DE-FOA-0002181.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

OFFICE OF SCIENCE

FY 2020 CONTINUATION OF SOLICITATION FOR THE OFFICE

OF SCIENCE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) NUMBER:

DE-FOA-0002181

FOA TYPE: INITIAL

CFDA NUMBER: 81.049

FOA Issue Date: November 1, 2019 Submission Deadline for Pre-Applications: A Pre-Application is optional/encouraged Pre-Application Response Date: Not Applicable Submission Deadline for Applications: Not Applicable

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will remain open until September 30, 2020 or until replaced by a successor FOA.

Applications may be submitted any time during that period.

Table of Contents

UPDATES AND REMINDERS ...................................................................................................... I

SECTION I – FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

1. ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH (ASCR)

2. BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES (BES)

3. BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH (BER)

4. FUSION ENERGY SCIENCES (FES)

5. HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS (HEP)

6. NUCLEAR PHYSICS (NP)

SECTION II – AWARD INFORMATION

A. TYPE OF AWARD INSTRUMENT

B. ESTIMATED FUNDING

C. MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM AWARD SIZE

D. EXPECTED NUMBER OF AWARDS

E. ANTICIPATED AWARD SIZE

F. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

G. TYPE OF APPLICATION

H. VALUE/FUNDING FOR DOE/NNSA NATIONAL LABORATORY CONTRACTORS

AND NON-DOE/NNSA FFRDC CONTRACTORS

I. RESPONSIBILITY

SECTION III – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

B. COST SHARING

C. ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS

SECTION IV – APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE

B. LETTER OF INTENT AND PRE-APPLICATION

C. GRANTS.GOV APPLICATION SUBMISSION AND RECEIPT PROCEDURES

D. CONTENT AND APPLICATION FORMS

E. SUBMISSIONS FROM SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS

F. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES

G. INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVIEW

H. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS

I. OTHER SUBMISSION AND REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

SECTION V - APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. CRITERIA

B. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

C. ANTICIPATED NOTICE OF SELECTION AND AWARD DATES

SECTION VI - AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. AWARD NOTICES

B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

C. REPORTING

SECTION VII - QUESTIONS/AGENCY CONTACTS

A. QUESTIONS

B. AGENCY CONTACTS

SECTION VIII - OTHER INFORMATION

A. MODIFICATIONS

B. GOVERNMENT RIGHT TO REJECT OR NEGOTIATE

C. COMMITMENT OF PUBLIC FUNDS

D. PROPRIETARY APPLICATION INFORMATION

E. EVALUATION AND ADMINISTRATION BY NON-FEDERAL PERSONNEL

F. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DEVELOPED UNDER THIS PROGRAM

G. NOTICE OF RIGHT TO REQUEST PATENT WAIVER

H. NOTICE REGARDING ELIGIBLE/INELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES

I. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS

J. ENVIRONMENTAL, SAFETY AND HEALTH (ES&H) PERFORMANCE OF WORK

AT DOE FACILITIES

K. FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL REQUIREMENTS

L. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (NEPA) COMPLIANCE

i

UPDATES AND REMINDERS

RECOMMENDATION

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) encourages you to register in all systems as soon as possible. You are also encouraged to submit letters of intent, pre-applications, and applications well before the deadline.

AVOIDING ERRORS

The following advice is compiled from actual experiences of applicants for SC financial assistance awards.

• Please ensure that the research narrative is comprised of one and only one Portable

Document Format (PDF) file, including all appendices, when it is attached to the SF-424 (R&R) form.

• When using the PAMS website at https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov, please avoid using the back-arrow button in your web browser to navigate.

• Please ensure that the application contains no personally identifiable information (PII).

• Please ensure that the budget is calculated using the applicable negotiated indirect cost and fringe benefit rates.

GRANTS.GOV WORKSPACE

Applications submitted through Grants.gov at https://www.Grants.gov must be submitted through a “Workspace” or the applicant’s system-to-system service. Workspace permits members of a team to simultaneously work on their application in an online collaborative environment. Application forms may exist as both online webforms and downloadable forms.

More information is available at https://www.Grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html.

RENEWAL APPLICATIONS

The Principal Investigator (PI) for any application submitted for a renewal (an addition of a project period) of an existing award will be required to submit a Renewal Proposal Products section through the PAMS website at https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov. The submitted product list will be sent for merit review as part of the application. The application will not be considered complete and cannot be sent for review until the product list has been submitted.

DATA MANAGEMENT PLAN

Applications submitted under this FOA are subject to the SC Statement on Digital Data Management, published at https://science.osti.gov/funding-opportunities/digital-data-management/. Compliance with this statement is detailed in Part IV of this FOA.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF FEDERAL SUPPORT

https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/ https://science.osti.gov/funding-opportunities/digital-data-management/ https://science.osti.gov/funding-opportunities/digital-data-management/ ii

SC published guidance about how its support should be acknowledged at https://science.osti.gov/funding-opportunities/acknowledgements/.

https://science.osti.gov/funding-opportunities/acknowledgements/

Section I – FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

GENERAL INQUIRIES ABOUT THIS FOA SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO:

Technical/Scientific Program Contact: Questions regarding the program technical requirements must be directed to the point of contact listed for each program area within this

FOA.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

Public Law 95-91, US Department of Energy Organization Act Public Law 109-58, Energy Policy Act of 2005

APPLICABLE REGULATIONS

Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and 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, SC Financial Assistance Program Rule, codified at 10 CFR 605

SUMMARY

The Office of Science (SC) of the Department of Energy (DOE) hereby announces its continuing interest in receiving grant applications for support of work in the following program areas:

Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, and Nuclear Physics. On September 3, 1992, DOE published in the Federal Register the Office of Energy Research Financial Assistance Program (now called the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program), 10 CFR 605, as a Final Rule, which contained a solicitation for this program. Information about submission of applications, eligibility, limitations, evaluation and selection processes and other policies and procedures are specified in 10 CFR 605.

This FOA (DE-FOA-0002181) is our annual, broad, open solicitation that covers all of the research areas in the SC and is open throughout the Fiscal Year.

This FOA will remain open until September 30, 2020, 11:59 PM Eastern Time, or until it is succeeded by another issuance, whichever occurs first. This annual FOA DE-FOA-0002181 succeeds FOA DE-FOA-0001968, which was published December 31, 2018.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The 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. 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:

• 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 27 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.

• Science for energy and the environment―paving the knowledge foundation to spur discoveries and innovations for advancing the Department’s mission in energy and environment. 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.

SC manages its research portfolio through six scientific program offices. The following program descriptions, websites, and technical points of contact are offered to provide more in-depth information on scientific and technical areas of interest to SC:

1. Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)

(a) Applied Mathematics

(b) Computer Science

(c) Computational Partnerships

(d) Research and Evaluation Prototypes

2. Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

(a) Materials Chemistry

(b) Biomolecular Materials

(c) Synthesis and Processing Science

(d) Experimental Condensed Matter Physics

(e) Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics

(f) Physical Behavior of Materials

(g) Mechanical Behavior and Radiation Effects

(h) X-ray Scattering

(i) Neutron Scattering

(j) Electron and Scanning Probe Microscopies

(k) Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences

(l) Gas Phase Chemical Physics

(m) Computation and Theoretical Chemistry

(n) Condensed Phase and Interfacial Molecular Science

(o) Catalysis Science

(p) Separation Science

(q) Heavy Element Chemistry

(r) Geosciences

(s) Solar Photochemistry

(t) Photosynthetic Systems

(u) Physical Biosciences

(v) BES Accelerator and Detector Research

3. Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

(a) Biological Systems Science

(b) Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences

4. Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)

(a) Burning Plasma Science: Foundations—Advanced Tokamak and Spherical Tokamak

(b) Burning Plasma Science: Foundations—Theory & Simulation

(c) Burning Plasma Science: Long Pulse—Tokamak & Stellarator

(d) Burning Plasma Science: Long Pulse—Materials & Fusion Nuclear Science

(e) Discovery Plasma Science: Plasma Science Frontiers

(f) Discovery Plasma Science: Measurement Innovation

5. High Energy Physics (HEP)

(a) Experimental Research at the Energy Frontier in High Energy Physics

(b) Experimental Research at the Intensity Frontier in High Energy Physics

(c) Experimental Research at the Cosmic Frontier in High Energy Physics

(d) Theoretical Research in High Energy Physics

(e) Computational Research in High Energy Physics

(f) Accelerator Science and Technology Research & Development in High Energy Physics

(g) Detector Research and Development in High Energy Physics

(h) HEP – Quantum Information Science (QIS)

6. Nuclear Physics (NP)

(a) Medium Energy Nuclear Physics

(b) Heavy Ion Nuclear Physics

(c) Nuclear Structure and Astrophysics

(d) Fundamental Symmetries

(e) Nuclear Theory

(f) Nuclear Data

(g) Nuclear Theory Computing

(h) Isotope Development and Production for Research and Applications

(i) Accelerator Research and Development for Current and Future Nuclear Physics Facilities

(j) NP Quantum Information Science (QIS)

1. Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) Program Website: https://science.osti.gov/ascr https://science.osti.gov/ascr

The ASCR program’s mission is to advance applied mathematics and computer science; deliver the most sophisticated computational scientific applications in partnership with disciplinary science; advance computing and networking capabilities; and develop future generations of computing hardware and software tools for science and engineering, in partnership with the research community, including U.S. industry. The strategy to accomplish this has two thrusts:

developing and maintaining world-class computing and network facilities for science; and advancing research in applied mathematics, computer science and advanced networking.

The priority areas for ASCR include the following:

• Develop mathematical models, methods and algorithms to accurately describe and predict the behavior of complex systems involving processes that span vastly different time and/or length scales.

• Advance key areas of computer science that:

− Enable the design and development of extreme scale computing systems and their effective use in the path to scientific discoveries; and − Transform extreme scale data from experiments and simulations into scientific insight.

• Advance key areas of computational science and discovery that support the missions of

SC through mutually beneficial partnerships.

• Develop and deliver forefront computational, networking and collaboration tools and facilities that enable scientists worldwide to work together to extend the frontiers of science.

The computing resources and high-speed networks required to meet SC needs exceed the state-of- the-art by a significant margin. Furthermore, the system software, algorithms, software tools and libraries, programming models and the distributed software environments needed to accelerate scientific discovery through modeling and simulation are beyond the realm of commercial interest. To establish and maintain DOE’s modeling and simulation leadership in scientific areas that are important to its mission, ASCR operates Leadership Computing facilities, a high-performance production computing center, and a high-speed network, implementing a broad base research portfolio in applied mathematics, computer and network sciences, and computational science to solve complex problems on computational resources that are on a trajectory to reach exascale within a couple years and beyond.

The ASCR subprograms and their objectives follow:

(a) Applied Mathematics

This subprogram supports basic research leading to fundamental mathematical advances and computational breakthroughs across DOE and SC missions. Important areas of basic research include: (1) novel numerical methods for the scalable solution of large-scale, linear and nonlinear systems of equations, including those solution methods that take into consideration the possibilities brought about by future HPC architectures; (2) optimization techniques and next-generation solvers; (3) numerical methods for modeling multiscale, multi-physics or multi-component continuous or discrete systems that span a wide range of time and length scales; (4) methods of simulation and analysis of systems that account for the uncertainties of the systems, or are inherently stochastic or uncertain; and (5) innovative approaches for analyzing and extracting insight from large-scale data sets. Also, foundational research in Scientific Machine Learning (Scientific ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a cross-cutting and growing area of interest for enabling greater adaptivity, automation, and predictive capabilities in scientific computing.

Submission of preliminary research descriptions (e.g., preproposals, pre-applications) is strongly encouraged. They will be reviewed for responsiveness of the proposed work to the research topics. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice. You must send e-mail to a Subprogram Contact for information regarding format and content.

Subprogram Contacts:

• William Spotz, (301) 903-9938, William.Spotz@science.doe.gov

• Steven Lee, (301) 903-5710, Steven.Lee@science.doe.gov

Website: https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Research/Applied-Mathematics

(b) Computer Science

The Computer Science research program supports research that enables computing and networking at extreme scales and the understanding of extreme scale, or complex data from both simulations and experiments. It aims to make high performance scientific computers and networks highly productive and efficient to solve scientific challenges while attempting to reduce domain science application complexity as much as possible. The computer science program does this in the context of sharp increases in the heterogeneity and complexity of computing systems;

the need to seamlessly and intelligently integrate simulation, data analysis, and other tasks into coherent and usable workflows; and the challenges posed by highly novel computing platforms such as neuromorphic systems.

Priority interests for the program include the following. Applications are not restricted to a single topic and may span several topics.

• Data management, analysis, and visualization:

SC-supported researchers and facilities are generating large, complex, multi-modal data at unprecedented rates. There is a need for advanced visualizations and visual analytics tools for making sense of these data and making operational decisions. This program solicits research to develop techniques for deriving and visualizing insights from large scale and/or complex simulation, experimental, or observational data or combinations of these as relevant to SC and DOE priority applications: Visual analysis of high-dimensional data at scale, data from multiple sources and of varying types, attributes such as uncertainty, and data in the context of domain-specific knowledge; and Visual analytic approaches to understanding the state and behavior of a supercomputing system at scale.

This program also solicits techniques and tools for advancing fundamental practices of management, archiving, curation, and/or reuse, of data generated by experimental, mailto:Steven.Lee@science.doe.gov https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Research/Applied-Mathematics observational, and simulation relevant to SC mission areas.

• In Situ Data Management (ISDM):

Scientific computing will increasingly incorporate a number of different tasks that need to be managed along with the main simulation or experimental tasks—for example, ensemble analysis, data-driven science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, surrogate modeling, and graph analytics. Many of these tasks will need to execute concurrently, that is, in situ, with simulations and experiments sharing the same computing resources.

ISDM capabilities can enable scientific discovery from a broad range of data sources— i.e. HPC simulations, experiments, scientific instruments, and sensor networks—over a wide scale of computing platforms: leadership-class HPC, clusters, clouds, workstations, and embedded devices at the edge. ISDM capabilities can also manage large data volumes from computations and experiments to minimize data movement, save storage space, and boost resource efficiency—often while simultaneously increasing scientific precision.

This program solicits research to advance ISDM capabilities to run on computing platforms at a variety of scales; to be automated and controllable; to be more interoperable and composable; and to use provenance and metadata for transparent results. This program also solicits co-designed research activities for ISDM as well as new in situ algorithms.

• Storage Systems and I/O:

The success of the DOE computational, experimental, and observational sciences is inextricably tied to the usability, performance, and reliability of emerging storage systems and input/output (SSIO) technologies. SSIO technologies involve the organization, movement, and placement of data to enhance computation and discovery.

This program solicits research to improve SSIO capabilities that enable science understandability and reproducibility; accelerate scientific discovery; enhance SSIO usability, performance, and resilience; and improve efficiency and integrity of data movement and storage. One particular focus of this program is to improve pipelines for analysis-centric, data intensive workflows on high performance computing (HPC) systems, and that use large-scale storage.

• Programming Models, Environments, and Portability:

Programming models, environments and tools that increase code portability, increase levels of abstraction, increase developer productivity, and/or make programming for heterogeneous HPC architectures more accessible for newcomers to the field; adding artificial intelligence (AI), including machine learning (ML) capabilities to the software development environment is encouraged, especially where doing so helps to overcome complexity.

• Operating and Runtime Systems:

Operating and runtime systems, including intelligent resource management, and support for workflow management systems, that support use of heterogeneous computing technologies, including diverse execution models, processors, accelerators, and memory and storage systems.

• Evaluation of System Software:

Execution models and metrics to guide development and evaluation of systems software and applications for heterogeneous hardware environments.

• Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Extreme Scale:

Machine learning in the narrow context of heterogeneous HPC, relevant to SC user facilities including those supported by ASCR, and extreme scale applications for the acceleration of scientific discovery and its applications.

• Network science and the Science Internet of Things:

Autonomic computing and communication systems that integrate advances in applied artificial intelligence, Software Defined Networks (SDN), Science Internet of Things (S- IoT), and network analytics to support a new generation smart science facilities.

Topics that are out of scope for Computer Science include:

• Applications that address topics not covered in the list of Computer Science Priority Interests, above, except with the specific encouragement of a Computer Science program manager in response to an emailed whitepaper;

• Applications with primary emphasis on hardware design, resilient solvers, and/or new development of machine probabilistic methods and their mathematical formalisms;

• Applications aimed at advancing computer-supported collaboration, social computing, natural language processing, and generalized research in human-computer interaction;

• Discipline-specific data analytics and informatics without a clear articulation of how the research will generalize to other disciplines and/or advance computer science capabilities;

• Research primarily focused on advancing Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technologies;

• Research focused on the World Wide Web, the dark web, and/or data about it;

• Research that is primarily to advance cloud computing, hand-held, portable, desktop, and/or embedded computing that is not applicable to ASCR-supported computational and data science environments; and

• Research and applications not motivated and justified in the context of current and future SC user facilities, especially those supported by ASCR (i.e., Argonne Leadership Computing Facility or ALCF, Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility or OLCF, and National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center or NERSC):

https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Facilities

Submission of preliminary research descriptions (e.g., pre-proposals, pre-applications) is strongly encouraged. They will be reviewed for responsiveness of the proposed work to the research topics. You must send e-mail to a Subprogram Contact for information regarding format and content.

Subprogram Contacts:

• Laura Biven (301) 903-9556, Laura.Biven@science.doe.gov, Data management, analysis and visualization; In-Situ Data Management (ISDM); Storage Systems and I/O (SSIO);

• Robinson Pino, (301) 903-1263, Robinson.Pino@science.doe.gov, programming models, environments, and portability; operating and runtime systems; evaluation of system software; machine learning and artificial intelligence for extreme-scale; and

• Thomas Ndousse-Fetter, (301) 903-9960, Thomas.Ndousse-Fetter@science.doe.gov, https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Facilities mailto:Laura.Biven@science.doe.gov mailto:Robinson.Pino@science.doe.gov mailto:Thomas.Ndousse-Fetter@science.doe.gov

Network science and the Science Internet of Things.

Website: https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Research/Computer-Science;

https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Community-Resources/Program-Documents

(c) Computational Partnerships

This subprogram supports research that will utilize or lead to partnerships with SC, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), or other DOE programs.

This includes research in pioneering science applications for the next generation of high-performance computing and research that incorporates and integrates applied mathematics, computer science, and computational sciences, to enable scientists to exploit effectively extreme scale computers in their pursuit of transformational scientific discovery through simulation and modeling.

For examples of SciDAC partnerships, refer to the website https://www.scidac.gov.

For examples of extreme scale computing systems, refer to the website:

https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Facilities/Accessing-ASCR-Facilities

Additionally, this subprogram supports basic research to enable scientists to easily find and interact with unique scientific facilities and data, and to work with peers or facilities staff involved in a scientific discovery process. Research topics of interest include: Theories, algorithms, tools, and services needed to create diverse computing environments where multiple resources can be combined in unique ways to suit the needs of the science community, mechanisms and theories to enable scientists to interact with their peers and technical staff that operate a distributed scientific facility and tools and services needed to support physical experiments in testbeds and production networks.

This subprogram also provides graduate research training for the next generation of scientists.

Subprogram Contacts:

• Randall Laviolette, (301) 903-5195, Randall.Laviolette@science.doe.gov, SciDAC Partnerships;

• Ceren Susut, (301)903-0366, Ceren.Susut-Bennett@science.doe.gov, SciDAC Institutes and Partnerships;

• Richard Carlson, (301) 903-9486, Richard.Carlson@science.doe.gov, Partnerships that enable scientists to easily find and interact with unique scientific facilities.

• Christine Chalk, (301) 903-5152, Christine.Chalk@science.doe.gov, Graduate research training.

Website: https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Research/scidac

(d) Research and Evaluation Prototypes

The Research and Evaluation Prototypes (REP) activity addresses the challenges of next generation computing systems. By actively partnering with the research community, including https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Research/Computer-Science https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Community-Resources/Program-Documents https://www.scidac.gov/ https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Facilities/Accessing-ASCR-Facilities mailto:Ceren.Susut-Bennett@science.doe.gov mailto:Richard.Carlson@science.doe.gov mailto:Christine.Chalk@science.doe.gov https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Research/scidac industry and Federal agencies, on the development of technologies that enable next-generation machines, ASCR ensures that commercially available architectures serve the needs of the scientific community. The REP activity also prepares researchers to effectively use future generation of scientific computers, including novel technologies, and seeks to reduce risk for future major procurements.

Research topics currently of interest for REP include:

• Research focused on information processing and computation systems for emerging computing technologies including hardware architectures, accelerators, development of programming environments, languages, libraries, compilers, simulators, and research and development on their algorithms for physical simulation;

• Cybersecurity for scientific computing integrity: research on security techniques appropriate for open scientific environments, with a focus on ensuring scientific integrity in the context of extreme scale high performance computing and to deliver means that assure trustworthiness within open high-end networking and data centers;

• Research to evaluate the suitability of specific quantum computing hardware architectures for science applications;

• Feedback and control systems for physical qubits in quantum processors;

• Compilation and optimization tools, including efficient mapping of algorithms to circuits in real-world hardware and research to develop more effective gates;

• Techniques for minimizing or mitigating error in real-world quantum processors; and

• Adaptation of promising new quantum computing technologies for testbed use.

Proposed research should focus on applications of quantum computing relevant to the SC and on devices that are already available or that become available during the term of the award rather than large-scale, high-fidelity, fault-tolerant machines.

Topics that are out of scope include:

• Research that does not address the specific REP topics described above;

• Development of quantum algorithms;

• Development of new candidate qubit systems or improvements to physical qubits;

• Quantum transduction;

• Quantum communication, networking, and key distribution;

• Cryptography and cryptanalysis;

• Error correction codes and implementation of error correction codes;

• Research solely relevant to large-scale, high-fidelity, fault-tolerant machines; and

• Projects that are duplicative of or competitive with industry.

Submission of preliminary research descriptions (e.g., pre-proposals, pre-applications) is strongly encouraged. They will be reviewed for responsiveness of the proposed work to the research topics. You must send e-mail to a Subprogram Contact for information regarding format and content.

Subprogram Contacts:

• Robinson Pino, (301) 903-1263, Robinson.Pino@science.doe.gov, neuromorphic and mailto:Robinson.Pino@science.doe.gov heterogeneous computing architectures, and cybersecurity; and

• Claire Cramer, (301) 903-5384, Claire.Cramer@science.doe.gov, quantum computing research and evaluation prototypes.

Website: https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Facilities/REP

2. Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Program Website: https://science.osti.gov/bes/

The mission of the Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program 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 user facilities provide specialized instrumentation and expertise that enable scientists to carry out experiments not possible at individual laboratories.

New research directions and priority opportunities are defined in BES workshop and roundtable reports. These are posted on the BES website at https://science.osti.gov/bes/Community- Resources/Reports

The BES divisions, program areas, and their objectives follow:

Materials Sciences and Engineering

The Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE) Division supports fundamental experimental and theoretical research to provide the knowledge base for the discovery and design of new materials with novel structures, functions, and properties. This knowledge serves as a basis for the development of new materials for the generation, storage, and use of energy and for mitigation of the environmental impacts of energy use. The MSE research portfolio consists of the research program areas listed below.

MSE Division Website: https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse

(a) Materials Chemistry

This program supports research on materials with a focus on the role of chemical reactivity, chemical transformation, and chemical dynamics on the material composition, structure, function, and lifetime across the range of length scales from atomic to mesoscopic. The program emphasis is on hypothesis-driven research on chemistry-based synthesis of materials compositions and/or morphologies, and on chemical transformations that occur in functional materials in operating environments related to DOE’s energy mission. Included are covalent and non-covalent assembly of materials, discovery of the mechanistic detail of chemical transformations and dynamics, and utilization of chemistry to control interfacial properties and interactions. Fundamental investigations of rare earth compounds and other critical materials to reduce the need for their use also are supported. Research is supported that advances the mailto:Claire.Cramer@science.doe.gov https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Facilities/REP https://science.osti.gov/bes/ https://science.osti.gov/bes/Community-Resources/Reports https://science.osti.gov/bes/Community-Resources/Reports https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse scientific understanding of chemical “upcycling” of intermediates generated from plastic waste for the synthesis of new polymer or other value-added materials, aligned with the priorities established in the recent BES roundtable on the upcycling of polymers.

Major scientific areas of interest include: (1) Fundamental aspects of the chemical synthesis and assembly of material structures and control of multi-scale morphology; (2) Synthesis and characterization of new classes of materials including hierarchical materials or other innovative assemblies of matter with novel or quantum functionality; (3) Exploitation of extreme conditions, complex chemistries and molecules, or non-equilibrium conditions to accelerate new materials discovery; (4) Control of interphase chemistry and morphology; (5) Fundamental electrochemistry of solid state materials; (6) Chemical dynamics and transformations of functional materials in operational environments; and (7) Development of new tools and techniques for the elucidation of chemical processes in materials, particularly in situ or operando studies of materials in energy-relevant applications and new approaches involving the integration of theory and experiment.

Research will not be supported if it is primarily aimed at optimization of properties of materials for applications, optimization of synthetic methods (including non-science-based scale-up research), device fabrication and testing, or synthesis of small molecules or nanoparticles.

Proposals focused on the elucidation of mechanisms of catalytic reactions, particularly with single-site or single-atom catalysts, will not be supported.

Subprogram Contacts:

• Michael Sennett, (301) 903-6051, michael.sennett@science.doe.gov; and

• Craig Henderson, (301) 903-0805, craig.henderson@science.doe.gov

Website: https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Materials-Chemistry

(b) Biomolecular Materials

This activity supports fundamental materials science research based on principles and concepts of biology. The program focuses on discovery, design and synthesis of functional materials and complex structures, and on materials aspects of energy conversion processes. Biology provides a blueprint for organizing and manipulating matter, energy, entropy, and information across multiple length scales to build material systems that display complex yet well-coordinated collective behavior. The major programmatic direction is on the science-driven creation of energy-relevant versions of biologically inspired materials, including quantum materials, capable of functioning under harsher, non-biological environments. Innovative fundamental science approaches for realizing predetermined functionality and information content approaching that of biological materials is emphasized. A particular objective is research that uses spatial and temporal control of assembly pathways and tunable management of assembly interfaces and defects. Included is development of predictive models that accelerates materials discovery by exploiting complex chemistries and interfacial systems. Also supported is fundamental science for integrating emerging theoretical, computational, and in situ characterization tools to investigate spatial and temporal evolution during synthesis and assembly, and to direct synthesis with real-time adaptive control.

mailto:michael.sennett@science.doe.gov mailto:craig.henderson@science.doe.gov https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Materials-Chemistry

Major scientific areas of interest are: self-directed and dissipative assembly to form adaptive materials with self-regulating capabilities; resilient materials that incorporate autonomous self-healing/regrowth processes; targeted functionality and precise functional group positioning; and, design and creation of next-generation materials that incorporate low-energy mechanisms for energy and fluid transport with programmable selectivity.

Bio-centric research will be de-emphasized, including activities focused on understanding of underlying biological synthetic or assembly processes, biologically-driven synthesis of monodisperse polymers, or creation of bio-hybrid materials. Research that does not have a clear focus on materials science or is aimed at optimization of materials properties for any applications, device fabrication, sensor development, tissue engineering, and biomedical research will not be supported in this program.

Subprogram Contact:

• Michael Markowitz, (301) 903-6779, mike.markowitz@science.doe.gov Website: https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Biomolecular-Materials

(c) Synthesis and Processing Science

This program supports research to understand the physical phenomena and unifying principles that underpin materials synthesis. Some of these phenomena include diffusion, nucleation, and phase transitions. The emphasis is on hypothesis-based research that enables discovery of new functional materials with targeted structure and function. To gain atomic level control during synthesis, an important element is the development of real-time monitoring tools, diagnostic techniques, and instrumentation that can provide information on the physical pathways, progression of structure, and relationship to properties. Often the development of new crystal growth methods and thin-film deposition techniques are needed to create complex materials, including new states of matter or discoveries under non-equilibrium conditions.

This activity focuses on predictive design and synthesis of materials underpinning energy-related areas across multiple length scales, particularly the mesoscale, and the role imperfections and interfaces can play in the emergence of materials’ functionality. Applications are encouraged that will accelerate progress in understanding synthesis pathways and discovery of new materials, including quantum materials, through coupling creative physical experimental synthesis/ processing techniques with computational approaches and/or in situ diagnostic tools and characterization techniques. The program emphasizes innovative research to understand materials growth kinetics and mechanisms for bulk material processes, organic and inorganic film deposition, and the organization of mesoscopic hierarchical assemblies. In addition, the program is interested in novel hypothesis-based science for synthesis and processing approaches that will provide understanding for reductions or substitutions of rare earth and critical materials.

Projects aimed at controlling synthesis to direct materials properties, including optimization of properties, will be de-emphasized. In addition, research will not be supported that focuses primarily on engineering scale-up, device fabrication, or device development.

Subprogram Contact:

mailto:mike.markowitz@science.doe.gov https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Biomolecular-Materials

• Bonnie Gersten, (301) 903-0002, bonnie.gersten@science.doe.gov Website: https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Synthesis-and-Processing-Science

(d) Experimental Condensed Matter Physics

The Experimental Condensed Matter Physics program supports research that will advance our fundamental understanding of the relationships between intrinsic electronic structure and properties of complex materials. Research supported by the program focuses on systems whose behavior derives from strong electron correlation, competing or coherent quantum interactions, topology, and effects of interfaces, defects, spin-orbit coupling, and reduced dimensionality.

Scientific themes include charge, spin, and orbit degrees of freedom that result in phenomena such as superconductivity, magnetism, and topological protection, and the interactions of these in bulk and reduced-dimensional systems. The program supports synthesis and characterization of new material systems required to explore the central scientific themes. This includes development of experimental techniques that enable such research.

Growth areas include new and emergent quantum phenomena in topological materials, low-dimensional materials, van der Waals materials, and materials with targeted energy relevant and next generation microelectronics functionality.

Areas of decreasing emphasis include heavy fermion superconductivity, fractional quantum Hall physics, and cold atom physics. The program will not consider applications on conventional superconductivity, bulk semiconductor physics (e.g., Si, GaAs), device development, and/or materials property optimization.

Subprogram Contact:

• Michael (Mick) Pechan, (301) 903-0540, michael.pechan@science.doe.gov Website: https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Experimental-Condensed-Matter- Physics

(e) Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics

This program supports research in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics with an emphasis on quantum materials, materials discovery, out-of-equilibrium dynamics and fundamental research in materials related to energy technologies. Examples of current research include strongly correlated electron systems, quantum phase transitions, topological states, magnetism, superconductivity, wide bandgap semiconductors, thermoelectric and multiferroic materials, computational and data-driven materials design, and neutron and photon scattering. Approaches from purely analytical to computational are supported, as are methods that incorporate multiple length and time scales. Development of validated, open-source codes and data analytics, as well as high throughput computations, are also supported.

Research on quantum materials and out-of-equilibrium dynamics will continue to increase, including a focus on innovation for new materials systems and use of quantum computing platforms for materials science research. Also highlighted is development and use of advanced computational tools for materials sciences, including data mining, machine learning and artificial mailto:bonnie.gersten@science.doe.gov https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Synthesis-and-Processing-Science mailto:james.horwitz@science.doe.gov https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Experimental-Condensed-Matter-Physics https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Experimental-Condensed-Matter-Physics intelligence. Topics to be deemphasized include conventional superconductivity, fractional quantum Hall physics, and theory of granular materials.

Soft matter, polymers, ionic liquids, molten salts, Bose-Einstein condensates, surface chemistry, and classical transport and classical molecular dynamics are not current priorities.

Subprogram Contact:

• Matthias Graf, (301) 903-0874, matthias.graf@science.doe.gov Website: https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Theoretical-Condensed-Matter- Physics

(f) Physical Behavior of Materials

This program supports basic research to advance our knowledge and understanding of fundamental processes that take place in materials in response to external stimuli, such as temperature, electromagnetic fields, chemical environments, and the proximity effects of surfaces and interfaces. The program emphasizes research on the structure-property relationships to physical behavior of materials, such as the relationship of atomic structure and crystal defects to semiconducting, superconducting, and magnetic properties; and, diffusion and transport phenomena.

The research should seek to understand how materials generate, transmit, and store energy. A detailed understanding of how materials behavior can be influenced by the surroundings is critical to the understanding of photon harvesting, charge and heat transport, fast-ion conducting electrolytes, novel magnetic materials, magnetocaloric materials, and research on new energy-relevant materials, including next generation microelectronics.

Areas targeted for increased emphasis include materials research to support future microelectronics and light-matter interactions in the fields of excitonics, plasmonics, and the coherent interactions of quantum states in materials.

Areas targeted for decreased emphasis in this program include conventional semiconductor physics and research focused on theory and modeling of defects in crystals and their influence on the structural properties of materials (topics covered by the Mechanical Behavior and Radiation Effects program, see below).

Subprogram Contact:

• Refik Kortan, (301) 903-3308, refik.kortan@science.doe.gov Website: https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Physical-Behavior-of-Materials

(g) Mechanical Behavior and Radiation Effects

This activity supports basic research to understand defects in materials and their effects on the properties such as 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 as well as a range of environments and stimuli.

mailto:matthias.graf@science.doe.gov https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Theoretical-Condensed-Matter-Physics https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Theoretical-Condensed-Matter-Physics mailto:refik.kortan@science.doe.gov https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Physical-Behavior-of-Materials

Topics include deformation of nanostructured materials, fundamentals of radiation damage, corrosion/stress-corrosion cracking in conjunction with radiation or stress, and research that would lead to microstructural design for tailored strength, radiation response, formability, and fracture resistance in energy-relevant materials. In addition to traditional structural materials, this program will also support research to understand deformation and failure mechanisms of other materials used in energy systems (e.g., polymers, membranes, coating materials, electrodes).

Within these areas, research on topics such as driven systems, new materials and non-linear cooperative phenomena (multiple inputs, e.g. radiation + stress + corrosion) are of interest. There will be an increased emphasis in the program for research on understanding defect evolution in materials in radiation environments. Applicants are encouraged to consider the priority research directions in the reports from recent workshops including Basic Research Needs for Future Nuclear Energy (available on the BES web site). Of particular interest are proposals that take advantage of advanced synthesis methods to create tailored structures in order to better isolate mechanisms, high-performance computing and data science techniques, and advanced characterization techniques such as neutron or x-ray scattering.

Applications emphasizing high-strain-rate deformation or mechanics of materials (rather than materials science) will not be considered responsive.

Subprogram Contact:

• John Vetrano, (301) 903-5976, john.vetrano@science.doe.gov Website: https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Mechanical-Behavior-and-Radiation- Effects

(h) X-Ray Scattering

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, including dynamics of quantum phenomena. The main emphasis is on x-ray scattering, spectroscopy, and imaging research, primarily at major BES-supported user facilities. Instrumentation development and experimental research in ultrafast materials science, across the full electromagnetic spectrum, including research aimed at manipulating and detecting ultrafast transient physical phenomena in materials (especially at excitation levels consistent with energy conversion and transport), is an integral part of the portfolio.

Advances in x-ray scattering and ultrafast sciences will continue to be driven by scientific opportunities presented by improved source performance and optimized instrumentation, especially with the advent of improved synchrotron coherence and free electron laser sources.

The x-ray scattering activity will expand current capabilities at the DOE facilities by providing support for independent external researchers who motivate and lead new instrumentation and technique development at those facilities. A continuing theme in the scattering program will be the integration and support of materials preparation, especially when coupled to operational investigation of materials processing and realistic, energy-related materials environments. New investments in ultrafast science will emphasize development of novel ultrafast techniques and focus on research that uses radiation sources associated with BES facilities and beamlines. New mailto:john.vetrano@science.doe.gov https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Mechanical-Behavior-and-Radiation-Effects https://science.osti.gov/bes/mse/Research-Areas/Mechanical-Behavior-and-Radiation-Effects pump schemes to manipulate dynamic states of quantum materials will be supported, especially those which can be adapted to XFEL and UED probe environments.

The program will not support research considered “mature use” of existing x-ray or ultrafast techniques.