The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) is receiving applications for Implementation Grants through Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0002431. Pre-applications are due Dec. 15, 2020, at 5 p.m. Eastern.
Eligibility. Although academic, nonprofit, and industrial research communities are welcome to lead or participate in applications, a strong component of graduate student education is required for all applications. Entities within the following jurisdictions are eligible to apply: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Applicants are encouraged, but not required, to work toward building beneficial relationships between institutions in EPSCoR jurisdictions and the 10 world-class Federally Funded Research and Development Centers managed by the DOE Office of Science. While these institutions cannot receive EPSCoR funding, they can offer opportunities to leverage capabilities of DOE national user facilities and to develop intellectual collaborations that may not be available locally.
See the funding announcement for additional details on eligibility.
Objectives. DOE EPSCoR Implementation Grants seek to:
- Jumpstart capability development in the jurisdiction(s) through increased human and technical resources.
- Support a group of researchers working on a common scientific theme, with mutually supporting goals and objectives.
- When topically relevant to the subject matter of the application, promote collaborations with other institutions of higher education and industry with strong participation by students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty from EPSCoR eligible institutions. These collaborations may include institutions from other EPSCoR jurisdictions. Collaborations involving more than one institution or more than one EPSCoR jurisdiction, while welcome, are not a requirement.
Research Topics. Applications are sought for early stage research and development for a wide range of topical areas across DOE, including research aligned with the mission and scope of the Environmental System Science program (ESS) within DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER).
Applicants submitting pre-applications relevant to ESS science themes and goals should identify BER’s ESS program on the cover of the pre-application, along with the appropriate point of contact from among the ESS program managers.