level presents a unique challenge, which is further
complicated by dynamic nature of the abiotic stresses that crops are exposed to. The ability
to predict plant and microbial species’ coordinated responses to those variable stresses will
be critical to understanding potential environmental impacts on feedstock productivity as
well as for optimizing bioenergy crops.
BER is seeking Biological Systems Science research only in the following area:
(1) Systems Biology Research to Advance Bioenergy Crop Production
Technical Contact: Pablo Rabinowicz pablo.rabinowics@science.doe.gov
Applications are requested for systems biology-driven, basic research on the fundamental
principles of bioenergy crop production in relationship to their ecosystem context. Proposed
projects should be hypothesis-driven and focus on understanding feedstock productivity and
the effects of water and nutrient availability as well as abiotic stresses (e.g., drought, heat,
flood, salt, light, etc.). A deep understanding of these processes and their integration into
predictive modeling frameworks will enable the potential development of bioenergy crops as
natural resources for a range of potential products that require less agronomic inputs, are
tolerant to abiotic stressors, and are resilient and/or adaptable to changing conditions.
Species of interest include, but are not limited to, candidate bioenergy crops such as
sorghum, energy cane, Miscanthus, switchgrass, Populus, etc., as well as non-food oilseed
crops such as members of the Brassicaceae family. Field research is highly encouraged and
simplified laboratory environments are also of interest, as long as they result in knowledge
that can be extrapolated to field settings.
Research that will advance our understanding of the molecular and physiological
mechanisms that control bioenergy crop vigor and productivity, resource use efficiency,
carbon allocation, nitrogen metabolism, resilience/adaptability to abiotic stress, and the
interactions of plants with their surrounding environment is encouraged. Systems biology-
enabled investigations into the roles of rhizosphere and endophytic microbiomes, including
diazotrophs, endophytes, bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses on plant productivity, abiotic
stress tolerance, adaptation, and resilience in changing conditions are also encouraged.
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Applications are expected to propose omics-driven approaches to enable the development of
resilient bioenergy feedstock systems in terrestrial environments within their ecosystem
context, including state-of-the-art computational technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence
and harnessing of big datasets) for integrative analyses and predictive modeling.
NOTE: BER encourages the submission of innovative "high-risk/high-reward" research
applications that address critical knowledge gaps and have the potential for high impact.
The probability of success and the risk-reward balance will be considered when making
funding decisions.
The following topics are NOT within the scope of the BSSD research area: starch
accumulation, digestion, and/or fermentation; soybean, food-grade canola or other food-
grade oilseed crops; crops targeted for food, pharmaceutical, or cosmetic use; aquatic
systems (e.g., algae, seagrass); plant-pathogen interactions; and life cycle analysis (LCA).
Although the long-term vision of this research is to enable improvement of bioenergy
feedstock crops, applications focused solely on breeding- or transgenic-based crop
improvement will not be considered.
Research that would result in only incremental knowledge or technology advances or
proposals solely focused on technology development are not encouraged.
Applications primarily focused on genomic or metagenomic sequencing are not encouraged
and should instead be directed to the DOE Joint Genome Institute’s Community Science
Program: https://jgi.doe.gov/work-with-us/proposals/CSP.
DOE User Facilities and other specialized resources: Applicants are encouraged to
consider the use of resources provided by DOE Scientific User Facilities and Community
Resources. These include the DOE Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase;
http://www.kbase.us), the National Microbiome Data Collaborative (NMDC;
https://microbiomedata.org/), the DOE Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory
(EMSL; https://www.emsl.pnnl.gov/), the National Energy Research Scientific Computing
Center (NERSC; http://www.nersc.gov), the BER Structural Biology and Imaging Resources
(https://berstructuralbioportal.org), and the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI;
http://jgi.doe.gov). Awarded projects will receive prioritized consideration for use of JGI
capabilities through the Biological and Environmental Research Support Science (BERSS)
user program (https://jgi.doe.gov/work-with-us/proposals/special-programs). To determine
the feasibility of the planned work to be done by JGI, applicants should contact JGI before
submitting their application.
Annual Principal Investigator (PI) meeting: if an award is made, at least one project
participant will be expected to attend an annual investigator meeting each year of funding.
Reasonable travel expenses may be included as part of the project budget.
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Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences
The Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences Division (EESSD) within BER supports
fundamental science and research capabilities that enable major scientific developments
and enhanced predictability involving Earth system-relevant atmospheric, terrestrial,
cryospheric, and human system process and modeling research in support of DOE’s mission
goals for transformative science for energy dominance and expansion, and national security.
This includes observational, laboratory experiments, and modeling research on atmospheric
components such as clouds, aerosols, precipitation, and turbulence interactions;
experimental and modeling research involving terrestrial biogeochemistry, hydrology,
ecology, coastal processes, and the energy-water dynamics of urban systems; and the
nonlinear dynamics of multi-scale complex systems extending from hyper-resolution to
regional and larger scales and from subseasonal to decadal scales. Novel uncertainty
quantification methodologies and the use of AI/ML to enhance predictability are high
priorities for all investments.
The goal of the Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling (EESM) portfolio within EESS
research is to develop, demonstrate, and deploy technologically and scientifically advanced
modeling and simulation capabilities to enhance the understanding and predictability of the
Earth system over multiple temporal and spatial scales. Of particular interest is systems-
level research that extends over a wide range of scales, in particular new science that
demands hyper-resolution scales to understand how variabilities and extremes in the Earth
system evolve in heterogeneous regions characterized by large spatial gradients. Modeling
investments are designed to demonstrate the interdependence of the natural and human
systems, with significant focus on impacts involving energy and related sectors. Some of the
notable examples of EESM capabilities at different scales include:
• The Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) and the Global Change Analysis
Model (GCAM), which can be effectively employed on DOE’s advanced high
performance computers for modeling the natural and human systems at global-to-
regional and even local scales.
• A suite of regional modeling capabilities, including the variable resolution E3SM model
components such as the new E3SM Atmosphere Model (i.e., EAMxx/SCREAM) and the
emerging Energy Research and Forecasting (ERF) atmospheric model, several terrestrial
system and land use models (ELM: The E3SM Land Model, the MOSART river
model, DEMETER) and several open-source energy system modeling tools developed by
the Integrated Multisector Multiscale Modeling (IM3) project (e.g., grid
operations/vulnerability, power plant siting, and energy/water demand). These models
can be operated independently or through integrated approaches in specific regional
contexts (e.g., Mid-Atlantic, the Great Lakes region, and the Arctic region) to simulate
interactions between natural and human systems.
• Ultra-high resolution modeling capabilities such as the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator
(ATS) watershed modeling capability, the urban development model (e.g., MOSART-
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Urban, CHANCE-C), and the TORRENT inundation model, and other tools that can
represent processes with high spatiotemporal resolution and process fidelity.
• A variety of AI/ML capabilities, such as the use of Spherical Fourier Neural Operators
(SFNOs) to create Huge ENSembles (HENS) for quantifying the risk of rare events such
as Tropical Cyclones and Atmospheric Rivers, the Risk Analysis Framework for Tropical
Cyclones (RAFT) - a hybrid model based on physics, statistics, and deep neural networks
for modeling tropical cyclone characteristics and impacts such as flooding, storm surge,
and electric power outage, the E3SM AI emulator (AI2) that complements the complex
physics-based E3SM, the differentiable process-learning based hydrologic model
from HypeRFACETS and novel model coupling capabilities developed under IM3.
• Modeling capabilities also include a rich ecosystem of tools to support modeling efforts
and model analysis, including model initialization capabilities for modified forcing
experiments, data analysis workflows and toolsets (e.g, TempestExtremes), and a
comprehensive platform for computing metrics and diagnostics (CMEC, PMP, ILAMB).
Together, the foundational EESM research and strategically focused capabilities combine to
provide the integrated modeling framework that enhances discovery, predictive
understanding, and energy-sector relevant insights that constitute the broader EESM
Hierarchical Modeling Framework. The vision for EESM is to provide DOE with the best
possible science and related information about the evolving Earth system, in order to inform
planning for more robust, affordable, and diversified energy assets and infrastructures that,
in turn, supports DOE’s ambition to assure US leadership in energy science and innovation.
BER is seeking Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences (EESS) research in the following
area:
(2) Energy, Land, and Human Interdependencies in Coastal-Urban or Coastal-Rural
Systems within Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling (EESM)
Technical Contact: Renu Joseph Renu.Joseph@science.doe.gov; Daniel Winkler
Daniel.Winkler@science.doe.gov
Within the context of EESM, BER is seeking modeling research applications that address
science challenges that focus on high gradient and heterogeneous regional Coastal-Urban or
Coastal-Rural systems where interactions between the natural and human-related processes
are important. Here, human processes include, e.g., energy and related infrastructures, the
built environment, economic activity, and land use activities. Research supported by this
program must leverage the DOE modeling capabilities described in the Earth and
Environmental Systems Sciences section of this NOFO.
Coastal systems are tightly interconnected built and natural environments along America’s
coastlines that often experience rapid transitions, driven in part by weather patterns of
storminess (e.g., land falling storms), storm surge, sea level change, hydrologic shifts,
concentrated economic activity and infrastructure, global trade and shipping, transport and
distribution (including energy), land and resource pressures, population shifts, and more.
With their often-unique natural boundaries, densely populated urban components within
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coastal systems are of great national importance and heightened scientific interest. For
purposes of this NOFO, the term “coastal” refers to coastlines of oceans and the Great Lakes,
and the scope of coastal research in this context is not limited to the precise delineation of
water and land boundaries but implies a geographic domain where broader interactions of
terrestrial, atmospheric, and aquatic systems and processes can be felt tens of kilometers
inland of the coastal boundary. Similarly, while urban regions are densely populated areas,
and rural regions are less populated, both encompass interdependent atmospheric,
terrestrial, hydrologic, environmental, ecological, infrastructure, and human process
interactions. Of particular interest is how intense interactions in these domains evolve, e.g.,
in response to trends and perturbations involving temperature, precipitation, water supply,
energy production, urbanization, and other attributes of the system. Understanding how
high gradient heterogeneous coastal systems function over a variety of conditions is of great
significance scientifically and societally.
Applications responding to this coastal topic must focus on enhancing Model Coupling,
demonstration, and evaluation to further EESM’s ability to enhance a more flexible and
integrative framework for studying natural-human systems in regions either dominated by
or interacting with coastal-urban or coastal-rural interfaces, where physics-based modeling
combined with AI/ML and advanced techniques play central roles. Research is expected to
enhance the current modeling capabilities to build and/or expand the integrative methods
for analysis and prediction. Such research requires highly sophisticated toolsets based on
models, observations, and other data sources; and the scientific rationale and basis for
flexible and extensible coupled modeling is necessary to capture the dynamic multiscale
interactions among the natural system and the human system (energy, water, and land) in
coastal-urban and coastal rural regions. While “Soft” coupling (information exchange that
occurs outside of a direct software connection among models) that includes extensive use of
AI/ML techniques is allowed, an enhanced workflow for coupling across a hierarchical
framework is encouraged.
Applications are expected to involve both (1) Model Enhancement and (2) Testing and
Evaluation components:
1. Model enhancement for coupling that could include at least one of the following:
• The enhancement of the current capabilities of DOE supported atmospheric models
(e.g., EAMxx/SCREAM, ERF), terrestrial models (e.g., ELM, ATS) at these regional
scales to efficiently improve representation of coastal-urban or coastal-rural processes
while improving coupling of two or more components to enable better connection with
the existing multisectoral models in the energy and/or water sectors. A case should be
made as to why the chosen scales and models are the most appropriate for studying the
proposed research.
and/or
• The enhancement of the current capabilities of multisectoral models of the energy,
water, and land sectors to better couple with the regional atmospheric and terrestrial
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components of the natural system (like those used in IM3, but with a focus on ELM for
the land model, and ERF for regional weather model).
2. Testing and evaluation of the realism of the coupling techniques in addressing
enhanced understanding of the interactions between the natural system and the energy-
water-land sectors in the context of a highly heterogeneous coastal-urban and/or coastal-
rural system. Features of the system for new research must involve all four of the
following:
• One or more case studies to demonstrate the integrative framework of the hierarchical
coupling while examining the influence of, e.g., heat waves and/or high precipitation
events such as those caused by tropical cyclones, atmospheric rivers, or mesoscale
convective systems.
• An emphasis on understanding how uncertainties at the larger scales propagate
downward to hyper-resolution small scales and vice versa.
• Implications of creating hierarchical multi-model ensembles of simulations to assess the
uniqueness of the (hierarchical) framework of coupling.
• Development of rigorous and defensible metrics to evaluate the veracity of the
simulations.
Additionally, all applications in response to this Coastal topic area must:
• Focus on the United States to better understand the connectivity between natural and
human system across a heterogeneous landscape characterized by high gradients;
specifically, those found in coastal-urban or coastal-rural regions. The goal should be to
conduct simulations that enhance understanding of the natural-human system
interactions and feedbacks in these regions.
• Advance an integrated multiscale modeling approach that involves human-natural
systems at global, regional, local, and finer hyper-resolution scales to enhance
understanding of human-natural system interactions (e.g., energy-water-land). This
applies to both the “model enhancement” and the “testing and evaluation” sub-topics.
• Prediction time scales governing the research should emphasize weekly to subseasonal
to decadal scales
• Include an actionable plan for evaluation and assessment of the model development
activities, based on existing observations. As metrics and diagnostics are being
developed, they must be included into existing DOE packages; examples of DOE
packages include PCMDI Metrics Package-PMP, International Land Model
Benchmarking- ILAMB, Coupled Model Evaluation Capabilities- CMEC and the E3SM
diagnostics tools.
• While the proposed modeling efforts can focus on a single region or location, the full
application must include a plan for illustrating how the outcome is extensible to the rest
of the United States and the global Earth system.
• Use modern and sustainable software practices and workflows.
• Applicants must clearly state how the proposed work contributes to enhanced resilience
of water and energy systems, either regionally or on larger scales.
Out of Scope topics for applications include:
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