Funding Opportunities

Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program 2025 Solicitation 1

  • Schedule:
    • SCGSR Application Assistance Workshops:
      • Register for Workshop 1: Thursday, March 6, 2025, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM ET
        • This workshop will provide a general overview of the program and the application requirements. It will also include a time for attendees to discuss their potential research topics and their alignment with the SCGSR priority areas with managers of each participating program office.
      • Register for Workshop 2: Thursday, April 10, 2025, 2:00 PM – 4:30 PM ET
        • This workshop will guide attendees through the application process, answer general questions, provide guidance on proposal writing, and feature discussions with scientists and former awardees.
    • Deadline for Applications: May 7, 2025, at 5:00 PM ET

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science is pleased to announce that the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is now accepting applications for the 2025 solicitation 1 cycle. Applications are due on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

The SCGSR program provides supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students for conducting part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE national laboratory or facility in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist. The goal of the program is to prepare graduate students for scientific and technical careers critically important to the mission of DOE’s Office of Science. The research opportunity is expected to advance the graduate students’ overall graduate theses while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at the DOE laboratories. In addition, SCGSR awardees may have the opportunity for short international research visits to select prestigious institutions to broaden their horizons.

SCGSR is open to U.S. PhD students in qualified graduate programs at accredited U.S. academic institutions, who are conducting their graduate thesis research in targeted areas relevant to DOE’s Office of Science.

Since its inception in 2014, the SCGSR program has provided support to over 1,200 graduate awardees from 168 U.S. universities to conduct thesis research at all 17 DOE national laboratories across the nation. Areas of research include but are not limited to: physics, chemistry, materials science, planetary science, geosciences, biosciences (non-medical), mathematics, computer and computational sciences, engineering, microelectronics, quantum information science, and artificial intelligence.

The SCGSR program is sponsored and managed by the Office of Science’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists, in collaboration with the Office of Science’s six research program offices, the DOE Isotope R&D and Production Office, and the DOE national laboratories. Program administration support is provided by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

More information on the SCGSR program can be found by visiting the SCGSR program website, emailing the SCGSR team, or attending the program’s virtual office hours which will be held every Friday 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET starting on March 7, 2025, via this Zoom link.

Early Career Research Program

  • Funding Announcement: DE-FOA-0003450
    • The principal investigator (PI) and institution representative submitting on behalf of the PI must register for an account in PAMS before a pre-application can be submitted. All PIs and those submitting pre-applications on behalf of PIs are encouraged to establish PAMS accounts as soon as possible to avoid submission delays. Additionally, all applicants are encouraged to read the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) carefully for requirements.
  • Schedule:
    • Deadline for Pre-Applications (required): February 18, 2025; 5:00 pm ET
    • Pre-Application Response Date: March 18, 2025; 5:00 pm ET
    • Deadline for Applications: April 22, 2025; 11:59 pm ET

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science announces the release of the FY2025 Early Career Research Program (ECRP) Funding Opportunity: DE-FOA-0003450.

This opportunity includes two research topics from the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program:

  • Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences
    • Understanding and predicting processes regulating fluxes of trace gases from terrestrial ecosystems
    • Technical Contact: Brian Benscoter, [email protected]
    • Submissions (preapplications and applications) are sought within the Environmental System Science (ESS) program area scope that will improve fundamental understanding and predictability of processes regulating fluxes of key trace gases other than carbon dioxide (CO2) from terrestrial and terrestrial-aquatic interface ecosystems. While greenhouse gas dynamics broadly are a critical component of the Earth system, non-CO2 trace gases have a disproportionately large influence on radiative forcing as well as disproportionately large challenges and uncertainties for observing and predicting the magnitude and spatiotemporal heterogeneity of their fluxes from ecosystems. Improved process-based understanding and predictive-model representation of the production, transformation, transport, and fluxes of these trace gases, as well as the influence of environmental conditions on their regulation, from microbial to landscape scales are critical for assessing and predicting their influence on the Earth system. Furthermore, improved understanding of the regulation of hot spots/hot moments of trace gas biogeochemistry is a recognized gap in state-of-the-art process models. Submissions for this topic are expected to: focus on predictive, process-based understanding and model representation of non-CO2 trace gas flux dynamics from terrestrial ecosystems; delineate an integrative, hypothesis-driven approach; describe the existing needs/gaps in state-of-the-art models that motivate the proposed research (i.e., ModEx); make use of new measurements from field and/or laboratory experiments; and combine the data/information with modeling/simulation efforts.
  • Biological Systems Science
    • Systems biology and biosystems design of bioenergy-relevant microbes to enable production of next-generation biofuels, bioproducts, and biomaterials
    • Technical Contact: Pablo Rabinowicz, [email protected]
    • Applications are requested for systems biology research to advance the development of emerging eukaryote or prokaryote model microorganisms and/or microbial consortia relevant for the production of biofuels, bioproducts, and/or biomaterials by converting lignocellulosic biomass, upcycling synthetic (petroleum-derived) polymers, or as a byproduct of photosynthesis. Applications that propose multiomics approaches coupled with genome-wide design and editing technology development, in vivo or cell-free engineering, advanced predictive modeling, and high-throughput screening to understand and redesign biological systems with novel functional capabilities and biosynthetic potential are encouraged. Proposed studies could include but are not limited to: 1) elucidation and/or engineering of relevant regulatory and metabolic networks, metabolic pathways, and/or signaling processes related to bioproduct synthesis by microbes or multispecies consortia; 2) development of synthetic biology tools to facilitate the study and manipulation of emerging microbial model systems; 3) understanding and modification of phenotypes involved in the deconstruction and conversion of plant cell walls or synthetic, petroleum-derived polymers; 4) understanding and/or improving the tolerance to stresses induced by a) altered biosynthetic pathways, b) the synthesis of industrial chemicals, and/or c) culture volume or other conditions; and 5) engineering microorganisms for the production of biominerals, inorganic-organic composites, and composites of inorganic materials and living cells (living materials), with wholly new properties not found in nature. A focus on emerging model systems to expand the breadth of platform microorganisms for genome engineering is encouraged. Genome engineering approaches that may contribute to carbon capture and sequestration to reduce atmospheric CO2 are also encouraged. Research on traditional model systems should be kept to a minimum. Applications should address biocontainment of the engineered organisms and consider potential unintended outcomes and biological escapes.

More information can be found on the Office of Science Early Career Research Program page.

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Environmental System Science

  • Notice of Funding Opportunity: DE-FOA-0003475
    • The principal investigator (PI) and institution representative submitting on behalf of the PI must register for an account in PAMS before a pre-application can be submitted. All PIs and those submitting pre-applications on behalf of PIs are encouraged to establish PAMS accounts as soon as possible to avoid submission delays. Additionally, all applicants are encouraged to read the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) carefully for requirements.
  • Schedule:
    • Deadline for Pre-Applications (required): December 11, 2024; 5:00 pm ET
    • Pre-Application Response Date: January 16, 2025; 5:00 pm ET
    • Deadline for Applications: March 13, 2025; 11:59 pm ET

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program announces its interest in receiving applications for research in Environmental System Science (ESS).

The ESS program aims to advance an integrated, robust, and scale-aware predictive understanding of terrestrial systems and their interdependent microbial, biogeochemical, ecological, hydrological, and physical processes. To support this goal, the program uses a systems approach to develop an integrative framework to elucidate the complex processes and controls on the structure, function, feedbacks, and dynamics of terrestrial systems, spanning from molecular to global scales and extending from the bedrock through the soil, rhizosphere, and vegetation to the atmosphere.

This NOFO will consider applications that focus on improving the understanding and representation of ecosystems and watersheds in ways that advance the sophistication and capabilities of local, regional, and larger scale models.

Research funded through this solicitation will address the following Science Research Areas:

  1. Plant-soil-microbe interactions and their influence on belowground biogeochemical processes.
  2. Synthesis studies using existing data that address testing of ESS-relevant hypotheses and development of transferable insights into knowledge gaps for U.S. southeast coastal systems.
  3. Synthesis studies on contributions and vulnerabilities of Earth system processes in marginal and degraded lands.

All applications are required to clearly address integrative, hypothesis-driven research and describe the existing needs/gaps in state-of-the-art models in a Model-Experiment (ModEx) approach. Applicants should provide details on how the results of the proposed research will be used to improve the predictability and sophistication of integrated watershed systems and/or terrestrial ecosystem models.

Earth and Environmental Systems Science Research in the Southeast United States

  • Funding Announcement: DE-FOA-0003420 Amendment 000001
    • Amendment 000001 was issued August 23, 2024, to incorporate a list of excluded topics on page 9 and to correct an email address on page 48.
  • Schedule:
    • Deadline for Pre-Applications (required): September 19, 2024; 5:00 pm ET
    • Pre-Application Response Date: October 10, 2024; 5:00 pm ET
    • Deadline for Applications: November 21, 2024; 11:59 pm ET

The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program within DOE’s Office of Science is seeking applications for collaborative Earth and environmental systems science research in the southeastern United States.

The U.S. Southeast supports a wide variety of ecosystems, including natural forests, scrub, grasslands, and wetlands, as well as managed forests, farmland, and developed areas. This region is influenced by a generally warm and humid climate that drives a strong atmospheric coupling. Furthermore, the Southeast is subject to extreme events, such as hurricanes, fires, and droughts.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will target key Earth and environmental system processes that will enable improved understanding and predictive capabilities of this critically important region.

This announcement builds on BER’s past efforts in Earth and environmental systems science and leverages the third Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Mobile Facility (AMF3) in Alabama’s Bankhead National Forest, which will initiate operations in fall 2024. AMF3 observations aim to help improve process understanding and model representations of aerosol, cloud, and land-atmosphere interactions to quantify land-atmosphere feedbacks and aerosol-cloud interactions.

The FOA will consider applications that address science challenges within the scope of BER’s Atmospheric System Research, Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling, and Environmental System Science subprograms.

The announcement focuses on measurements, experiments, field data, modeling, analysis, and synthesis to provide improved understanding and representation of ecosystems, watersheds, atmospheric processes, and regional modeling in ways that advance the sophistication and capabilities of models that span individual processes to Earth system scales.

Topical areas include:

  1. Vegetation and land-atmosphere interactions
  2. Spatial heterogeneity and scaling
  3. Convection, clouds, precipitation, and biogenic aerosols
  4. Extreme events and disturbance

Including underrepresented, minority-serving, or emerging research institutions as part of research teams is encouraged.

Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program 2024 Solicitation 2

  • Schedule:
    • SCGSR Application Assistance Workshops:
      • Register for Workshop 1: Thursday, September 12, 2024, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM ET
        • This workshop will provide a general overview of the program and the application requirements, provide guidance on the preparation of abstracts, and will include a time for discussing potential research topics with program managers.
      • Register for Workshop 2: Thursday, October 10, 2024, 2:00 PM – 4:30 PM ET
        • This workshop will guide attendees through the application process, answer general questions, provide guidance on proposal writing, and feature discussions with scientists and former awardees.
    • Deadline for Applications: November 6, 2024; 5:00 pm ET

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science is accepting applications for the SCGSR program 2024 solicitation 2 cycle.

The SCGSR program provides supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students to conduct graduate thesis research at a DOE national laboratory or facility in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist to prepare graduate students for scientific and technical careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission. The research opportunity is expected to advance the graduate students’ overall graduate theses while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at the host DOE laboratories.

SCGSR is open to U.S. PhD students in qualified graduate programs at accredited U.S. academic institutions, who are conducting their graduate thesis research in targeted areas relevant to DOE’s Office of Science. Since its inception in 2014, the SCGSR program has provided support to over 1,150 graduate awardees from 165 U.S. universities to conduct thesis research at all 17 DOE national laboratories across the nation.

More information on the SCGSR program can be found at https://science.osti.gov/wdts/scgsr.