DE-FOA-0003238.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)

OFFICE OF SCIENCE (SC), NUCLEAR PHYSICS (NP)

NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (NNSA), DEFENSE

NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

NUCLEAR DATA INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP

(NDIAWG) RESEARCH PROGRAM

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) NUMBER:

DE-FOA-0003238

FOA TYPE: Initial

CFDA NUMBER: 81.049

FOA Issue Date: January 4, 2024 Submission Deadline for Letters of Intent: February 5, 2024 at 11:59pm Eastern Time

A Letter of Intent is required.

Letters of Intent must be submitted by an authorized institutional representative.

Letter of Intent Response Date February 19, 2024 days at 11:59pm Eastern Time

Submission Deadline for Applications: April 4, 2024 at 11:59pm Eastern Time

Table of Contents

SECTION I – FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

SECTION II – AWARD INFORMATION

II.A. TYPE OF AWARD INSTRUMENT

II.B. ESTIMATED FUNDING

II.C. MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM AWARD SIZE

II.D. EXPECTED NUMBER OF AWARDS

II.E. ANTICIPATED AWARD SIZE

II.F. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

II.G. TYPE OF APPLICATION

SECTION III – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

III.A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

III.B. COST SHARING

III.C. ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS

SECTION IV – APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

IV.A. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE

IV.B. LETTER OF INTENT (LOI) AND PRE-APPLICATION

IV.C. GRANTS.GOV APPLICATION SUBMISSION AND RECEIPT PROCEDURES

IV.D. CONTENT AND APPLICATION FORMS

IV.E. SUBMISSIONS FROM SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS

IV.F. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES

SECTION V - APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

V.A. CRITERIA

V.B. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

V.C. ANTICIPATED NOTICE OF SELECTION AND AWARD DATES

SECTION VI – AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

VI.A. AWARD NOTICES

VI.B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

VI.C. REPORTING

VI.D. REPORTING OF MATTERS RELATED TO RECIPIENT INTEGRITY AND

PERFORMANCE (DECEMBER 2015)

VI.E. INTERIM CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE...39

SECTION VII - QUESTIONS/AGENCY CONTACTS

VII.A. QUESTIONS

VII.B. AGENCY CONTACTS

SECTION VIII – SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

VIII.A. HOW-TO GUIDES

VIII.B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

VIII.C. REFERENCE MATERIAL

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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 (LOIs), pre-applications, and applications well before the deadline.

PROMOTING INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE RESEARCH (PIER) PLAN

All new and renewal applications must provide a Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan as an appendix to the project narrative. Please read the instructions in Section IV and the associated review criteria in Section V.

INTERAGENCY FORMATS FOR CURRENT AND PENDING SUPPORT AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Interagency common instructions for preparing current and pending support and biographical sketches are being developed. The Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) system at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/ will be updated to support the forthcoming common instructions and formats. The fillable PDFs provided by the National Science Foundation at https://nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/nsfapprovedformats/ are no longer available. When interagency common formats and instructions are promulgated, their use will be required. SC strongly encourages all researchers to use the online SciENcv system to ensure that their documents are prepared in the appropriate format with the least inconvenience.

INDIVIDUALS WHO SHOULD NOT SERVE AS MERIT REVIEWERS

Follow the updated instructions in Section VIII and consider the use of the Collaborator Template available at https://science.osti.gov/grants/Policy-and-Guidance/Agreement-Forms. Do not include this list as part of the biographical sketch.

LIVING WAGES

SC is committed to ensuring that students, trainees, and postdoctoral fellows are paid a fair and equitable wage sufficient to allow a reasonable standard of living. Applicant institutions are strongly encouraged to examine their institutional pay scales to ensure that all personnel earn a living wage. The provision of fellowships, traineeships, stipends, honoraria, subsistence allowances, and other similar payments may be allowable expenses on SC financial assistance awards, per 2 CFR 200.430, § 200.431, and § 200.466. For graduate students, SC considers a reasonable living wage to be an annual income of $45,000, excluding benefits.

SC STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT

The DOE SC is fully and unconditionally committed to fostering safe, diverse, equitable, and inclusive work, research, and funding environments that value mutual respect and personal integrity. SC is committed to advancing belonging, accessibility, justice, equity, diversity, and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/ https://nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/nsfapprovedformats/biosketch.pdf https://science.osti.gov/grants/Policy-and-Guidance/Agreement-Forms ii inclusion across the portfolio of activities we sponsor. SC’s effective stewardship and promotion of safe, accessible, diverse, and inclusive workplaces that value and celebrate the diversity of people, ideas, cultures, and educational backgrounds across the country and that foster a sense of belonging in our scientific community is foundational to delivering on our mission. We are committed to promoting people from all backgrounds, including individuals and communities that were historically underrepresented and minoritized in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and the activities we sponsor in recognition of our responsibility to serve the public. We also recognize that harnessing a broad range of views, expertise, and experiences drives scientific and technological innovation and enables the SC community to push the frontiers of scientific knowledge for U.S. prosperity and security. Discrimination and harassment undermine SC’s ability to achieve its mission by reducing productivity, discouraging, or inhibiting talent retention and career advancement, and weakening the integrity of the SC enterprise overall. SC does not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, including sexual or non-sexual harassment, bullying, intimidation, violence, threats of violence, retaliation, or other disruptive behavior at institutions receiving SC funding or other locations where activities funded by SC are carried out. All applicants and collaborators should familiarize themselves with the SC Statement of Commitment available at https://science.osti.gov/SW- DEI/SC-Statement-of-Commitment.

UPDATING YOUR PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (PAMS) PROFILE

All applicants are encouraged to update their profiles in the PAMS website at https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov regularly, at least annually, to ensure SC has your most up to date information. The PAMS profile now requires that individuals provide responses to the demographic related fields. SC strongly encourages personnel at applicant and recipient institutions, including Principal Investigators (PIs), Co-PIs, and other Key Personnel, to provide their demographic information. By providing your demographic information, you are assisting with SC’s continued commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in its business practices. Alternatively, for information you wish not to disclose, please select, “Do not wish to provide.” Your individual demographic information will not be shared with peer reviewers and the information in your PAMS profile is protected by the requirements established in the Federal Privacy Act of 1974. Aggregate, anonymized demographic information may be shared with confidential review committees who are charged to evaluate the quality and efficacy of SC’s business practices. For example, summary statistics of all applicants to or award selections from a particular SC FOA may be reviewed by a Committee of Visitors.

PORTABLE DOCUMENT FORMAT (PDF) GENERATION

The project narrative in an application must be one single machine-readable PDF file that contains the DOE Title Page, project narrative, all required appendices, and other attachments.

This single PDF file may not be scanned from a printed document and must be attached in Field 8 on the Grants.gov form. This must be a plain PDF file consisting of text, numbers, and images without editable fields, signatures, passwords, redactions, or other advanced features available in some PDF-compatible software. The project narrative will be read by SC staff using the full version of Adobe Acrobat: Please ensure that the narrative is readable in Acrobat. If combining multiple files into one research narrative, ensure that a PDF portfolio or binder is not created. If https://science.osti.gov/SW-DEI/SC-Statement-of-Commitment https://science.osti.gov/SW-DEI/SC-Statement-of-Commitment https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/ iii creating PDF files using any software other than Adobe Acrobat, please use a “Print to PDF” or equivalent process to ensure that all content is visible in the project narrative. Once a project narrative has been assembled, please submit the combined project narrative file through a “Print to PDF” or equivalent process to ensure that all content is visible in one PDF file that can be viewed in Adobe Acrobat. Review your submission to ensure that blank pages are not present.

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Checklist for Avoiding Common Errors:

Item Issue Applications Submitted in Grants.gov. Do not submit applications in PAMS or FedConnect.

Grants.gov Submission Ensure that applications are submitted under the correct Opportunity Number.

Standard Form (SF)-424 Research and Related (R&R):

- Attach nothing to field 20

- Attach nothing to field 21

SF-424 Research and Related Other Project Information form:

- Attach the abstract to field 7

- Attach the project narrative, with all appendices, to field 8

- Attach nothing to field 9

- Attach nothing to field 10

- Attach nothing to field 11

- Attach the list of individuals who should not serve as merit reviewers (Collaborator Template) to field 12

- Do not attach other files to field 12

- NOTE: Files attached to field 12 will not be shared with merit reviewers.

Letters of Intent (LOIs)

- Submit your LOI in PAMS.

- Do not submit your LOI in Grants.gov.

- Do not attach your LOI to the SF-424 Research and Related (R&R) form.

- Follow the instructions in Section IV for the preparation of an LOI.

Page Limits Strictly followed throughout application, including particular attention to:

- Project narrative and appendices

- Biographical sketches

- Data Management Plans (DMPs)

- Promoting Inclusive and Equitable

Research (PIER) Plan

- Letter(s) of Collaboration or Access, if any Personally Identifiable Information None present in the application Project Narrative Composed of one PDF file including all appendices (bibliography, facilities, equipment, DMP, PIER) v

Item Issue Project Summary / Abstract Name of PI, PI’s institutional affiliation(s), Co-Investigator(s), Co-Investigator’s institutional affiliation(s)

DOE Title Page Follow instructions closely Budget Use current negotiated indirect cost and fringe benefit rates Budget Justification (attached to budget) Justify all requested costs Biographical Sketches Follow page limits strictly and do not include list of collaborators. Attach the biographical sketch to the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Form.

Current and Pending Support Ensure complete listing of all activities, regardless of source of funding. Attach the current and pending support to the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Form.

List of Individuals who Should not Serve as Merit Reviews

Attach to field 12 of the SF-424 Research and Related Other Project Information form.

Data Management Plans (DMP) - If referring to an experiment’s DMP, describe the relationship to the proposed research.

- Include a DMP even if no experimental data is expected.

Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan

PIER Plans are required for new and renewal applications.

Institutions capable of being funded through the DOE Field Work System

If National Laboratories and/or DOE sites are permitted to submit under this FOA:

- Do not create new institutions in the

PAMS website.

- Submit applications in Grants.gov using the name of the laboratory or site in Field 5 of the SF-424(R&R) application form, not the contractor operating the laboratory or site.

Submissions under this FOA will be evaluated for technical merit, but any resulting funding, work, or awards will be made under the laboratory or site’s contract with DOE. No separate financial assistance awards will be made. No administrative provisions of this FOA will apply to the laboratory or any laboratory subcontractor.

Section I – FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

GENERAL INQUIRIES ABOUT THIS FOA SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO:

Technical/Scientific Program Contacts:

DOE SC, Nuclear Physics, and general information:

Mr. Keith Jankowski, Nuclear Physics Program Manager, Nuclear Data keith.jankowski@science.doe.gov

NNSA Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation R&D:

LTC David Matters, Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation R&D Program Manager, Nuclear Data Objective david.matters@nnsa.doe.gov

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

Section 646 of Public Law 95-91, U.S. Department of Energy Organization Act Section 901, et seq. of 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, Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Rule, codified at 10

CFR 605

SUMMARY

The DOE SC program in Nuclear Physics (NP) and the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development (NA-22) hereby announce their interest in receiving applications to the Nuclear Data InterAgency Working Group / Research Program for research projects intended to answer nuclear data questions of interest to the research communities supported by those programs and offices.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Members of the federal interagency community may participate in the review of LOIs and applications, including providing guidance on the submission’s ability to impact their mission areas.

Program Objective mailto:keith.jankowski@science.doe.gov mailto:david.matters@nnsa.doe.gov

The objectives of DOE programs (NP, NNSA) participating in this FOA are described below.

DOE NP

Mr. Keith Jankowski, NP Program Manager, Nuclear Data keith.jankowski@science.doe.gov

Traineeships for Nuclear Data Evaluation Nuclear data lays a foundation for many applications and basic nuclear science. The US Nuclear Data Program (USNDP) is responsible for the compilation, evaluation, and dissemination of authoritative nuclear data libraries. The USNDP and others in the nuclear data community (including internationally) use their subject matter expertise to evaluate the latest experimental, theoretical, and modeling/simulation results to arrive at the best accepted values for nuclear data.

With the growth of new facilities, computing power and techniques, there is more data flowing into the nuclear data pipeline than ever before. This, combined with a shrinking nuclear data workforce due to retirements has resulted in evaluations in our databases lagging a decade behind measurements in many cases. This has resulted in a critical need for additional scientists to apply their expertise for nuclear data evaluation (See Nuclear Science Advisory Committee sub-committee reports to assess challenges, opportunities, and priorities for effective stewardship of nuclear data, found here: https://science.osti.gov/np/nsac/Reports).

The extensive nuclear databases produced by this effort are an international resource consisting of carefully organized scientific information gathered over 50 years of nuclear physics research worldwide. Nuclear data is a multi-disciplinary, scientific endeavor on its own, with applications to energy, defense, space, and medicine. Nuclear data community members often fill leadership positions in basic science and application areas, both domestic and internationally, and filling gaps in nuclear data can advance missions in these applications leading to new discoveries along the way.

This FOA allows the nuclear data community to better address goals of: increasing entry points into the nuclear data evaluator community, supporting retention of evaluators, and investing in nuclear data evaluator capacity to be directly involved with research.

Sub-topic 1: Nuclear Data Evaluator Traineeships The purpose of this topic is to expand the pool of nuclear data evaluators while still enabling them to continue scientific research. This combination will benefit both communities by enhancing the quality of experimental, theory, and modeling projects from beginning to end, which in turn, leads to higher quality nuclear data going into the libraries. Furthermore, by focusing on positions with both research and evaluations, the pool of candidates will be larger and have a broader range of talents, including skills in computational and experimental techniques, which will significantly benefit the data program. Lead applicants on this FOA should be mentors, with evaluator trainees as subawards. Awards on this topic will be for a time period of up to five years.

Because of the goal to keep evaluators involved with research, it is ideal for evaluator trainees to be partially funded from an existing research award or home institution. Nuclear data evaluation mailto:keith.jankowski@science.doe.gov https://science.osti.gov/np/nsac/Reports is very detail oriented and requires a large amount of initial training to be successful. Therefore, the initial nuclear data time commitment may be as much as 75%, but this will be dependent on individual experience, ongoing projects, and arrangements with a mentor. As an applicant continues through the program, that time commitment may be adjusted depending on workload and capacity. Mentoring from experienced evaluators as well as dedicated training opportunities in nuclear data evaluation exist as part of this award. Time and workload expectations should be discussed with potential mentors prior to applying. Partial support for mentors is possible as part of this award.

The target population for this funding opportunity are early-to-mid career scientists though others may be considered on a case-by-case basis, including non-PhD scientists. One of the main responsibilities of the USNDP are nuclear structure evaluations along a mass chain, but scientists in the nuclear data community have many topics for consideration. Areas of expertise of interest include, but are not limited to, experiment and theory (including modeling/simulation) in nuclear structure, nuclear reactions, and related topics such as quasi-continuum, photonuclear reactions, over energies from thermal to ~GeV. Applicants with experience in using artificial intelligence and/or machine learning techniques are also of interest because AI/ML methods are growing in the nuclear data community. Application areas that use nuclear data evaluators include basic science, nuclear energy, defense/non-proliferation, medical (including isotope production), and space exploration.

Awardees who complete the full scope of this funding opportunity will be competitive for potential permanent staff positions within the USNDP and elsewhere in the nuclear data community.

Special notes for applicants:

- Trainees can find a list of potential mentors and areas of interest on the USNDP website found here: https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/ndwg/evaluator-mentors.html

- Mentors will be submitting the application with the trainee(s) as additional staff (if on-site already) or sub-award (if mentor and trainee are not co-located)

- Mentors are allowed to budget funding for time spent mentoring

- Some organizations may have enough mentor-capable evaluators to consider submitting a joint application

Sub-topic 2: Nuclear Data Trainee Schools The main purpose of this sub-topic is to solicit applications to host formal, dedicated, training opportunities for successful applicants in Sub-topic 1. It is expected that a variety of expertise and backgrounds will apply to be a nuclear data evaluator trainee. It is therefore beneficial for the nuclear data community to offer group training for awarded trainees so that they can come together as a group and learn base knowledge applicable to general nuclear data evaluation, but also advanced topics as their traineeship progresses. A common format in the physics community is a “summer school” where selected individuals have short duration (1-2 weeks) coursework and discussions to learn a specialized topic.

Schools could also offer spots or specialized courses to attendees outside of those from sub-topic

1. Envisioned additional attendees could include non-evaluator research scientists, nuclear data end users, and/or federal program staff who could benefit from additional nuclear data knowledge but not need full technical details.

Applications to this sub-topic area should describe the planned coursework including topics to be covered, time and cost information, materials needed, and how this will benefit the nuclear data community in the long term.

DOE NNSA

LTC David Matters, Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation R&D Program Manager, Nuclear Data Objective david.matters@nnsa.doe.gov

The Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development (DNN R&D) seeks applications for projects led by the DOE/NNSA National Laboratories to understand and address the following gaps in nuclear data relevant to nonproliferation missions:

1) (α, n) reaction data relevant to safeguards and arms control verification

2) Cross sections for reactions involving short-lived fission products

Regarding item (1): Neutrons from (α,n) reactions are an important component of nondestructive assay (NDA) techniques to determine enriched uranium and other actinide inventories in a variety of critical points in the nuclear fuel cycle. However, uncertainties in the cross section, total neutron yield and neutron spectrum, and gamma emissions from these reactions introduce large uncertainties in the determination of mass of actinides of interest and can represent several significant quantities in unaccounted material in certain facility processes. Applications are sought to perform improved measurements and theoretical validation of the following data1:

• 17O and 18O: Cross sections for reactions with alpha particle energies between 2-8 MeV, including data about secondary gamma rays and neutron spectra. Additionally, data from integral measurements specific to NDA applications, including coincidence gamma rays, are of interest.

• 27Al: Cross sections for reactions with alpha particle energies between 2-8 MeV, including data about secondary gamma rays and neutron spectra.

Regarding item (2): Isotopes far from stability can play an important role in a variety of nonproliferation applications, including modeling and understanding post-detonation nuclear forensics scenarios. Recent advancements in experimental facilities and techniques (e.g., radioactive beams and inverse kinematics) and improved nuclear reaction models can help quantify formerly inaccessible cross-section data for these short-lived isotopes. Exploratory projects are sought to measure cross sections for reactions involving isotopes far from stability that are relevant to nonproliferation. Also of interest are projects to develop theoretical models that can be used to validate measured data from these reactions, which are needed to enable the evaluation of new data for adoption in NNDC libraries.

1 Reference C. Romano et al., (α,n) Nuclear Data Scoping Study, ORNL/TM-2020/1789 (https://info.ornl.gov/sites/publications/Files/Pub148054.pdf) for additional information mailto:david.matters@nnsa.doe.gov https://info.ornl.gov/sites/publications/Files/Pub148054.pdf

Annual Meetings

The Workshop on Applied Nuclear Data Activities (WANDA) is an annual meeting that brings together federal programs, nuclear data practitioners, and nuclear data users to discuss topics of near term need for the community. If awarded under this FOA, it is strongly encouraged that you participate in this meeting to share results and network with others in the field.

Additional information on past nuclear data workshops can be found from the Nuclear Data Working Group (NDWG) section of the National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC) website here:

https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/ndwg/wanda.html

Teaming Arrangements

Applicants are encouraged to form teams as they best see fit to complete the proposed objectives, including members having scientific and demographic diversity.

Joint Consideration

Applications submitted to this FOA will be considered for award by NP and NNSA. These organizations will coordinate their reviews and award selections to avoid overlap and duplication. LOIs and applications submitted to this FOA must indicate only one program area they are applying to. If an application is recommended for funding by SC, all administrative provisions of this FOA will apply. If an application is recommended for funding by an organization outside SC, applicants are cautioned to strictly follow that organization’s instructions regarding the transfer of the application and potential award administration.

For submissions to NNSA, the lead organization must be a national laboratory. Also, applications submitted to NNSA with more than one organization involved should submit their application with a lead organization and subawards. That is, only the lead organization needs to submit the application with the other participants listed as subawards.

Open Science

SC is dedicated to promoting the values of openness in Federally supported scientific research, including, but not limited to, ensuring that research may be reproduced and that the results of Federally supported research are made available to other researchers. These objectives may be met through any number of mechanisms including, but not limited to, data access plans, data sharing agreements, the use of archives and repositories, and the use of various licensing schemes.

The use of the phrase “open-source” does not refer to any particular licensing arrangement, but is to be understood as encompassing any arrangement that furthers the objective of openness.

Guidance for Application Budgets and Costs

All costs requested in a budget must adhere to standard requirements for all Federal awards:

https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/ndwg/wanda.html

• Costs must be reasonable, using a prudent-person standard. (2 CFR 200.404),

• Costs must be allocable, related to the particular Federal award. (2 CFR 200.405),

• Costs must be allowable under the relevant Federal cost principles. (See 2 CFR 200.420 and following),

• Costs must be consistently treated, whether they are paid for with Federal funds or institutional funds. (2 CFR 200.403(c))

Allowable costs may include, but are not limited to, the following, subject to the applicable cost principles:

• “Buying out” faculty time dedicated to teaching or administrative responsibilities,

• Support for administrative personnel dedicated to the proposed activity,

• Support for professional development, training, mentoring of students and junior researchers,

• Travel to meet with collaborators at other institutions and relevant DOE/NNSA national laboratories, including costs for internships at the national laboratories; or to attend one or more science team, user facility, scientific conference, workshop, or professional society meetings relevant to the proposed research; or for the conduct of off-site research,

• Fringe benefits, which must be paid in accordance with an institution’s negotiated rates agreement, institutional policies, and the individual’s appointment,

• Temporary dependent-care costs incurred during travel,

• Membership costs in relevant professional societies, including both scientific societies and those dedicated to research administration,

• Instrumentation required to conduct proposed research,

• Equipment (items with a useful life of more than 12 months and a per-item acquisition cost of more than $5,000) required to conduct proposed research,

• Purchase of equipment, modification of equipment, or provision of services necessary to enable work to be carried out by project personnel with a disability,

• Stipends and benefits for students and post-doctoral researchers, recognizing their dual nature as both trainees and employees,

• Participation in standards development relevant to the proposed research, including travel and membership costs,

• Salary support to cover time to participate in outreach for recruitment, internships, and training events, science team meetings, partnership development, or information gathering, and

• Other direct costs, e.g., materials and supplies such as office supplies, desktop or laptop computer, and/or software licenses that are directly necessary to enable the proposed activities.

Multi-Institutional Teams

SC uses two different mechanisms to support teams of multiple institutions.

COLLABORATIVE APPLICATIONS

For submissions to SC programs, teams of multiple institutions may submit collaborative applications. Each submitted application in such a team must indicate that it is part of a collaborative project/group. Every partner institution must submit an application through its own sponsored research office. Each multi-institutional team can have only one lead institution. Each application within the multi-institutional team, including the narrative, starting with the title page, and all required appendices and attachments, must be identical with the following exceptions:

• Each application must contain a correct SF-424 (R&R)2 cover page for the submitting institution only.

• Each application must contain a unique budget corresponding to the expenditures for that application’s submitting institution only.

• Each application must contain a unique budget justification corresponding to the expenditures for that application’s submitting institution only.

• Each application must contain a Project/Performance Site Location(s) form for the submitting institution and its subawards.

• Each application must include a list for the Identification of Merit Review Conflicts for the submitting institution’s senior/key personnel and its subawards’ senior/key personnel.

• Each application must include a Research and Related Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) form with the biographical sketches and current and pending support from that institution’s senior/key personnel. The applicant leading the multi-institutional team must include biographical sketches and current and pending support from each institution’s senior/key personnel.

Our intent is to create from the various applications associated with a multi-institutional team one document for merit review that consists of the common, identical materials combined with a set of detailed budgets from the partner institutions. Each team member’s application must contain the same project title. Team members may use Grants.gov Workspace(s), webforms, and their system-to-system services in any combination.

SUBAWARDS3

Submissions to SC with multi-institutional teams may submit one application from a designated lead institution with all other team members proposed as subrecipients. Submissions to NNSA with multi-institutional teams must submit one application from a designated lead institution with all other team members proposed as subrecipients.

DOE/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) National Laboratories4, other Federal agencies, and another Federal agency’s FFRDCs5, if participating in a team led by another institution, may be proposed as subrecipients.

2 The Standard Form 424 (SF-424) family of forms is used to apply for Federal financial assistance through https://www.Grants.gov. The Research and Related (R&R) set of forms is used by the Office of Science.

3 Subawards are made to subrecipients. Both terms are defined in 2 CFR 200.1 (https://www.ecfr.gov) 4 The phrase “National Laboratories” is used broadly to encompass DOE/NNSA laboratories and sites capable of performing the work described in this FOA and capable of receiving funds through the DOE Field Work System.

5 An authoritative list of all Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) may be found at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.ecfr.gov/ https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/

Note that for submissions to SC, the value of any such proposed subaward may be removed from any such prime award: DOE may make separate awards to Federally affiliated institutions.

These organizations are usually funded directly by DOE and therefore must submit their own applications as collaborative applications.

• DOE/NNSA National Laboratories must submit in response to this FOA in Grants.gov .

• Another Federal agency must submit its own application as part of a collaborative application in response to this FOA in Grants.gov.

• Another Federal agency’s FFRDC must submit its own application as part of a collaborative application in response to this FOA in Grants.gov.

DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN COLLABORATIVE APPLICATIONS AND SUBAWARDS

The following points of advice to applicants may be helpful:

1. Both collaborative applications and proposed subawards are methods by which multiple institutions can work together to reach the scientific objectives described in this FOA.

Choose the appropriate structure based on the nature of the scientific work being proposed. If multiple institutions will be functioning as a network of peer-level researchers, a collaborative structure would be more appropriate. If multiple institutions will be functioning with leadership and direction coming from one institution, a subaward arrangement would be more appropriate.

a. Collaborative applications are assembled from multiple identical applications submitted by the proposing institution. Such applications may be submitted under this FOA in Grants.gov. The multiple applications will be assembled into one joint collaborative application, which will be merit-reviewed as one document, with recommendations to fund or decline the application made at the level of each independent application.

b. Subawards exist when multiple institutions work together to submit one application with a designated prime recipient and multiple potential subrecipients.

c. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories, other Federal agencies, and another Federal agency’s FFRDCs may be proposed as subrecipients, but the value of any such proposed subaward may be removed from any such prime award: DOE will often make separate awards to Federally affiliated institutions.

2. A well-thought-out research plan and its associated budget(s) should leave no confusion about which institution will do which parts of the research.

All entities submitting applications to this FOA must recognize the moral and legal obligations to comply with export controls and policies that limit the transfer of technologies with potential dual use. Applicants are reminded that international activities must comply with nonproliferation, sanction, and other protocols described at https://www.export.gov.

International activities related to special nuclear materials (SNM) are subject to additional requirements. Please see 10 CFR 810 for further information.

All work proposed under this FOA must be for basic and fundamental research https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.export.gov/ whose results may be published in scholarly literature. Do not submit applications containing restricted data or unclassified controlled nuclear information as defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 USC 2011, et seq., 10

CFR 1017, 10 CFR 1045.

Section II – AWARD INFORMATION

II.A. TYPE OF AWARD INSTRUMENT

DOE anticipates awarding grants and National Laboratory authorizations under this FOA.

DOE will consider funding multi-institution teams submitted as collaborative applications, in which each institution must submit its own application with an identical common project narrative, under this FOA. Multi-institutional teams may also apply using a prime and subaward model with one application submitted by the lead institution.

Statement of Substantial Involvement

Not applicable.

II.B. ESTIMATED FUNDING

DOE anticipates that subject to the availability of future year appropriations, a total of $12 million in current and future fiscal year funds will be used to support awards under this FOA.

Research Grant Awards (typically single-investigator projects) are expected to be made for a period of two to five years at a funding level appropriate for the proposed scope, with future support contingent on the availability of funds and satisfactory progress.

DOE is under no obligation to pay for any costs associated with preparation or submission of applications. DOE reserves the right to fund, in whole or in part, any, all, or none of the applications submitted in response to this FOA.

II.C. MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM AWARD SIZE

(See B. Estimated Funding above.)

The award size will depend on the number of meritorious applications and the availability of appropriated funds.

• The ceiling and floor described in this FOA represent historical experience. Past practice is not an obligation to stay within the historic ceiling and floor.

• The ceiling and floor described in this FOA represent the expected range of award sizes.

Applicants should request sufficient funding to achieve their proposed results.

The ceiling and floor specified below are for total costs, both direct and indirect costs.

Ceiling

$1,000,000 per year

Applications requesting more than this amount of support may be declined without further review.

Floor

$100,000 per year

Applications requesting less than this amount of support may be declined without further review.

II.D. EXPECTED NUMBER OF AWARDS

(See B. Estimated Funding above.)

Approximately 3 to 10 awards are expected.

The exact number of awards will depend on the number of meritorious applications and the availability of appropriated funds.

II.E. ANTICIPATED AWARD SIZE

(See B. Estimated Funding above.)

It is anticipated that award sizes may range from $100,000 per year to $1,000,000 per year, typically less than $500,000 per year, with a median award size between $250,000 per year and $300,000 per year.

The award size will depend on the number of meritorious applications and the availability of appropriated funds.

II.F. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

(See B. Estimated Funding above.)

DOE anticipates making awards with a project period of three years, but project periods could be one to five years in duration.

Continuation funding (funding for the second and subsequent budget periods) is contingent on:

(1) availability of funds appropriated by Congress and future year budget authority; (2) progress towards meeting the objectives of the approved application; (3) submission of required reports;

and (4) compliance with the terms and conditions of the award.

II.G. TYPE OF APPLICATION

DOE will accept new applications under this FOA.

Note that DOE/NNSA National Laboratories may only submit new applications under this FOA.

Applications for the renewal of or of a supplement to an existing award will not be accepted.

Section III – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

III.A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

All types of domestic and foreign applicants are eligible to apply, except nonprofit organizations described in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that engaged in lobbying activities after December 31, 1995.

Federally affiliated6 entities must adhere to the eligibility standards below:

III.A.1. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories

DOE/NNSA National Laboratories are eligible to submit applications under this FOA and may be proposed as subrecipients under another organization’s application. If recommended for funding as a lead applicant, funding will be provided through the DOE Field-Work Proposal System and work will be conducted under the laboratory’s contract with DOE. No administrative provisions of this FOA will apply to the laboratory or any laboratory subcontractor. If recommended for funding as a proposed subrecipient, the value of the proposed subaward will be removed from the prime applicant’s award and will be provided to the laboratory through the DOE Field-Work Proposal System and work will be conducted under the laboratory’s contract with DOE. Additional instructions for securing authorization from the cognizant Contracting Officer are found in Section VIII of this FOA.

III.A.2. Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs

Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs are eligible to submit applications (either as a lead organization or as a team member in a multi-institutional team) under this FOA and may be proposed as subrecipients under another organization’s application. If recommended for funding as a lead applicant or a team member, funding will be provided through an interagency agreement Award to the FFRDC’s sponsoring Federal Agency. If recommended for funding as a proposed subrecipient, the value of the proposed subaward may be removed from the prime applicant’s award and may be provided through an Inter-Agency Award to the FFRDC’s sponsoring Federal Agency. Additional instructions for securing authorization from the cognizant Contracting Officer are found in Section VIII of this FOA.

III.A.3. Other Federal Agencies

Other Federal Agencies are eligible to submit applications (either as a lead organization or as a team member in a multi-institutional team) under this FOA and may be proposed as subrecipients under another organization’s application. If recommended for funding as a lead applicant or a team member, funding will be provided through an interagency agreement. If recommended for funding as a proposed subrecipient, the value of the proposed subaward may be removed from the prime applicant’s award and may be provided through an interagency

6 Institutions that are not DOE/NNSA National Laboratories, a non-DOE/NNSA FFRDC, or another Federal agency are not Federally affiliated, even if they receive Federal funds or perform work under a Federal award or contract.

agreement. Additional instructions for providing statutory authorization are found in Section VIII of this FOA.

Notes for applicants of all types:

• Individual applicants are unlikely to possess the skills, abilities, and resources to successfully accomplish the objectives of this FOA. Individual applicants are encouraged to address this concern in their applications and to demonstrate how they will accomplish the objectives of this FOA.

• Non-domestic applicants are advised that successful applications from non-domestic applicants include a detailed demonstration of how the applicant possesses skills, resources, and abilities that do not exist among potential domestic applicants.

This FOA does not support an applicant’s commercial activity. This FOA seeks to support basic research to advance understanding rather than to address commercial opportunities.

Applications that propose research related to current commercial activity or current customer needs may be declined without merit review. All for-profit applicants must include a description, not to exceed 200 words of how their proposed work will advance scientific understanding of a basic and fundamental nature as an appendix to the project narrative.

Applications that are submitted by applicants that have not submitted a required LOI or pre-application may be declined without further review.

Applicants may propose non-domestic entities as subrecipients in their applications. Applicants are advised that successful applications that propose non-domestic entities as subrecipients include a detailed demonstration of how the proposed non-domestic subrecipients possess skills, resources, and abilities that do not exist among potential domestic subrecipients.

III.B. COST SHARING

Cost sharing for basic and fundamental research is not required pursuant to an exclusion from the requirements of Section 988 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Cost sharing is not required of DOE/NNSA National Laboratories, other Federal agencies, another Federal agency’s FFRDC, or their subcontractors at any tier. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories, other Federal agencies, and another Federal agency’s FFRDC may impose cost-sharing requirements on their contractors subject to their policies and procedures.

Cost sharing will not be considered as a factor during merit review or award selection.

III.C. ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS

Individuals with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as a Principal Investigator (PI) are invited to work with their organizations to develop an application. Individuals from underrepresented groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply.

Section IV – APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

IV.A. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE

Application forms and instructions are available at Grants.gov. To access these materials, go to https://www.Grants.gov, select “Search Grants”, and then enter the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number (81.049) and/or the FOA number shown on the cover of this FOA.

Select the “Apply” button to access the application package.

Applications submitted through www.FedConnect.net will not be accepted. Applications may not be submitted through PAMS at https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov.

IV.B. LETTER OF INTENT (LOI) AND PRE-APPLICATION

IV.B.1. Letter of Intent (LOI)

LETTER OF INTENT DUE DATE

The LOI due date is printed on the cover of this FOA.

RESPONSE DATE

The response date is printed on the cover of this FOA. Applicants who have not received a response regarding the status of their LOI by this date are responsible for contacting the program manager to confirm this status.

A LOI is required and must be submitted by the date indicated on the cover of this FOA.

If a multi-institutional team is submitting collaborative applications, only the lead institution must submit an LOI.

The LOI is to help in planning the review and the selection of potential reviewers for the application. The LOI must include, at the top of the first page, the following information:

Title of LOI Principal Investigator Name, Job Title

Institution PI Phone Number, PI Email Address

FOA Number: Include the FOA Number indicated on the cover of this FOA Topic and program office that this submission applies to

The material listed here defines the minimum acceptable information on a cover page. Additional information may be provided at the applicant’s discretion.

• This information must be followed by a clear and concise description of the objectives and technical approach of the proposed research.

• The description of the proposed research may not exceed three pages, when printed using https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.fedconnect.net/ standard letter-size (8.5-inch x 11-inch) paper with 1-inch margins (top, bottom, left, and right). The body text font must not be smaller than 11 point. Figures and references, if included, must fit within the three-page limit.

If a multi-institutional team is being proposed, provide the following information on a separate page. This information will not count toward the page limitation.

• List all institutions by name with each institution’s PI on the same line.

• Indicate the lead PI who will be the point of contact and coordinator for the combined research activity.

• Include a table modeled on the following chart providing summary budget information from all institutions. Provide the total costs of the budget request in each year for each institution and totals for all rows and columns.

Multi-Institutional Team Information

Names Institution Year 1 Budget

Year 2 Budget

Year 3 Budget

Year 4 Budget

Year 5 Budget

Total Budget

Lead

PI

Co-PI

Co-PI

Example budget table ($ in thousands)

In addition, the LOI must include a listing of senior/key personnel and a listing of individuals who should not serve as merit reviewers of a subsequent application. Detailed instructions for how to craft the required listings are provided in Section VIII of this FOA. Note that the listing of individuals who should not serve as merit reviewers is rarely empty because the instructions contain mandatory inclusions requirements. This listing will not count toward the LOI’s page limit. The list of individuals must be included as an “Additional Attachment” to your LOI in PAMS.

The LOI must be machine-readable. Do not submit a scanned image of a printed document.

LOI REVIEW

Those LOIs that are encouraged will be used to help SC begin planning for the application peer review process. SC’s intent in discouraging submission of certain applications is to save the time and effort of applicants in preparing and submitting applications not responsive to this FOA.

LOIs that claim to have impact in areas of interest to Interagency partners may be reviewed by those partners for feedback on relevance.

The PI will be automatically notified when the LOI is encouraged or discouraged. The DOE SC Portfolio Analysis and Management System (PAMS) will send an email to the PI from PAMS.Autoreply@science.doe.gov, and the status of the LOI will be updated at the PAMS website https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/. Notifications are sent as soon as the decisions to encourage or discourage are finalized.

mailto:PAMS.Autoreply@science.doe.gov

LOI SUBMISSION

LOIs are created in the software system of your choice and must be submitted electronically through the DOE SC Portfolio Analysis and Management System (PAMS) website https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/. You cannot draft or edit an LOI in PAMS. Do not submit an LOI through FedConnect or Grants.gov.

LOIs may be submitted by a PI or by other users at the PI’s institution with the “Submit to DOE” privilege in PAMS.

Applicants are required to inform their DOE Program Manager if teaming arrangements, proposed personnel, topics, or the anticipated title change between submitting the LOI and when an application is submitted, to ensure that their application is…