DE-FOA-0003258.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)

OFFICE OF SCIENCE (SC)

BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES (BES)

ENERGY FRONTIER RESEARCH CENTERS (EFRC)

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) NUMBER:

DE-FOA-0003258

FOA TYPE: INITAL

CFDA NUMBER: 81.049

FOA Issue Date: January 22, 2024 Submission Deadline for Pre-Applications: February 28, 2024 at 5:00 PM Eastern

Time A Pre-Application is required.

Pre-Applications must be submitted by an authorized institutional representative.

Pre-Application Response Date: March 27, 2024 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time Submission Deadline for Applications: May 8, 2024 at 11:59 PM 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

III.D. LIMITATIONS ON SUBMISSIONS

III.E. OTHER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

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...43

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.

INFORMATIONAL WEBINAR

SC plans to hold an informational webinar about this FOA on Thursday, February 1, 2024 at 1 – 2 pm ET. Registration instructions and other details will be posted at https://science.osti.gov/grants/FOAs/Open and https://science.osti.gov/bes/efrc/.

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.

https://science.osti.gov/grants/FOAs/Open https://science.osti.gov/bes/efrc/ 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

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 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.

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

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 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

- Attach the summary budget table (Budget Template for application cover page) to field 12

- Do not attach other files to field 12

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

Pre-Applications

- Submit your pre-application in PAMS.

- Do not submit your pre-application in Grants.gov.

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

- Follow the instructions in Section IV for the preparation of a pre-application.

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 v

Personally Identifiable Information None present in the application Project Narrative Composed of one PDF file including all appendices (bibliography, facilities, equipment, DMP, PIER)

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 (Collaborator Table)

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

Summary Budget Information for Lead Institution and All Partner Institutions (Summary Budget Table for cover page)

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 vi 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:

Questions regarding the content of the FOA must be submitted through the FedConnect portal.

You must register with FedConnect to respond as an interested party to submit questions, and to view responses to questions. It is recommended that you register as soon after release of the FOA as possible to have the benefit of all responses. More information is available on the FedConnect website (https://www.fedconnect.net/).

Questions pertaining to the FedConnect registration process or the submission of questions through FedConnect should be directed by email to support@FedConnect.net or by phone to the FedConnect Support Center at 1-800-899-6665.

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 Section 401 of Public Law 115-368, National Quantum Initiative Act

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 Basic Energy Sciences (BES) announces a re-competition of the Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) program and encourages both new and renewal applications. Applications from multi-disciplinary teams will be required to propose discovery science and use-inspired basic research that addresses priority research directions and opportunities identified by a series of BES workshop and roundtable reports. The focus of the EFRC program is on fundamental scientific research, therefore applications to this FOA must not propose applied research and technology development activities. BES is soliciting renewal applications for basic science in three topical areas: 1) Transformative manufacturing, 2) Quantum information science (QIS), and 3) Environmental management. BES is soliciting new applications for basic science in two topical areas: 1) Co-design of materials and processes to revolutionize microelectronics and/or QIS fabrication, and 2) Environmental management.

https://www.fedconnect.net/ mailto:support@FedConnect.net

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Background

The BES mission is to support fundamental research to understand, predict, and ultimately control matter and energy at the electronic, atomic, and molecular levels. BES research provides scientific foundations for DOE missions in energy, the environment, and national security. The portfolio supports fundamental research in materials sciences, chemistry, geosciences, and biosciences. BES also supports world-class, open-access scientific user facilities consisting of a complementary set of intense x-ray sources, neutron sources, and research centers for nanoscale science.

The EFRC program brings together diverse world-class teams of scientists to perform basic research with a scope and complexity beyond what is possible in single-investigator or small-group awards. These multi-investigator, multi-disciplinary centers accelerate transformative scientific advances for the most challenging topics in materials sciences, chemical sciences, geosciences, and biosciences. EFRCs conduct fundamental research to address grand challenges identified in the report Directing Matter and Energy: Five Challenges for Science and the Imagination (December 2007) and transformative opportunities identified in the report Challenges at the Frontiers of Matter and Energy: Transformative Opportunities for Discovery Science (November 2015). In addition, EFRCs perform basic research to fill scientific knowledge gaps identified in major strategic planning efforts by BES and the scientific community (see below). EFRCs integrate synthesis, characterization, theory, computation, and data science;

develop innovative experimental and theoretical tools that illuminate fundamental processes in unprecedented detail; and create an enthusiastic, inter-disciplinary, diverse community of energy-focused scientists.

Further information about BES and the EFRC program can be found here:

• BES: https://science.osti.gov/bes/

• EFRC: https://science.osti.gov/bes/efrc/

Science Focus Areas

This FOA solicits new and renewal applications for EFRCs that will perform fundamental discovery science while also addressing the Priority Research Directions (PRDs) and Priority Research Opportunities (PROs) identified in one or more of the workshop and roundtable reports described below.

RENEWAL APPLICATIONS

This FOA solicits renewal applications for EFRCs that will perform basic science to address the PRDs/PROs identified in one or more of the following reports:

https://science.osti.gov/%7E/media/bes/pdf/reports/files/Directing_Matter_and_Energy_rpt.pdf https://science.osti.gov/%7E/media/bes/pdf/reports/files/Directing_Matter_and_Energy_rpt.pdf https://science.osti.gov/%7E/media/bes/besac/pdf/Reports/Challenges_at_the_Frontiers_of_Matter_and_Energy_rpt.pdf https://science.osti.gov/%7E/media/bes/besac/pdf/Reports/Challenges_at_the_Frontiers_of_Matter_and_Energy_rpt.pdf https://science.osti.gov/bes/ https://science.osti.gov/bes/efrc/

1) Basic Research Needs for Transformative Manufacturing https://science.osti.gov/- /media/bes/pdf/reports/2020/Manufacturing_BRN_Report_Combined.pdf This BRN Report identified five PRDs that lay the scientific foundation to go beyond incremental improvements to create new approaches for manufacturing that are energy efficient and sustainable. Applications must be responsive to one or more of the PRDs.

2) Roundtable on Opportunities for Basic Research for Next-Generation Quantum Systems https://science.osti.gov/-/media/bes/pdf/reports/2018/Quantum_systems.pdf This report identified four PROs in the area of fundamental research for quantum systems. Applications must be responsive to one or both of the following two PROs:

• PRO 3: Discover Novel Approaches for Quantum-to-Quantum Transduction

• PRO 4: Implement New Quantum Methods for Advanced Sensing and Process

Control

3) Basic Research Needs for Environmental Management https://science.osti.gov/- /media/bes/pdf/reports/2016/Basic_Research_Needs_for_Environmental_Management_r pt.pdf This report lays out key PRDs that are most likely to have a dramatic future impact on cleanup and long-term storage of nuclear waste. Applications must be responsive to the following PRD:

• PRD 1: Elucidating and exploiting complex speciation and reactivity far from equilibrium

NEW APPLICATIONS

This FOA solicits new applications for EFRCs that will perform basic science to address the following two topics:

1) Co-design of materials and processes to revolutionize microelectronics and/or QIS fabrication Co-design is a paradigm that provides scientific foundations for the creation of new materials, chemical processes, or systems by addressing the ubiquitous manufacturing challenge of simultaneously satisfying multiple performance objectives. Fundamental science questions related to co-design and fabrication are discussed in the Basic Research Needs (BRN) for Transformative Manufacturing Report https://science.osti.gov/- /media/bes/pdf/reports/2020/Manufacturing_BRN_Report_Combined.pdf.

New applications in this topic must satisfy the following two conditions:

• Primarily addresses PRD 5: Co-Design Materials, Processes, and Products to Revolutionize Manufacturing

• Focuses on either microelectronics and/or QIS fabrication https://science.osti.gov/-/media/bes/pdf/reports/2020/Manufacturing_BRN_Report_Combined.pdf https://science.osti.gov/-/media/bes/pdf/reports/2020/Manufacturing_BRN_Report_Combined.pdf https://science.osti.gov/-/media/bes/pdf/reports/2018/Quantum_systems.pdf https://science.osti.gov/-/media/bes/pdf/reports/2016/Basic_Research_Needs_for_Environmental_Management_rpt.pdf https://science.osti.gov/-/media/bes/pdf/reports/2016/Basic_Research_Needs_for_Environmental_Management_rpt.pdf https://science.osti.gov/-/media/bes/pdf/reports/2016/Basic_Research_Needs_for_Environmental_Management_rpt.pdf

Additional information about basic science challenges for fabrication in microelectronics and QIS are contained in the following BES reports:

• Basic Research Needs for Microelectronics https://science.osti.gov/- /media/bes/pdf/reports/2019/BRN_Microelectronics_rpt.pdf

• Roundtable on Opportunities for Basic Research for Next-Generation Quantum Systems https://science.osti.gov/-/media/bes/pdf/reports/2018/Quantum_systems.pdf

2) Environmental management Fundamental science questions related to cleanup of nuclear waste are discussed in the Basic Research Needs for Environmental Management Report https://science.osti.gov/- /media/bes/pdf/reports/2016/Basic_Research_Needs_for_Environmental_Management_rpt.pdf New applications must be responsive to the following PRD:

• PRD 1: Elucidating and exploiting complex speciation and reactivity far from equilibrium

Applications submitted in response to this FOA must propose fundamental scientific research within the BES mission-space that addresses PRDs/PROs identified in this FOA in one or more of the topics listed above. Any new application on microelectronics or QIS must primarily address PRD 5 of the Transformative Manufacturing BRN Report.

The focus of the EFRC program is on fundamental scientific research, therefore applications to this FOA must not propose applied research and technology development activities. In addition, the purpose of the EFRC program does not include construction (including new buildings or additions to existing buildings), and costs for such activities will not be funded by awards resulting from this FOA.

Coordination with other DOE activities

Coordination between science and applied energy programs is a priority for DOE. As appropriate, applications should articulate ways in which the fundamental research proposed under this funding opportunity could provide foundational knowledge in support of the DOE technology offices.

Management, Impact, and Output

The Principal Investigator (PI) on the application will serve as the EFRC Director. Each EFRC application must identify a single Director; no co-directorship is allowed. The EFRC Director will serve as the primary contact responsible for communications with the DOE Program Manager on behalf of all personnel in the EFRC. Successful EFRCs will fully exploit a “team science” model, working closely together in an integrated, centrally managed, synergistic center to address a well-defined set of scientific challenges with a clear focus and well-defined 4-year scientific research goals. EFRCs must include a scientific advisory committee.

https://science.osti.gov/-/media/bes/pdf/reports/2019/BRN_Microelectronics_rpt.pdf https://science.osti.gov/-/media/bes/pdf/reports/2019/BRN_Microelectronics_rpt.pdf https://science.osti.gov/-/media/bes/pdf/reports/2018/Quantum_systems.pdf https://science.osti.gov/-/media/bes/pdf/reports/2016/Basic_Research_Needs_for_Environmental_Management_rpt.pdf https://science.osti.gov/-/media/bes/pdf/reports/2016/Basic_Research_Needs_for_Environmental_Management_rpt.pdf

The primary purpose of the EFRCs is to support integrated, multi-disciplinary teams of researchers performing fundamental science; therefore, dissemination of results through peer-reviewed publications is expected. EFRC awards must not support applied research and technology development.

A variety of methods are used to regularly assess the ongoing progress of the EFRC. To date, all EFRCs have undergone a management and operations review during their first year of operation, as well as a mid-term progress review approximately half-way through each funding cycle; these virtual reviews have included external peer reviewers.

Meetings

The selected awardees will be expected to attend principal investigators meetings anticipated in 2025 and 2027. Applicants should anticipate a need for travel to effectively communicate with other researchers and request appropriate funding in their budgets.

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:

• 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), and

• 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

Applications for multi-institutional teams must ensure that the lead institution requests more funding from DOE than any other team member for the life of the award. The lead PI of a multi-institutional team must be an employee of the lead institution. Requests to change the institution receiving the greatest funding after an application is submitted will result in the application being declined unless the request is the result of the lead PI’s death, incapacitation, or relocation.

SC is committed to promoting the diversity of investigators and institutions it supports, as indicated by the ongoing use of program policy factors (see Section V.B.2) in making selections of awards. To strengthen this commitment, SC encourages applications led by Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs)1 and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), which include

1 Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs) are defined in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 as institutions of higher

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)2, 3, that are underrepresented in the SC portfolio4 and applications led by individuals from groups historically underrepresented in STEM. In addition, applications are encouraged from teams that include the participation of MSIs and ERIs, as well as researchers from groups historically underrepresented in STEM.

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

COLLABORATIVE APPLICATIONS

Collaborative applications (in which each team member submits its own application with a common project narrative) will not be accepted under this FOA.

SUBAWARDS5

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 Laboratories6 may be proposed as lead institutions or as subrecipients. Other Federal agencies and their FFRDCs7, may not be proposed as lead institutions and may only be proposed as subrecipients.

education receiving less than $50 million in Federal research expenditures, using data tabulated by the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvyherd/. For the purposes of this FOA, institutions listed in the most recent HERD data as receiving less than $50 million in Federal research expenditures are ERIs, as of the deadline for any submission.

2 MSIs are understood broadly to include, but not be limited to, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Asian American Native American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions (ANNHs), Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institutions (NASNTIs), and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs). Institutions listed in the Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) are not MSIs. The US Department of Education list of HBCUs can be found at: https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/ The US Department of Education maintains records of institutions eligible for recognition as MSIs at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/eligibility.html. For the purposes of this FOA, institutions marked in the most recent eligibility matrix as either being eligible to receive funding or as receiving funding for any program other than SIP will be considered an MSI. For this FOA, an institution’s designation is determined by its presence on these lists as of the deadline for any submission.

3 SC has posted a list of institutions with their Carnegie Classifications, designations as MSIs, and Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs) at https://science.osti.gov/grants/Applicant-and-Awardee-Resources/Institution- Designations. This list is offered as a convenience and is not exhaustive.

4 Information about Office of Science awards can be found in the Portfolio Analysis and Management System – https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/WebPAMSExternal/Interface/Awards/AwardSearchExternal.aspx.

5 Subawards are made to subrecipients. Both terms are defined in 2 CFR 200.1 (https://www.ecfr.gov) 6 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.

7 An authoritative list of all Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) may be found at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/ https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/ https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/ https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/eligibility.html https://science.osti.gov/grants/Applicant-and-Awardee-Resources/Institution-Designations https://science.osti.gov/grants/Applicant-and-Awardee-Resources/Institution-Designations https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/WebPAMSExternal/Interface/Awards/AwardSearchExternal.aspx https://www.ecfr.gov/ https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/

Note that the value of any such proposed subaward may be removed from any such prime award:

DOE may make separate awards to Federally affiliated institutions.

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 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.

https://www.export.gov/

Section II – AWARD INFORMATION

II.A. TYPE OF AWARD INSTRUMENT

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

Multi-institutional teams must 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 $100 million in current and future fiscal year funds will be used to support awards under this FOA, of which $25 million will be available annually.

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.

DOE anticipates that award sizes will range from $2,000,000 per year to $4,000,000 per year.

For renewal applications, notwithstanding the “Floor” identified below, DOE may consider limited-term renewal awards to allow for the completion of research projects and orderly closeout of EFRCs that do not merit long-term continued support. Annual funding for such awards could fall below the $2,000,000 floor. Recognizing that new centers take some time to ramp up full operations, for new awards DOE will likely award less funding in Year 1 of the four-year project period than in subsequent years.

A multi-institutional team is limited to a request of no more than $4,000,000 per year.

Note that the ceiling and floor specified below apply to each institution’s proposed budget inclusive of any proposed subawards.

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

Ceiling

$4,000,000 per award per year ($16,000,000 per award for a 4-year period)

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

Floor

$2,000,000 per award per year ($8,000,000 per award for a 4-year period)

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.)

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.)

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 4 years.

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. In addition, funding for the final two years of the four-year project period will likely be contingent upon satisfactory completion of an extensive mid-term progress review, which may include an external peer review. BES will use the mid-term progress review to assess the productivity and impact of each EFRC and progress toward meeting the stated four-year scientific research goals.

II.G. TYPE OF APPLICATION

DOE will accept new and renewal applications under this FOA. Information about how to distinguish between new and renewal applications is located in Section VIII.

Note that DOE/NNSA National Laboratories may only submit new applications under this FOA, even if the application requests additional funding and time for an existing EFRC activity. In such instances, the application should be submitted to Grants.gov as a new application but marked as “Renewal” on the Title Page. In addition, the Laboratory must include a list of all publications resulting from the existing activity as an Appendix to the Project Narrative.

Section III – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

III.A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

All types of domestic 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 affiliated8 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 not eligible to submit applications under this FOA but may be proposed as subrecipients under another organization’s application. 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 agreement 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 not eligible to submit applications under this FOA but may be proposed as subrecipients under another organization’s application. 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 agreement. Additional instructions for providing statutory authorization are found in Section VIII of this FOA.

8 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.

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.

This FOA does not support an applicant’s commercial activities. 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 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.

III.D. LIMITATIONS ON SUBMISSIONS

Applicant institutions are limited to no more than two pre-applications or applications as the lead institution.

An individual may not be named as the PI (EFRC Director) on more than one pre-application or application. Directors of existing EFRC awards that do not have project end dates in 2024 cannot be named as the EFRC Director on any pre-application or application in response to this FOA.

Should DOE receive submissions in excess of the applicable limits, DOE reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to request additional or clarifying information to ascertain the institution’s intended submissions. Otherwise, DOE will consider the latest received submissions to be the institution’s intended submissions.

• Pre-applications in excess of the limited number of submissions may be discouraged.

• Applications in excess of the limited number of submissions may be declined without review.

LIMITATIONS ON PI

The PI on a letter of intent or application may also be listed as a senior or key personnel on an unlimited number of separate submissions.

PIs must be in a permanent or indefinitely extensible position at the applicant institution, whether tenured, tenure-track, or a staff appointment. Individuals in term-limited appointments, whether as adjunct, visiting faculty, fellows, or similar appointments, are not eligible to be proposed as a

PI.

Individuals in a joint appointment are eligible to be proposed as a PI if work will be performed at the applicant institution and if the PI is a paid employee of the applicant institution. Individuals paid by another institution may not be named as the PI but may be named in other senior/key roles. A paid employee is one that is on the applicant institution’s payroll, receiving wages and benefits in accordance with the applicant institution’s normal wage and benefit practices, and whose position is not governed by any arrangement, agreement, or contract between the applicant institution and another institution.

Individuals receiving more than half of their salary and benefits from a DOE/NNSA National Laboratory may not be named as the PI in an application submitted by an applicant other than a DOE/NNSA National Laboratory, regardless of any arrangement between the employing Laboratory and the applicant institution.

Awards made under this FOA are intended to support activities at eligible applicant institutions.

If the lead PI of an award made under this FOA were to accept a position at a different institution, SC does not intend to de-obligate funds from the original award to support a new award to the PI’s new institution. SC would be interested in the recipient institution proposing a new PI.

III.E. OTHER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

The lead institution identified in an application must be the same lead institution identified in the required pre-application. If an application is received for which the lead organization has changed since submission of the pre-application (See Section IV.B), then the application may be declined without further review. The lead PI (EFRC Director) should not be changed unless unavoidable and only minor edits should be made, if necessary, to the title of the project. If necessary, the applicant may make changes to other senior/key personnel and other participating institutions, although DOE discourages extensive changes.

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)

Not applicable.

IV.B.2. Pre-application

PRE-APPLICATION DUE DATE

The pre-application due date is printed on the cover of the FOA.

ENCOURAGE/DISCOURAGE DATE

The pre-application response date is printed on the cover of the FOA.

A pre-application is required and must be submitted by the date indicated on the cover of the

FOA.

Program Manager to select when submitting a pre-application: Robin Hayes.

All questions about the FOA must be submitted to FedConnect.

Pre-applications will be reviewed for responsiveness of the proposed work to the research topics identified in this FOA. DOE will send a response by email to each applicant encouraging or discouraging the submission of an application by the date indicated on the cover of the FOA.

Applicants who have not received a response regarding the status of their pre-application by this date are responsible for contacting the program to confirm this status.

Applications that have not been encouraged by DOE may be declined without merit review.

The pre-application must include, at the top of the first page, the following information:

Title of Pre-application (EFRC Name) Principal Investigator Name (EFRC Director), Job Title https://www.grants.gov/ https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/

Lead Institution PI Phone Number, PI Email Address

FOA Number: Include the FOA Number indicated on the cover of this FOA New/Renewal Preapplication9

List of Partner Institutions [if applicable] Include a list or table of all senior/key personnel at the applicant and team member institutions.

The science focus area, specified in Section I, primarily addressed by the proposed work

The material listed here defines the required content of a cover page.

This information must be followed by a clear and concise description of the mission, scientific goals, research approaches, and potential scientific impact of the proposed EFRC, including at least the following elements:

• A clear and concise statement of the scientific mission of the proposed EFRC;

• An explicit set of four-year research goals designed to support that mission;

• At least one scientific hypothesis whose investigation motivates the proposed work;

• A description of the research methods…