The office of defense programs announce their interest in receiving applications for new or renewal financial assistance awards for research grants in the ssaa program

The Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration awarded $600,000 to the President and Fellows of Harvard College on September 17, 2025, under the Stewardship Science Grant Program (CFDA 81.112) for research in materials science under extreme conditions and related areas supporting stockpile stewardship.

The award funds basic science research in High Energy Density physics conducted through experiments on the Z Machine at Sandia National Laboratory. The project, titled "Z to Planets - Phase V" and led by Professor Stein Jacobsen at Harvard, runs through September 16, 2028, with performance at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Co-investigator Professor Sarah T. Stewart at Arizona State University supervises Z Fundamental Science Experiments and trains postdoctoral researchers and graduate students in High Energy Density shock physics. Graduate students participate in shot design, setup, data analysis, publications, and presentations. All data from the Z Fundamental Science Program are unlimited release and published in open literature; the Stewart group uses these data to conduct basic science research in planetary sciences. Team members participate in experiments and team meetings at Sandia National Laboratory throughout the project period.

Arizona State University serves as a sub-grantee, with Dr. Patricia Kalita supporting experimental work. The Stewart group also participates in the NNSA-funded Center for Matter at Extreme Conditions at UC San Diego, which funds complementary experiments and expands student collaborations with DOE scientists. Project outcomes include conference presentations, science discussions, and peer-reviewed publications.

Researchers seeking renewals of their current ssaa grant should apply to this nofo. The research areas of interest in the ssaa program for this announcement are properties of materials under extreme conditions and material processing, low energy nuclear science, and radiochemistry.