DE-FOA-0003261.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)

OFFICE OF SCIENCE (SC)

NUCLEAR PHYSICS (NP)

FY2024 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FOR NEXT

GENERATION NUCLEAR PHYSICS ACCELERATOR FACILITIES

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) NUMBER:

DE-FOA-0003261

FOA TYPE: INITIAL

CFDA NUMBER: 81.049

FOA Issue Date: January 18, 2024 Submission Deadline for Applications: March 4, 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

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)

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.

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)

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 v

Item Issue 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:

Dr. Manouchehr Farkhondeh Program Manager for Advanced Technology R&D 301-903-4398 / 301-655-6985 manouchehr.farkhondeh@science.doe.gov

Administrative Contact (questions about budgets and eligibility):

Ms. Saryna Cameron Program Support Specialist 301-903-1455 saryna.cameron@science.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) hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for Research and Development (R&D) efforts directed at transformative accelerator R&D of relevance to current or next generation NP accelerator facilities.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Program Objective

The NP mission is to discover, explore, and understand all forms of nuclear matter. NP supports experimental and theoretical research and the development and operation of accelerator facilities and advanced technologies to enable the supported research.

NP supports a broad range of activities aimed at research and development (R&D) related to the science, engineering, and technology of heavy ion, electron, and proton accelerators and associated systems. NP operates four accelerator-based scientific user facilities in accomplishing its mission: the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at the Thomas Jefferson mailto:manouchehr.farkhondeh@science.doe.gov mailto:saryna.cameron@science.doe.gov

National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams Facility (FRIB), at Michigan State University (MSU).:

• RHIC is a storage ring-based collider with heavy ion beam energies up to 100 GeV/amu and polarized proton beam energies up to 250 GeV to explore Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) through the study of hot, dense nuclear matter.

• CEBAF is a 12 GeV multi-pass superconducting continuous wave electron accelerator with simultaneous beam deliveries to four experimental halls used for the investigation of nuclear and nucleon structure based on the underlying quark substructure.

• ATLAS is a low energy stable isotope accelerator for studying the origin and structure of nuclear matter. The facility is a superconducting linear accelerator with heavy ions at energies in the vicinity of the Coulomb barrier.

• FRIB is a 200 MeV/amu, designed to ultimately reach 400kW super conducting radio frequency (SRF)-based linac with a variety of rare isotope beams for the study of nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics.

In addition to these accelerators, NP also supports the 88 Inch Cyclotron at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL), the Texas A&M University Cyclotron, and the High Intensity Gamma Source (HIγS) facility at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL) on the campus of Duke University, which provides gamma ray beams for unique studies of nuclear science.

As described in the NP 2023 Long Range Planning Report (2023 LRP), future advances in nuclear physics rely upon a vibrant program of accelerator R&D, pushing on accelerator beam transport technology. R&D for novel accelerator ideas and innovations influence fields such as medicine and national security. The LRP emphasizes that such developments must continue and that for the United States to maintain its position as a leader in nuclear physics, it must have state-of the-art accelerator technologies while working to develop new technologies. Accelerator R&D focus should include physics of intense beams, beam control and advanced beam tuning techniques, new sources for intense polarized and unpolarized electron and ion beams, and superconducting radio frequency (SRF) technology to overcome beam intensity and beam quality challenges. Although beam energy is not a challenge for nuclear physics facilities, it is important to develop more efficient and cost-effective accelerators, a goal shared with the high-energy physics community.

Accelerator R&D described in this FOA supports efforts essential to developing world-leading core competencies and transformative technologies that significantly advance the state-of-the-art accelerator capabilities, whether for new facilities or improving the performance of existing facilities. In addition to the 2023 LRP, essential efforts in accelerator R&D were identified by the NP community in various workshops, as well as the 2013 Report of the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC) Subcommittee on Scientific Facilities, “Major Nuclear Physics Facilities for the Next Decade.” Core competencies relevant to NP-supported facilities are:

collider physics, hadron beam cooling, high field superconducting magnets, SRF, and ion source technologies. Supporting R&D in these key topics will maintain a cadre of scientific personnel skilled in these strategic accelerator technology core competencies.

With the approval of CD-0 Mission Need for the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) and the selection of BNL as the EIC site, all accelerator R&D directly related to the EIC project will be excluded from this FOA. Any R&D associated with the current EIC design concept with its 2021 approved CD-1 Approved Alternative Selection will be supported through EIC’s appropriated Other Project Cost (OPC) funds and will not be considered for this FOA. However, R&D that may lead to advancement in the capabilities of EIC after construction may be considered.

Accelerator R&D intended for this announcement should fall in the following general categories:

• Accelerator R&D that significantly advances the state-of-the-art accelerator capabilities of relevance to next generation machines for the study of nuclear physics.

• Accelerator R&D that significantly advances the state-of-the-art accelerator capabilities of relevance to improving the performance of existing facilities studying nuclear physics.

In particular, applications in the following areas are encouraged:

• Transformative accelerator R&D in SRF technology for restoring cryomodule performance at SRF-based accelerator facilities. One example is R&D to establish practical and reproduceable in situ plasma processing techniques.

• Transformative accelerator R&D in next generation ion and electron sources.

Applications requesting support for multiple tasks must address each task separately, providing a schedule for the unique R&D of each task, its goals and objectives, its methods and approaches, and separately identifying its budgetary needs.

Awards issued under this FOA are intended to increase knowledge about how cutting-edge accelerators may be designed, built, or enhanced. This knowledge is expected to be of interest to all researchers and sponsors of research in the fields of nuclear and accelerator physics.

Intellectual property generated under any awards resulting from this FOA will remain the property of the inventor or awardee.

References:

• Report of 2023 DOE/National Science Foundation (NSF) Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC) Long Range Plan. NSAC’s report can be found at https://science.osti.gov/np/nsac/Reports

• Report of 2015 DOE/National Science Foundation (NSF) Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC) Long Range Plan. NSAC’s report can be found at https://science.osti.gov/-/media/np/nsac/pdf/2015LRP/2015_LRPNS_091815.pdf

• 2012 NP community White paper on Electron Ion Collider: The Next QCD Frontier, Understanding the glue that binds us all https://arxiv.org/pdf/1212.1701

• Report of the NSAC Subcommittee on Scientific Facilities “Major Nuclear Physics Facilities for the Next Decade”, March 14, 2013, https://science.osti.gov/- /media/np/nsac/pdf/docs/2013/NSAC_FacilitiesReport.pdf https://science.osti.gov/np/nsac/Reports https://science.osti.gov/-/media/np/nsac/pdf/2015LRP/2015_LRPNS_091815.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/1212.1701 https://science.osti.gov/-/media/np/nsac/pdf/docs/2013/NSAC_FacilitiesReport.pdf https://science.osti.gov/-/media/np/nsac/pdf/docs/2013/NSAC_FacilitiesReport.pdf

Additional information regarding current NP research topics may be found at https://science.osti.gov/np/about/ and https://science.osti.gov/np/research/.

NP is committed to promoting greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in research efforts. NP encourages applicants to foster more collaborations with underrepresented groups and minority serving institutions and to provide more opportunities for the next generation of young physicists.

Annual Meetings

The selected awardees will be expected to attend one annual PI meeting [and participate in coordination activities with other projects]. 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, https://science.osti.gov/np/about/ https://science.osti.gov/np/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. NP strongly encourages teams comprised solely of universities to submit applications from a designated lead institution with all other team members proposed as subrecipients. NP strongly recommends that teams with DOE/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) National Laboratories1, other Federal agencies, and another Federal agency’s FFRDCs2 in non-lead roles consider the use of collaborative applications. NP encourages applications led by National Laboratories to propose all team members as subawards.

SUBAWARDS3

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 Laboratories, other Federal agencies, and another Federal agency’s FFRDCs, if participating in a team led by another institution, may be proposed as subrecipients.

1 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.

2 An authoritative list of all Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) may be found at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/ 3 Subawards are made to subrecipients. Both terms are defined in 2 CFR 200.1 (https://www.ecfr.gov) https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/ https://www.ecfr.gov/

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.

COLLABORATIVE APPLICATIONS

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)4 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.

For collaborative proposals, 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.

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.

4 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.

https://www.export.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/

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.

Section II – AWARD INFORMATION

II.A. TYPE OF AWARD INSTRUMENT

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

II.B. ESTIMATED FUNDING

DOE anticipates that subject to the availability of future year appropriations, a total of up to $8 million in current and next fiscal year funds will be used to support awards under this FOA.

Awards from this FOA are expected to be made for a period of two 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 the floor listed below apply to each site in a multi-institutional team submitting collaborative applications.

Ceiling

$2,000,000 for two years

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

Floor

$50,000 for two years

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 two (2) 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.

II.G. TYPE OF APPLICATION

DOE will only accept new applications under this FOA.

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.

Small businesses are not eligible to lead multi-institutional teams, but they may be proposed as team members, using either a subaward or a collaborative application model, in teams led by other applicants.

Federally affiliated5 entities must adhere to the eligibility standards below:

III.A.1. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories

DOE/NNSA National Laboratories 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 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 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 neither eligible to submit applications under this FOA nor to be proposed as subrecipients under another organization’s application.

Notes for applicants of all types:

5 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.

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.

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.

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 3 applications per principal investigator (lead PI or Co-PI). There is no limit on the number of applications per institution. DOE will consider the latest received submissions to be the institution’s intended submissions.

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

• The PI on an application may also be listed as a senior or key personnel on separate submissions without limitation.

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

Not applicable.

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

Applications in response to this FOA must be submitted through Grants.gov. Detailed instructions for registering in and using Grants.gov are in Section VIII of this FOA.

IV.D. CONTENT AND APPLICATION FORMS

LETTERS

Letters of support or recommendation are not allowed in applications under this FOA. However, applicants should have the support of all proposed team members prior to submission of an application.

IV.D.1. SF-424 (R&R)

Complete this form first to populate data in other forms. Complete all the required fields in accordance with the pop-up instructions on the form. The list of certifications and assurances referenced in Field 17 is available on the DOE Financial Assistance Forms Page at https://energy.gov/management/office-management/operational-management/financial-assistance/financial-assistance-forms under Certifications and Assurances6. Applicants are bound by their representations and certifications in SAM.gov.

6 No separate form or submission is required for the Certifications and Assurances.

https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.fedconnect.net/ https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/ https://energy.gov/management/office-management/operational-management/financial-assistance/financial-assistance-forms https://energy.gov/management/office-management/operational-management/financial-assistance/financial-assistance-forms

TYPE OF SUBMISSION (FIELD 1)

Select the checkbox for “Application” for an initial submission. Select the checkbox for “Changed/Corrected Application” if submitting an updated version of an application. Do not submit pre-applications via Grants.gov: Do not select the checkbox for “Pre-application.”

IDENTIFYING NUMBERS (FIELD 4)

For renewals and supplemental funding, enter the DOE award number in Field 4a. Do not enter any other number in Field 4a. Do not enter anything in Field 4b. If submitting an updated version of an application, you may enter the previous Grants.gov Tracking ID in Field 4c, though this is not required.

UEI AND EIN NUMBERS (FIELDS 5 AND 6)

The Uniform Entity Identifier (UEI) and Employer Identification Number (EIN) fields on the SF-424 (R&R) form are used in PAMS to confirm the identity of the individual or organization submitting an application.

• Enter the UEI as a 12-digit alpha-numerical sequence.

• Enter the EIN as a nine-digit number.

• Do not use hyphens or dashes.

• SC does not use the 12-digit EIN format required by some other agencies.

• Applications will not be rejected if an applicant’s system-to-system service uses a 12-digit

EIN format or inserts hyphens or dashes in an EIN.

TYPE OF APPLICATION (FIELD 8)

A new application is one in which DOE support for the proposed research is being requested for the first time. A renewal application requests additional funding for a period of time following a current award. Only new applications will be accepted under this FOA.

SC does not make use of the Resubmission or Continuation options.

Applications for supplemental support of an existing award should be marked as “Revision.”

Please answer “yes” to the question “Is this application being submitted to other agencies?” if substantially similar, identical, or closely related research objectives are being submitted to another Federal agency. Indicate the agency or agencies to which the similar objectives have been submitted.

IV.D.2. Research and Related Other Project Information

Complete questions in fields 1 through 6 of the SF-424 Research and Related Other Project Information form.

Note regarding question 4.a. and 4.b.:

If any environmental impact, positive or negative, is anticipated, indicate “yes” in response to question 4.a., “potential impact – positive or negative - on the environment.” Disclosure of the impact should be provided in response to question 4.b. First indicate whether the impact is positive or negative and then identify the area of concern (e.g., air, water, exposure to radiation, impacts to endangered species or historic properties, etc.). Should the applicant have any uncertainty, they should check “yes.”

DOE understands the phrase in field 4.a., “potential impact … negative” to apply if the work described in the application could potentially have any of the impacts listed in (1) through (5) of 10 CFR 1021, Appendix B, Conditions that Are Integral Elements of the Classes of Action in Appendix B. (https://www.ecfr.gov)

Additionally, for actions which could have any other adverse impacts to the environment or have any possibility for adverse impacts to human health (e.g., use of human subjects, Biosafety Level 3-4 laboratory construction/operation, manufacture or use of certain nanoscale materials which are known to impact human health, or any activities involving transuranic or high level radioactive waste, or use of or exposure to any radioactive materials beyond de minimis levels), applicants should indicate a “negative” impact on the environment.

Lastly, 1) if there would be extraordinary circumstances (i.e., factor or circumstance that could increase the level of significance of environmental effects normally associated with the proposed action) (10 CFR 1021.410 (b)(2)), 2) if the work is connected to other actions with potentially significant impacts (10 CFR

1021.410 (b)(3), or 3) if the work is related to other nearby actions with the potential for cumulatively significant impacts (10 CFR 1021.410 (b)(3)), applicants should indicate a “negative” impact on the environment.

The bulk of your application will consist of files attached to the Research and Related Other Project Information form. The files must comply with the following instructions:

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT (FIELD 7 ON THE FORM)

The project summary/abstract is a summary of the proposed activity suitable for distribution to the public and sufficient to permit potential reviewers to identify conflicts of interest. It must be a self-contained document. The project summary/abstract must be comprised of:

• The project title, the PI name and the PI’s institutional affiliation, and any coinvestigators and their institutional affiliations.

• This information must be followed by a statement of the project’s objectives, a description of the project, including methods to be employed, and the potential impact of the project (i.e., benefits, outcomes).

• The description of the proposed research may not exceed one page (excluding Project Title and list of investigators) when printed using 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 https://www.ecfr.gov/ smaller than 11 point. Figures and references, if included, must fit within the one-page limit.

A sample is provided below:

Project Title

A. Smith, Lead Institution (Principal Investigator) A. Brown, Institution 2 (Co-Investigator) A. Jones, Institution 3 (Co-Investigator)

Text of abstract (no more than one page, excluding Project Title and list of investigators)

If an application is recommended for award, the project summary will be used in preparing a public abstract about the award. Award abstracts and titles form a Government document that describes the project and justifies the expenditure of Federal funds in light of the DOE and SC mission statements at https://energy.gov/mission and https://science.osti.gov/about/.

• Do not include any proprietary or sensitive business information.

• DOE may use the abstract to prepare public reports about supported research.

DOE TITLE PAGE

(PART OF PROJECT NARRATIVE ATTACHED TO FIELD 8 ON THE FORM)

The application narrative must begin with a title page that will not count toward the project narrative page limitation. The title page must include the following items:

• The project title:

• Applicant/Institution:

• Street Address/City/State/ZIP:

• Postal Address:

• Lead PI name, telephone number, email:

• Administrative Point of Contact name, telephone number, email:

• FOA Number: Include the FOA number printed on the cover of this FOA.

• DOE/SC Program Office:

• DOE/SC Program Office Technical Contact:

• DOE Award Number (if Renewal Application):

The material listed here defines the required content of a title page. Additional material is not allowed.

Important Instructions to the Sponsored Research Office of Submitting Institutions: SC requires that you create 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, https://energy.gov/mission https://science.osti.gov/about/ signatures, passwords, redactions, or other advanced features available in some PDF-compatible software. Do not use PDF portfolios or binders. 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 project 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. Do not attach any of the appendices listed in this paragraph separately in any other field in Grants.gov. If you do, these additional attachments will not become part of the application in PAMS.

TITLE PAGE SUPPLEMENT FOR COLLABORATIVE APPLICATIONS

(PART OF PROJECT NARRATIVE ATTACHED TO FIELD 8 ON THE FORM)

If a multi-institutional team is submitting collaborative applications, provide the following information on a separate page as a supplement to the title page. This page will not count toward the project narrative 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.

• Provide a statement explaining the leadership structure of the team.

• Include a description of each institution’s facilities, equipment, and resources that will be made available to the team.

• If applicable, explain how students and early-stage researchers will be trained and mentored by senior researchers.

• 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.

Names Institution Year 1

Budget Year 2 Budget

Total Budget

Lead

PI

Co-PI Co-PI Co-PI

Example budget table ($ in thousands)

* Note that collaborating applications must be submitted separately.

PROJECT NARRATIVE (FIELD 8 ON THE FORM)

The project narrative must not exceed a page limit of 16 pages single-institution applications and 24 pages for multi-institutional teams of technical information, including charts, graphs, maps, photographs, and other pictorial presentations, when printed using standard letter-size (8.5-inch x 11-inch) paper with 1-inch margins (top, bottom, left, and right). The body text font of all main text must not be smaller than 11 point. Merit reviewers will only consider the number of pages specified in the first sentence of this paragraph. This page limit does not apply to the Title Page, Budget Page(s), Budget Justification, biographical material, publications and references, appendices, and an optional table of content, each of which may have its own page limit defined later in this FOA.

Do not include any websites (URLs) that provide supplementary or additional information that constitutes a part of the application. Merit reviewers are not required to access websites;

however, Internet publications in a list of references will be treated identically to print publications. See Section VIII of this FOA for instructions on how to mark proprietary application information. To attach a Project Narrative, click “Add Attachment.”

The Project Narrative comprises the research plan for the project. It should contain enough background material in the Introduction, including a brief review of the relevant literature and any prior research in this area, to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the state of the science.

The major part of the narrative should be devoted to a description and justification of the proposed project, including details of the methods to be used. It should also include a timeline for the major activities of the proposed project and should indicate which project personnel will be responsible for which activities. There should be no ambiguity about which personnel will perform particular parts of the project, and the time at which these activities will take place.

The following organization of the Project Narrative is suggested:

• Background/Introduction: Explanation of the importance and relevance of the proposed work as well as a review of the relevant literature.

• Project Objectives: This section should provide a clear, concise statement of the specific objectives/aims of the proposed project.

• Proposed Research and Methods: Identify the hypotheses to be tested (if any) and details of the methods to be used including the integration of experiments with theoretical and computational research efforts.

Buy America Requirement for Infrastructure Projects

Awards funded through this FOA that are for, or contain, construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of public infrastructure in the United States undertaken by applicable recipient types, require that:

• All iron, steel, and manufactured products used…