Funding Opportunity: Early Career Research Program

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science (SC) announces the release of the FY-2023 Early Career Research Program (ECRP) Funding Opportunity: DE-FOA-0002821. This opportunity includes BER Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences research in Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling (EESM). Specifically, BER is seeking modeling research applications that address grand challenges focusing on coastal-urban systems with an emphasis on the natural and/or human-mediated components of the coastal-urban environments. EESM seeks applications responding to two or more of the following themes in the coastal-urban system while addressing two or more components (i.e., land, atmosphere, ocean) of the Earth system:

(1) Model Development: Enhance the current E3SM capabilities for the coastal-urban system by improving the representation of physical or biogeochemical processes (e.g., clouds, atmospheric chemistry, ocean circulation, ocean biogeochemistry, land biogeochemistry, hydrology, sea-ice, or land-ice) of the natural Earth system. These may include significant improvements to existing parameterizations, development of new parameterizations, and/or improvements to coupling between major systems and components reflected in E3SM.

(2) Model Intercomparison and Hierarchical Modeling: Develop and use a multi-model and/or hierarchical modeling approach (which must include the use of E3SM and/or super-parametrized/variable resolution versions of the E3SM) to examine the role of extreme events on the natural and/or human-mediated natural components of coastal-urban environments, including both land, atmospheric, and oceanic dimensions. A focus on understanding of the impacts of sequential extreme and/or multivariate or multiple-compounding extreme events is encouraged as appropriate.

(3) Influence of Extreme Events: Advanced understanding of feedbacks and interactions of extreme events with coastal and natural components of the urban systems through enhanced model development and analysis. This could include understanding and representation of thresholds and tipping points caused by extreme events on the coastal and natural components of the urban system. The focus on extremes could include, e.g., single, or simultaneously occurring extreme heat, wildfire, and/or drought in the same region that can impact future flooding; hurricanes and flooding in the same region; atmospheric rivers in the same region that can impact flood and/or other land processes; how do land-falling tropical cyclones, mesoscale convective systems, and/or atmospheric rivers (primarily atmospheric) affect the terrestrial coastal urban processes such as storm surges, landslides, or flooding?; How do droughts followed by floods affect sediment transport or other dimensions of natural terrestrial system? How might changes in the frequency, distribution, intensity of these compounding/sequential extreme events affect runoff?

(4) Coupled Feedbacks through Machine Learning: Appropriate application of machine learning tools and innovative diagnostic methods to advance parameterization and scientific knowledge of feedbacks at the coastal-urban domain. For instance, a combination of hybrid process/machine learning tools could be incorporated in order to advance scientific knowledge using E3SM (and other models), or they could be used in building emulators that facilitate more sophisticated parameterization development/validation and/or advance uncertainty characterization.

More information on the SC Early Career Research Program can be found here: https://www.energy.gov/science/listings/early-career-program.

• Funding Announcement Number: DE-FOA-0002821
• Funding Announcement: PDF
• Deadline for Pre-applications (required): January 5, 2023; 5 pm eastern time
• Pre-Application Response Date: February 6, 2023; 11:59 pm eastern time
• Deadline for Applications: March 23, 2023; 11:59 pm eastern time

Please see the announcement for additional details and eligibility requirements.