DE-FOA-0003444.000001.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)

OFFICE OF SCIENCE (SC)

BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES (BES)

ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE

RESEARCH (DOE EPSCOR) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) NUMBER:

DE-FOA-0003444

FOA TYPE: AMENDMENT 000001

CFDA NUMBER: 81.049

Amendment 000001 is issued to remove references to diversity, equity, and inclusion; to remove references to PIER plans; to update regulatory requirements from Title 2 CFR; and to update research, technology, and economic security provisions.

FOA Issue Date: September 12, 2024 Submission Deadline for Pre-Applications: October 30, 2024 at 5:00 PM, Eastern Time

A Pre-Application is required.

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

Pre-Application Response Date: December 11, 2024 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time

Submission Deadline for Applications: January 29, 2025, 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

II.H. SUBSEQUENT RENEWAL APPLICATIONS

SECTION III – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

III.A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

III.B. COST SHARING

III.C. ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS

III.D. LIMITATIONS ON SUBMISSIONS

III.E. OTHER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

SECTION IV – APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

IV.A. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE

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

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

IV.D. CONTENT AND APPLICATION FORMS

IV.E. SUBMISSIONS FROM SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS

IV.F. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES

SECTION V - APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

V.A. CRITERIA

V.B. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

V.C. ANTICIPATED NOTICE OF SELECTION AND AWARD DATES

SECTION VI – AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

VI.A. AWARD NOTICES

VI.B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

VI.C. REPORTING

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

PERFORMANCE (DECEMBER 2015)

VI.E. INTERIM CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE...41

SECTION VII - QUESTIONS/AGENCY CONTACTS

VII.A. QUESTIONS

VII.B. AGENCY CONTACTS

SECTION VIII – SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

VIII.A. HOW-TO GUIDES

VIII.B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

VIII.C. REFERENCE MATERIAL

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UPDATES AND REMINDERS

RECOMMENDATION

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

INFORMATIONAL WEBINAR

SC plans to hold an informational webinar about this FOA on Thursday, September 26, 2024 at 4:00ET. Registration instructions and other details will be posted here.

INTERAGENCY FORMATS FOR CURRENT AND PENDING SUPPORT AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Interagency common instructions for preparing current and pending support and biographical sketches have been developed. The Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) system at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/ has been updated to support the forthcoming common instructions and formats. The fillable PDFs provided by the National Science Foundation are no longer available. 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.

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 https://science-doe.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_Gt6b74DvSG-urtWUTCgBSQ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/ https://science.osti.gov/grants/Policy-and-Guidance/Agreement-Forms https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/ ii institutions, including Principal Investigators (PIs), Co-PIs, and other Key Personnel, to provide their demographic information. 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 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)

- 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) https://www.grants.gov/ iv

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

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

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

List of Individuals who Should not Serve as Merit Reviews

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

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

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

Section I – FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

GENERAL INQUIRIES ABOUT THIS FOA SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO:

Technical/Scientific Program Contacts:

Dr. Tim Fitzsimmons and Dr. Tim Kidd tim.fitzsimmons@science.doe.gov and timothy.kidd@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 Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DOE EPSCoR) announces its interest in receiving new and renewal applications from applicants within eligible jurisdictions for Implementation Grants. Grants awarded under this program are intended to improve research capability through the support of a group of scientists and engineers, including undergraduate students, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, working on a common scientific theme in one or more EPSCoR jurisdictions. These awards are not appropriate mechanisms to provide support for individual faculty science and technology research projects. While the academic, non-profit and industrial research communities are welcome to lead or to participate in applications, a strong component of student participation in research is required for all applicants.

DOE EPSCoR follows NSF EPSCoR Program eligibility determinations. As a result, and in accordance with 2 CFR 910.126, competition, eligibility for award is restricted. Domestic applicants 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, that are within the following jurisdictions will be eligible to apply under this FOA: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

mailto:tim.fitzsimmons@science.doe.gov mailto:timothy.kidd@science.doe.gov

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Program Objective

DOE EPSCoR is a federal-state partnership program designed to:

• Enhance the capabilities of designated jurisdictions to conduct sustainable and nationally competitive energy-related research through increased human and technical resources, including training of scientists and engineers.

• Advance DOE’s overarching mission by supporting early-stage research and development for a wide range of topical areas across the Department:

o Office of Science: Accelerator Research, Development, and Production; Advanced Scientific Computing Research; Basic Energy Sciences; Biological and Environmental Research; Fusion Energy Sciences; High Energy Physics; Isotope R&D and Production; and Nuclear Physics o Technology Offices: Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response;

Electricity; Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Environmental Management;

Fossil Energy and Carbon Management; and Nuclear Energy

The objectives of the DOE EPSCoR Implementation Grants are to:

• Jumpstart capability development in the jurisdiction(s) through increased human and technical resources and research capacity development including equipment and instrumentation.1

• Support a group of researchers working on a common scientific theme, with mutually supporting goals and objectives.

• When topically relevant to the subject matter of the application, promote collaborations with other institutions of higher education and industry with strong participation by students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty from EPSCoR eligible institutions. These collaborations may include institutions from other EPSCoR jurisdictions. Collaborations involving more than one institution or more than one EPSCoR jurisdiction, while welcome, are not a requirement.

DOE EPSCoR also encourages, but does not require, implementation grants to work toward building beneficial relationships between institutions in EPSCoR jurisdictions and the DOE National Laboratories. In addition, there are opportunities to leverage capabilities of DOE Office of Science user facilities and to develop intellectual collaborations that may not be available locally. Please refer to the section on funding limitations below for limitations on national laboratory participation.

To further the success of the federal-state partnership and of the Implementation Grants in general, applicants must be aware of the following expectations:

1 Applications should focus primarily on research. Focusing an application on curriculum development and education as opposed to research will make the application nonresponsive.

1. Applications must present the opportunities for enhanced academic research and development competitiveness and, if appropriate, industrial or economic competitiveness, for the jurisdiction, including plans for the acquisition of sustained non-EPSCoR support.

2. Applications must exhibit a coherent focus on one DOE-related research area bringing together multiple researchers.

3. Applications must present a management plan for coordinating multiple investigators working on a common theme. This must include performance milestones and a timetable for achieving project goals and deliverables. Adequate provision for substantive time commitment by the Principal Investigator (PI) and if included the Project Director (PD), the research team and appropriate administrative support is an important factor contributing to the success of Implementation Grants. Previous experience indicates that strong external advisory boards are also a useful tool to assist in management of Implementation Grant awards. DOE EPSCoR strongly encourages their formation and regular use.

4. Applications must include letters of commitment from the Principal Investigator (PI) and if included the Project Director (PD) in Section IV D. Appendix 6;

5. Letters of Collaboration and Access to data, equipment, and user facilities may also be included in and in Section IV D. Appendix 6;

6. Letters of Institutional or EPSCoR jurisdiction commitment may be included in Section IV D. Appendix 7.

7. Renewal applications must have shown significant progress in the previous two-year award period.

8. In assessment of new applications, DOE EPSCoR reserves the right to give priority to applications that propose to develop new research areas rather than those that propose to enhance or continue research areas that have been previously funded under EPSCoR Implementation Grants or other DOE larger scale awards. Other program policy and selection criteria are described in subsection 2 of Section V B, REVIEW AND

SELECTION PROCESS.

Applications must identify the topical research area or areas with respect to the relevant DOE program office or offices (listed below) and the office’s specific program goals. Please review the websites for information on the office’s goals. The relevant program Office(s) and the associated scientific/technical point(s) of contact on the DOE (and not National Laboratory) staff must be identified on the cover page of both the pre-application and the application. If the program office or the associated scientific/technical point(s) of contact are unknown, please contact the DOE EPSCoR office (FOA technical contact) by email well in advance of the pre-application due date to request assistance in identifying potential points of contact with appropriate program offices.

As a measure of relevance to DOE missions, DOE EPSCoR will ask the program office or offices to make a meaningful commitment to applications selected for award, such as a financial contribution of up to 10% of the support for the proposed effort. While program offices or program office staff may not recommend commitment of funds prior to merit review, prospective applicants should make themselves aware of potential programmatic areas of interest prior to drafting a pre-application/application. Additional information on the DOE research programs is available at the website addresses below:

Department of Energy (General Information) Office of Science: Note each of the Program Areas in the Office of Science listed below (a.

through h.) has many research areas within it each area having respective program managers.

Similarly, each of the Technology Offices (i. through p.) will have multiple research areas with associated program staff. When listing associated scientific/technical point(s) of contact please list the staff directly associated with the research.

Each institution is limited to one submission per program area listed below (a. through p.).

Pre-applications and applications must list the program area from this list and should also list the relevant research area/ research area program manager within the respective program area.

a. Accelerator R&D and Production

b. Advanced Scientific Computing Research

c. Basic Energy Sciences

d. Biological and Environmental Research

e. Fusion Energy Sciences

f. High Energy Physics

g. Isotope R&D and Production

h. Nuclear Physics

i. Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response

j. Office of Electricity

k. Office of Environmental Management

l. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: Buildings and Industry

(including Advanced Materials and Manufacturing; Buildings; and Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization)

m. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: Renewable Energy (including Geothermal; Solar; Water; and Wind)

n. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: Sustainable Transportation (including Bioenergy; Hydrogen and Fuel Cells; and Vehicles)

o. Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management

p. Office of Nuclear Energy

While applications are solicited that address the full breadth of research topics cited above, research that supports the DOE ENERGY Earthshot Initiative topics are especially encouraged.

Meetings

The selected awardees will be expected to attend meetings for the subject discipline relevant DOE program or programs and potentially 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 https://www.energy.gov/ https://science.osti.gov/ https://science.osti.gov/ardap/ https://science.osti.gov/ascr https://science.osti.gov/bes https://www.energy.gov/science/ber/biological-and-environmental-research https://science.osti.gov/fes https://science.osti.gov/hep https://science.osti.gov/Isotope-Research-Development-and-Production https://www.energy.gov/science/np/nuclear-physics https://www.energy.gov/ceser/office-cybersecurity-energy-security-and-emergency-response https://www.energy.gov/oe/office-electricity https://www.energy.gov/em/office-environmental-management https://www.energy.gov/eere/office-energy-efficiency-renewable-energy https://www.energy.gov/eere/energy-efficiency-buildings-and-industry https://www.energy.gov/eere/ammto/advanced-materials-manufacturing-technologies-office https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/building-technologies-office https://www.energy.gov/eere/iedo/industrial-efficiency-decarbonization-office https://www.energy.gov/eere/iedo/industrial-efficiency-decarbonization-office https://www.energy.gov/eere/renewable-energy https://www.energy.gov/eere/geothermal/geothermal-technologies-office https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/solar-energy-technologies-office https://www.energy.gov/eere/water/water-power-technologies-office https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/wind-energy-technologies-office https://www.energy.gov/eere/sustainable-transportation-and-fuels https://www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-technologies-office https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-and-fuel-cell-technologies-office https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/vehicle-technologies-office https://www.energy.gov/fecm/office-fossil-energy-and-carbon-management https://www.energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy

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.

Applications from for-profit organizations that propose research related to current commercial activity may be declined without merit review.

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),

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

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

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

• Support for administrative personnel dedicated to the proposed activity,

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

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

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

• Temporary dependent-care costs incurred during travel,

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

• Instrumentation required to conduct proposed research,

• Equipment (items with a useful life of more than 12 months and a per-item acquisition cost of more than $10,000) required to conduct proposed research,

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

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

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

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

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

Multi-Institutional Teams

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

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

COLLABORATIVE APPLICATIONS

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

SUBAWARDS2

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 Laboratories3, other Federal agencies, and another Federal agency’s FFRDCs4, if participating in a team led by another institution, must not be proposed as subrecipients. They may participate as unfunded collaborators.

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.

2 Subawards are made to subrecipients. Both terms are defined in 2 CFR 200.1 (https://www.ecfr.gov) 3 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.

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

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 under this FOA. Multi-institutional teams must apply using a prime and subaward model with one application submitted by the lead institution.

Statement of Substantial Involvement

Not applicable.

II.B. ESTIMATED FUNDING

DOE anticipates that subject to the availability of future year appropriations, a total of $35 million in FY 2025 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

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

Ceiling

$1,500,000 per year for new awards $2,500,000 per year for renewal awards

Floor

$1,000,000 per year for new awards $1,500,000 per year for renewal awards

Annual budgets for awards and the total award size may, for good cause, vary above or below the above limits.

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

II.D. EXPECTED NUMBER OF AWARDS

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

II.E. ANTICIPATED AWARD SIZE

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

II.F. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

It is expected that awards will be fully funded in fiscal year 2025 for a project period of up to two years at a funding level appropriate for the proposed scope. Release of continuation funding (funding for the second budget period) is contingent on: (1) availability of funds appropriated by Congress and future year budget authority; (2) progress towards meeting the objectives of the approved application; (3) submission of required reports; and (4) compliance with the terms and conditions of the award.

II.G. TYPE OF APPLICATION

DOE will accept new and renewal applications under this FOA. Renewal applications will be accepted and considered only from awards made above the minimum funding floor under DE- FOA-0002431 Implementation Grants, issued in Fiscal Year 2021 ($1,000,000 per year) or awards made above the minimum floor under DE-FOA-0002913 Implementation Grants, issued in Fiscal Year 2023 and not from awards that were originally funded in FY 2019. Renewal applications not meeting these stipulations will be declined without review.

Information about how to distinguish between new and renewal applications is located in Section

VIII.

II.H. SUBSEQUENT RENEWAL APPLICATIONS

Successful new awardees may apply for up to two renewals periods of up to two years each for a total support period of six years. It is anticipated that successful renewal awards will be up to $2,500,000 per year.

Section III – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

III.A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

DOE EPSCoR follows NSF EPSCoR eligibility determinations. As a result, and in accordance with 2 CFR 910.126, competition, eligibility for award is restricted. Domestic applicants 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 that are within the following jurisdictions will be eligible for this FOA: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

The EPSCoR program limits eligibility in an effort to ensure that federal research funds are distributed across the entire nation. Congress found, in the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act of 2017, that EPSCoR “assists States and jurisdictions historically underserved by Federal research and development funding in strengthening their research and innovation capabilities.” Similarly, it is the sense of Congress that “maintaining the Nation’s scientific and economic leadership requires the participation of talented individuals nationwide.”

All research supported by an EPSCoR award must be performed in an EPSCoR jurisdiction or at a DOE National Laboratory. Funding support for the prime applicant and any potential subrecipients is limited to those with addresses within one or more EPSCoR jurisdictions.

Funding of foreign entities is not permitted for this FOA.

Participation of non-profit and for-profit organizations from EPSCoR jurisdictions is welcome, particularly as subrecipients to academic institutions from EPSCoR jurisdictions. If a non-profit or for-profit organization from an EPSCoR jurisdiction wishes to submit an application as the lead institution, participation of an academic institution in an EPSCoR jurisdiction including students and or postdoctoral fellows as substantial contributors to the team is required. For-profit applicants must include a letter from a responsible member of the applicant’s management committing that the location of the research as well as the staff participating for this application will be within one of the eligible jurisdictions. Industrial and for-profit organizations should note that if research is proposed in support of current commercial activity the application may be declined without merit review.

If a team involving more than one organization partnering through an unfunded collaboration with one or more national laboratory is envisaged, then one member institution of the team shall serve as the lead and other members of the team at other institutions must request support through subawards.

Federally affiliated7 entities need be aware of the eligibility standards below:

1. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories

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

2. Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs

Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs are neither eligible to submit applications under this FOA nor to be proposed as subrecipients under another organization’s application.

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.

Note for All Applicants:

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.

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.

Additionally, demonstrations of institutional or third-party commitment to the proposed activity, as described in Section IV.D., Appendix 7, are strongly encouraged for all applications.

Examples of non-Federal contributions that may be considered as demonstrating institutional or third-party commitment include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The provision of space, facilities, equipment, or resources at no or reduced charge;

• The provision of release time for faculty;

• The provision of scholarship support for students; or

• The waiver of facilities and administrative costs, in whole or in part.

• Third party contributions (e.g., state, private entities, etc.)

The institutional commitment is not to be documented on the application’s budget: institutional commitments are neither a formal nor a voluntary committed cost sharing, but it must be described in Section IV. D. Appendix 7.

Cost sharing and Institutional commitments may not include the following:

• Revenues or royalties from the prospective operation of an activity beyond the time considered in the award;

• Proceeds from the prospective sale of an asset of an activity; or

• Other Federal awards.

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 one pre-application and one application in each of the program areas (a - p) listed in Section I of this FOA. The count is regardless of whether a pre-application or application is for a new or renewal proposal. Applicant institutions may not submit pre-applications and applications for both new and renewal awards in each of the program areas. Renewal applications will be accepted and considered only from awards made above the minimum funding floor under awards made above the minimum funding floor under DE-FOA-0002431 Implementation Grants, issued in Fiscal Year 2021 ($1,000,000 per year) or awards made above the minimum floor under DE-FOA-0002913 Implementation Grants ($1,000,000), issued in Fiscal Year 2023. Renewal applications will not be accepted for awards that were originally funded in FY 2019 or prior years. Renewal applications not meeting these stipulations will be declined without review.

If the number of qualified pre-applications exceeds the limitations for that institution, then DOE will contact the Director of the Sponsored Research Office, or equivalent, at the institution to determine the pre-applications that have institutional support. Remaining pre-application(s) will be discouraged, and any applications linked to those pre-applications will be declined without merit review.

• Pre-applications that exceed the limited number of submissions may be discouraged without review.

• Applications that exceed the limited number of submissions may be declined without review.

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.

Individuals in a joint appointment are eligible to be proposed as a PI if work will be performed at the applicant institution and if the PI is a paid employee of the applicant institution. Individuals paid by another institution may not be named as the PI but may be named in other senior/key roles. A paid employee is one that is on the applicant institution’s payroll, receiving wages and benefits in accordance with the applicant institution’s normal wage and benefit practices, and whose position is not governed by any arrangement, agreement, or contract between the applicant institution and another institution. Individuals receiving more than half of their salary and benefits from a DOE/NNSA National Laboratory may not be named as the PI in an application under this FOA, regardless of any arrangement between the employing Laboratory and the applicant institution.

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

If the PI of an award made under this FOA were to accept a position at an institution that is not eligible to receive an award under this FOA, SC does not intend to deobligate funds from the resulting award to support a new award to the PI’s new institution. SC would be interested in the recipient institution proposing a new PI.

III.E. OTHER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Additional Eligibility Requirements may be identified in the listing of topical program areas and associated websites listed in Section I of this FOA.

Section IV – APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

IV.A. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE

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

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

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

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

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

Not applicable.

IV.B.2. Pre-application

PRE-APPLICATION DUE DATE

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

ENCOURAGE/DISCOURAGE DATE

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

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

FOA.

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

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

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

The first page of the pre-application must begin with the following information:

• The planned title of the research application

• The name and mailing address of the sponsoring institution

• The name, e-mail address, and telephone number of the PI and any co-PIs

• The topical research area(s)

• Funding Opportunity Announcement Number: DE-FOA-0003444 https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.fedconnect.net/ https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/

• DOE Office Sponsoring this FOA: DOE EPSCoR

• DOE EPSCoR Scientific/Technical Contact: Dr. Tim Fitzsimmons [when submitting a pre-application and in reference to Section VIII in the bullet item on Program Manager Dropdown select only Tim Fitzsimmons]

• Relevant DOE Program Office (this is in addition to the EPSCoR program) and sub program name/research area(s) when known

• Relevant DOE Program Office Scientific/Technical Contact (this is in addition to the DOE EPSCoR Program Manager and may not be a DOE National Laboratory research scientist or manager5)

The text of the pre-application may follow immediately below. The text of the pre-application must specify at least one scientific or engineering 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 including the items listed above may not exceed three 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 three-page limit. Biographical information is not requested for the pre-application.

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. Pre-applications that do not include this listing as an “Additional Attachment” in PAMS will be declined without review.

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

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

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

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

5 The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is a special case. If the proposed research involves NETL, please contact the EPSCoR Program Manager to discuss an appropriate point of contact to list.

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

Multi-Institutional Team Information

Names Institution Year 1 Budget

Year 2 Budget

Total Budget

Lead

PI

Co-PI Co-PI Co-PI

Example budget table ($ in thousands)

PRE-APPLICATION REVIEW

Federal Program Managers, contractors and fellows may evaluate all or some portion of pre-applications to determine their responsiveness and 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 including mission and priorities of the relevant DOE program(s).

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 and DOE priorities

• Ensuring an appropriate balance of activities within SC and DOE programs

• Performance under current awards

• Ensuring a distribution of supported researchers at various career stages

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

Any review which includes criteria 2, 3 and 4 will be conducted by no less than three subject matter experts under the direction of 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.

Oral feedback about pre-applications will be provided upon request after award selections have been announced.

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. 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 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 included in Appendix 6 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 mailto:PAMS.Autoreply@science.doe.gov https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/ https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/ https://www.fedconnect.net/ https://www.grants.gov/ 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:”.

Letters of collaboration or access should be placed in Appendix 6 (Other Attachments). Letters of collaboration or access must not be written as recommendation or endorsement letters, which are not allowed. Each letter of collaboration or access may contain two and only two sentences and must use the following format:

Dear <Principal Investigator Name>:

If your application entitled, “,” is selected for funding under the , it is my intent to collaborate in this research by…