DE-FOA-0003266.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)

OFFICE OF SCIENCE (SC)

ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH (ASCR)

DATA REDUCTION FOR SCIENCE

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) NUMBER:

DE-FOA-0003266

FOA TYPE: INITIAL

CFDA NUMBER: 81.049

FOA Issue Date: January 16, 2024 Submission Deadline for Pre-Applications: March 19, 2024 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time

A Pre-Application is required.

Pre-Application Response Date: April 2, 2024 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time Submission Deadline for Applications: May 7, 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)

VI.E. INTERIM CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE...33

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.

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 Personally Identifiable Information None present in the application v

Item Issue 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

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

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

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

Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan

PIER Plans are required for new and renewal applications.

Institutions capable of being funded through the DOE Field Work System

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

- Do not create new institutions in the

PAMS website.

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

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

Section I – FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

GENERAL INQUIRIES ABOUT THIS FOA SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO:

Technical/Scientific Program Contact:

Dr. William Spotz [Primary]

William.Spotz@science.doe.gov

Dr. Hal Finkel Hal.Finkel@science.doe.gov

Dr. Margaret R. Lentz Margaret.Lentz@science.doe.gov

When submitting pre-applications and applications in response to this FOA, please indicate the primary program contact, William Spotz, as the program manager on any form, title page, or other submission material.

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 Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) hereby announces its interest in research applications to explore potentially high-impact approaches in the development and use of data reduction techniques and algorithms to facilitate more efficient analysis and use of massive data sets produced by observations, experiments and simulation.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Scientific observations, experiments, and simulations are producing data at rates beyond our capacity to store, analyze, stream, and archive the data in raw form. Of necessity, many research groups have already begun reducing the size of their data sets via techniques such as compression, reduced order models, experiment-specific triggers, filtering, and feature extraction. Once reduced in size, transporting, storing, and analyzing the data is still a considerable challenge – a reality that motivates SC’s Integrated Research Infrastructure (IRI) mailto:William.Spotz@science.doe.gov mailto:Hal.Finkel@science.doe.gov mailto:Margaret.Lentz@science.doe.gov program [1] and necessitates further innovation in data-reduction methods. These further efforts should continue to increase the level of mathematical rigor in scientific data reduction to ensure that scientifically-relevant constraints on quantities of interest are satisfied, that methods can be integrated into scientific workflows, and that methods are implemented in a manner that inspires trust that the desired information is preserved. Moreover, as the scientific community continues to drive innovation in artificial intelligence (AI), important opportunities to apply AI methods to the challenges of scientific data reduction and apply data-reduction techniques to enable scientific AI, continue to present themselves [2-4].

The drivers for data reduction techniques constitute a broad and diverse set of scientific disciplines that cover every aspect of the DOE scientific mission. An incomplete list includes light sources, accelerators, radio astronomy, cosmology, fusion, climate, materials, combustion, the power grid, and genomics, all of which have either observatories, experimental facilities, or simulation needs that produce unwieldy amounts of raw data. ASCR is interested in algorithms, techniques, and workflows that can reduce the volume of such data, and that have the potential to be broadly applied to more than one application. Applicants who submit a pre-application that focuses on a single science application may be discouraged from submitting a full proposal.

Accordingly, a virtual DOE workshop entitled “Data Reduction for Science” was held in January of 2021, resulting in a brochure [5] detailing four priority research directions (PRDs) identified during the workshop. These PRDs are (1) effective algorithms and tools that can be trusted by scientists for accuracy and efficiency, (2) progressive reduction algorithms that enable data to be prioritized for efficient streaming, (3) algorithms which can preserve information in features and quantities of interest with quantified uncertainty, and (4) mapping techniques to new architectures and use cases. For additional background, see [6-9].

The principal focus of this FOA is to support applied mathematics and computer science approaches that address one or more of the identified PRDs. Research proposed may involve methods primarily applicable to high-performance computing, to scientific edge computing, or anywhere scientific data must be collected or processed. Significant innovations will be required in the development of effective paradigms and approaches for realizing the full potential of data reduction for science. Proposed research should not focus only on particular data sets from specific applications, but rather on creating the body of knowledge and understanding that will inform future scientific advances. Consequently, the funding from this FOA is not intended to incrementally extend current research in the area of the proposed project. Rather, the proposed projects must reflect viable strategies toward the potential solution of challenging problems in data reduction for science. It is expected that the proposed projects will significantly benefit from the exploration of innovative ideas or from the development of unconventional approaches.

Proposed approaches may include innovative research with one or more key characteristics, such as compression, reduced order models, experiment-specific triggers, filtering, and feature extraction, and may focus on cross-cutting concepts such as artificial intelligence or trust.

Preference may be given to pre-applications that include reduction estimates for at least two science applications.

References

[1] “Integrated Research Infrastructure Architecture Blueprint Activity,” https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1984466 [2] “AI for Science,” https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1604756 [3] “AI for Science, Energy, and Security,” https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1986455 [4] “BES Roundtable on Producing and Managing Large Scientific Data with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning,” https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1471113 [5] “Data Reduction for Science: Brochure from Advanced Scientific Computing Research Workshop,” https://doi.org/10.2172/1770192 [6] “ASCR Workshop on In Situ Data Management: Enabling Scientific Discovery from Diverse Data Sources,” https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1493245 [7] “Frontiers in Massive Data Analysis,” National Research Council. 2013. Washington, D.C.:

The National Academics Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/18374 [8] ASCAC Report on “Synergistic Challenges in Data-Intensive Science and Exascale Computing,” https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1471113 [9] “Assessing the Reliability of Complex Models – Mathematical and Statistical Foundations of Verification, Validation, and Uncertainty Quantification,” National Research Council 2012.

Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13395

Annual Meetings

The selected awardees will be expected to attend one annual PI meeting and participate in coordination activities with other projects.

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.

Multi-Institutional Teams

SC uses two different mechanisms to support teams of multiple 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-https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1984466 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1604756 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1986455 https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1471113 https://doi.org/10.2172/1770192 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1493245 https://doi.org/10.17226/18374 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1471113 https://doi.org/10.17226/13395 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) cover page for the submitting institution only.

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

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

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

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

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

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

SUBAWARDS1

Multi-institutional teams may submit one application from a designated lead institution with all other team members proposed as subrecipients.

DOE/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) National Laboratories2, other Federal agencies, and another Federal agency’s FFRDCs3, if participating in a team led by another institution, may be proposed as subrecipients. 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Section II – AWARD INFORMATION

II.A. TYPE OF AWARD INSTRUMENT

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

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

II.B. ESTIMATED FUNDING

DOE anticipates that, subject to the availability of future year appropriations, a total of $15,000,000 in current and future fiscal year funds will be used to support awards under this

FOA.

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.

A multi-institutional team, whether applied for as a prime applicant with subawards or as collaborative applications, is limited to a request of no more than $1,000,000 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

• DOE National Laboratories: $1,000,000 per year

• All other applicants: $400,000 per year

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

Floor

• DOE National Laboratories: $200,000 per year

• All other applicants: $150,000 per year

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

II.D. EXPECTED NUMBER OF AWARDS

(See B. Estimated Funding above.)

Approximately 5 to 10 awards are expected. The exact number of awards will depend on the number of meritorious applications and the availability of appropriated funds.

II.E. ANTICIPATED AWARD SIZE

(See B. Estimated Funding above.)

It is anticipated that award sizes may range from $150,000 per year to $1,000,000 per year, with median award sizes of $800,000 (for a DOE Laboratory) or $150,000 per year (for all other applicants). The award size will depend on the number of meritorious applications and the availability of appropriated funds.

II.F. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

(See B. Estimated Funding above.)

DOE anticipates making awards with a project period of three years.

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.

Federally affiliated4 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 eligible to submit applications (either as a lead organization or as a team member in a multi-institutional team) under this FOA and may be proposed as subrecipients under another organization’s application. If recommended for funding as a lead applicant or a team member, funding will be provided through an interagency agreement Award to the FFRDC’s sponsoring Federal Agency. If recommended for funding as a proposed subrecipient, the value of the proposed subaward may be removed from the prime applicant’s award and may be provided through an Inter-Agency Award to the FFRDC’s sponsoring Federal Agency. Additional instructions for securing authorization from the cognizant Contracting Officer are found in Section VIII of this FOA.

III.A.3. Other Federal Agencies

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

4 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.

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.

Notes for applicants of all types:

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

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

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

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

Applications that are submitted by applicants that have not submitted a required pre-application may be declined without further 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 both:

• No more than two pre-applications or applications as the lead institution.

• No more than one pre-application or application for each PI at the applicant institution.

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

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.

LIMITATIONS ON PI

The PI on a pre-application, or application may also be listed as a senior or key personnel, including in any role on a proposed subaward, on an unlimited number of separate submissions.

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.

LETTER OF INTENT DUE DATE

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

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.

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.

https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.fedconnect.net/

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

Title of Pre-application Principal Investigator Name, Job Title

[Lead] Institution PI Phone Number, PI Email Address

FOA Number: Include the FOA Number indicated on the cover of this FOA

The first page of the pre-application must specify at least one scientific hypothesis whose investigation motivates the proposed work, using no more than 100 words, in a box with a black border. For any hypothesis that is not itself innovative, the pre-application must describe at least one innovative insight into how the hypothesis can be investigated that may be exploited by the planned research.

This information must be followed by a clear and concise description of the objectives and technical approach of the proposed research. The pre-application may not exceed two pages, 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 smaller than 11 point. Figures and references, if included, must fit within the two-page limit.

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

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

PRE-APPLICATION REVIEW

Program Managers may evaluate all or some portion of pre-applications to determine their competitiveness within a scientific topic.

Any review will be based on the following criteria:

1. Responsiveness to the objectives of the FOA as stated in Section I.

2. Scientific and technical merit.

3. Appropriateness of the proposed research approaches.

4. Likelihood of scientific impact.

The decision to encourage or discourage the submission of an application may also be influenced by the following factors:

• Relevance of the proposed activity to SC priorities.

• Ensuring an appropriate balance of activities within SC programs.

• Performance under current awards.

• Ensuring a distribution of supported researchers at various career stages.

• Promoting the diversity of supported investigators and institutions.

• Increasing participation of institutions historically underrepresented in the SC research portfolio.

Any such review will be conducted by no less than three federal program managers chosen for their topical knowledge and diversity of perspective.

Reviews within a topical field will be a comparative review with priority given to scientifically innovative and forward-looking basic research with the highest likelihood of success as an application. The results of the review will be documented.

Applicants with the highest rated pre-applications will be encouraged to submit applications;

others will be discouraged from submitting applications.

Written feedback about pre-applications will be provided after award selections have been announced.

Topics with comparatively few pre-applications may not make use of such pre-application reviews. The ratio of encourage/discourage results will differ between topical subjects.

SC is committed to ensuring that a sufficient number of applicants will be encouraged to submit applications to foster a competitive merit review of the applications. DOE expects to allow approximately 30 proposals, with the exact number based on the review. SC’s intent in discouraging submission of certain applications is to save the time and effort of applicants in preparing and submitting applications with a low likelihood of success.

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

PRE-APPLICATION SUBMISSION

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

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

Applicants are strongly encouraged to inform their DOE Program Manager if teaming arrangements, proposed personnel, topics, or the anticipated title change between submitting the mailto:PAMS.Autoreply@science.doe.gov https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/ https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/ https://www.fedconnect.net/ https://www.grants.gov/ pre-application and when an application is submitted, to ensure that their application is properly linked to their pre-application and that reviewers are properly assigned to the application.

Detailed instructions about how to submit a pre-application are in Section VIII of this FOA.

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 OF COLLABORATION OR ACCESS

Letters from collaborators or from institutions providing access to data, models, software, equipment and/or facilities may be appended to your project narrative and are not considered part of the project narrative’s page limit. Please ensure that letters from collaborators or from institutions providing access to data, models, software, equipment and/or facilities only describe the nature of the collaboration or the access to data, models, software, equipment and/or facilities. Letters of recommendation are not allowed in applications under this FOA.

All letters may be addressed “To Whom It May Concern:”.

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 Assurances5. Applicants are bound by their representations and certifications in SAM.gov.

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.”

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.

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

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

• 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. Only new applications will be accepted under this FOA.

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

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.

Do not attach pre-applications to Field 20 of the SF-424(R&R) form or letters of intent to Field 21 of the SF-424(R&R) form.

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 https://www.ecfr.gov/ 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 being 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 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/.

https://energy.gov/mission 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: Advanced Scientific Computing Research

• DOE/SC Program Office Technical Contact: William Spotz

• PAMS Pre-application tracking number:

• Priority Research Direction(s) or areas as identified in Section I of this FOA:

• Listing of Senior/Key Personnel and institutional budget breakdown:

Senior/Key Personnel

• Senior/Key Personnel Name, Institution

• Senior/Key Personnel Name, Institution

• Senior/Key Personnel Name, Institution

Institution Year 1

Budget Year 2 Budget

Year … Budget

Total Budget

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, 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.