DE-FOA-0003545.pdf

Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC)

Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)

EXPRESS: 2025 Exploratory Research for Extreme-Scale Science

Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Number:

DE-FOA-0003545

NOFO Type: Initial CFDA Number: 81.049

NOFO Issue Date: January 20, 2025 Submission Deadline for Pre-Applications: February 25, 2025, at 5:00 PM Eastern Time

A Pre-Application is required.

Pre-Application Response Date: March 18, 2025, at 5:00 PM Eastern Time Submission Deadline for Applications: May 6, 2025, at 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Table of Contents

I. BASIC INFORMATION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

FUNDING DETAILS

KEY FACTS

KEY DATES

AGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION

INFORMATIONAL WEBINAR / OFFICE HOURS

RECOMMENDATION

II. ELIGIBILITY

A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

B. COST SHARING

C. ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS

D. LIMITATIONS ON SUBMISSIONS

E. MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM AWARD SIZE

III. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

A. PURPOSE

B. PROGRAM GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND PRIORITIES

C. AWARD CONTRIBUTION TO GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

D. PERFORMANCE GOALS

E. SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT

F. PROGRAM UNALLOWABLE COSTS

G. CITATIONS TO STATUTE AND REGULATIONS

H. PROGRAM HISTORY

I. OTHER INFORMATION

IV. APPLICATION CONTENTS AND FORMAT

A. PRELIMINARY SUBMISSIONS

B. APPLICATION

C. COMPONENT PIECES OF THE APPLICATION

D. INFORMATION THAT MUST BE SUBMITTED AFTER APPLICATION BUT

BEFORE AWARD

V. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND DEADLINES

A. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE

B. UNIQUE ENTITY IDENTIFIER (UEI) AND SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT

(SAM.GOV)

C. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

D. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES

VI. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. RESPONSIVENESS REVIEW

B. REVIEW CRITERIA

C. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

VII. AWARD NOTICES

A. TYPE OF AWARD INSTRUMENT

B. ANTICIPATED TIMELINE FOR NOTICE OF SELECTION FOR AWARD

NEGOTIATION

VIII. POST-AWARD REQUIREMENTS AND ADMINISTRATION

A. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

B. REPORTING

C. REPORTING OF MATTERS RELATED TO RECIPIENT INTEGRITY AND

PERFORMANCE (DECEMBER 2015)

D. INTERIM CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

IX. OTHER INFORMATION

A. CHECKLIST FOR AVOIDING COMMON ERRORS

B. HOW-TO GUIDES

C. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

D. REFERENCE MATERIAL

I. Basic Information

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC)

Executive Summary

The DOE SC program in Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) hereby announces its interest in basic research to explore potentially high-impact approaches in scientific computing and extreme-scale science.

Funding Details Expected total available funding $16,000,000 Expected number of awards 20 Expected dollar amount of individual awards $200,000-$1,000,000 Expected award project period Two years

Key Facts NOFO Title EXPRESS: 2025 Exploratory Research for Extreme-Scale Science NOFO Number DE-FOA-0003545 Announcement Type Initial Assistance Listing 81.049 Statutory Authority The programmatic authorizing statutes are:

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

Governing 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

Key Dates

Key dates are printed on the cover of this NOFO.

Agency Contact Information

Grants.gov Customer Support

800-518-4726 (toll-free) support@Grants.gov

PAMS

Customer Support

855-818-1846 (toll-free) 301-903-9610 sc.pams-helpdesk@science.doe.gov mailto:support@grants.gov mailto:sc.pams-helpdesk@science.doe.gov

Technical/Scientific Program Contact

Office of Science, Advanced Scientific Computing Research Hal Finkel 301-903-1304 hal.finkel@science.doe.gov

Please see Section III for the program managers for each research area. For questions specific to a particular research area, please email the associated program manager.

Informational Webinar / Office Hours

SC plans to hold an informational webinar about this NOFO. Registration instructions and other details will be posted at https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Funding-Opportunities.

Recommendation

SC encourages you to register in all systems as soon as possible. You are also encouraged to submit pre-applications and applications well before the deadline.

mailto:hal.finkel@science.doe.gov https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Funding-Opportunities

II. Eligibility

A. Eligible Applicants

All types of 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 affiliated1 entities must adhere to the eligibility standards below:

1. DOE/National Nuclear Security Administration (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 NOFO 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 NOFO 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 IX of this NOFO.

2. Non-DOE/NNSA Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (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 NOFO 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 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 interagency agreement to the FFRDC’s sponsoring Federal Agency.

Additional instructions for securing authorization from the cognizant Contracting Officer are found in Section IX of this NOFO.

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 NOFO 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

1 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 IX of this NOFO.

Notes for applicants of all types:

• 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 NOFO does not support an applicant’s commercial activity. This NOFO 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 will be declined without further review.

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

B. COST SHARING

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

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

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

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.

SC does not require that individuals be U.S. citizens or permanent residents to be proposed as a PI or in any other role under an award, but all personnel working or proposed to work under an award must have the legal right to perform such work in the jurisdiction where the work will be performed. Individuals at any stage of their career may be proposed as a PI if they have the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research.

D. LIMITATIONS ON SUBMISSIONS

Applicant institutions are limited to both:

• No more than a total of two pre-applications or applications per research area specified in

Section III as the lead institution in a single- or multi-institutional team.

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

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

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

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

DOE/NNSA NATIONAL LABORATORY EFFORT

For multi-institutional teams with one or more DOE National Laboratories, but where a DOE National Laboratory is not the lead institution, including cases where DOE National Laboratories are proposed as subrecipients, the DOE National Laboratory effort, in aggregate, shall not exceed 60% percent of the total estimated cost of the project.

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

PIs are not required to be in tenure-track appointments.

E. MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM AWARD SIZE

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

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

A multi-institutional team, whether applied for as a prime applicant with subawards or as collaborative applications, may request, in aggregate, no more than:

• $500,000 per year, for all teams led by a DOE National Laboratory

• $250,000 per year, for all other teams

Applications from teams requesting more than this amount of support will be declined without further review.

Ceiling

• DOE National Laboratories: $500,000 per year

• All other applicants: $250,000 per year

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

Floor

$100,000 per year

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

III. Program Description

A. Purpose

The DOE SC program in Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) hereby announces its interest in basic research to explore potentially high-impact approaches in scientific computing and extreme-scale science.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Program Objective

Extreme-scale science recognizes that disruptive technology changes are occurring across science applications, algorithms, computer architectures and ecosystems. Recent reports point to emerging trends and advances in high-end computing, quantum technologies, and artificial intelligence on increasingly heterogeneous architectures. Significant innovation will be required in the development of effective paradigms and approaches for realizing the full potential of scientific computing from emerging technologies. Proposed research should not focus on a specific science use case, but rather on creating the body of knowledge and understanding that will inform future advances in extreme-scale science. Consequently, the funding from this NOFO is not intended to incrementally extend current research in the area of the proposed project. It is expected that the proposed projects will significantly benefit from the exploration of innovative ideas or from the development of unconventional approaches.

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

Exploratory Research for Extreme-Scale Science (EXPRESS) opportunities exist for the following research topics:

A) Quantum computation based on topological concepts B) Local and Campus-Area Quantum Networking for Next Generation Parallel Quantum

Computing C) Neuromorphic Computing D) Computational Physical Systems E) Deep Understanding of AI Models

Applications submitted in response to this NOFO must substantially address one among the preceding list of research topics. Additional details about each topic are provided below.

A) Quantum computation based on topological concepts Technical Contact/Program Manager: Marco Fornari, Marco.Fornari@science.doe.gov

The ASCR Workshop on Basic Research Needs in Quantum Computing and Networking [1] highlights the importance of enhancing the resilience of quantum systems to noise and errors suggesting that co-design techniques could contribute to error prevention, protection, mitigation, and correction. Topology studies the features of mathematical objects that are preserved through mailto:Marco.Fornari@science.doe.gov continuous transformations. In quantum science, uses of topology include understanding small perturbations affecting quantum states and special topological properties that can potentially protect quantum states from decay and decoherence. As a result, quantum states with specific topological characteristics lead to promising advances in qubit technologies, quantum memories, and quantum algorithms.

The principles of topological quantum computing have been extensively studied; practical implementations are, however, still in their infancy due to the difficulty of stabilizing and controlling anyons in physical systems. Nevertheless, algorithmic developments guided by topological considerations have been quite successful in developing efficient techniques to control quantum errors. In addition, topological quantum systems have motivated many applications on NISQ hardware to simulate effects and test theoretical conjectures.

Research Area This topic seeks to exploit topological concepts and strategies to advance models and algorithms toward the possible realization of universal quantum computing and quantum memories, including the integration of topological principles in current quantum computing approaches.

Basic research on ways to potentially exploit topological quantum computing, advancements aimed to expand on algorithms for topologically protecting quantum states, and proposals focused on designing quantum topological models relevant to quantum computation are central to this topic. Models and algorithms must be accompanied by sound theoretical and computational analysis, possibly including verification and validation strategies.

Out of Scope Out of scope are pre-applications and applications that:

• Fail to address the research area specified above; or

• Research quantum security protocols; or

• Focus on quantum simulation of topological models without addressing computing aspects; or

• Solely focus on quantum materials; or

• Propose to physically construct qubits.

Pre-applications and applications that meet the out-of-scope criteria described above will be declined without review.

References

1. ASCR Basic Research Needs in Quantum Computing and Networking, https://doi.org/10.2172/2001045 (2023).

B) Local and Campus-Area Quantum Networking for Next Generation Parallel Quantum Computing Technical Contact: Kalyan Perumalla, Kalyan.Perumalla@science.doe.gov

Quantum networking involves effective communication of quantum information among geographically distributed quantum systems, separated by short or long distances. Sources of https://doi.org/10.2172/2001045 https://doi.org/10.2172/2001045 mailto:Kalyan.Perumalla@science.doe.gov quantum information in the network communication include qubits used in different forms of quantum computing or output from various quantum sensing devices.

This topic seeks advancements in quantum networking over short distances to enable parallel quantum computing within a building and integration of quantum information sources to storage and quantum computing across a campus area. The interconnection of different co-located quantum computing systems is aimed at increasing the scale of quantum computation (e.g., aggregate number of qubits) and at progressing towards an architecture of flexible connectivity of quantum devices across a laboratory or university campus, potentially composing heterogeneous quantum computing hardware, including broadening of networking from exchange of physical qubits to logical qubits.

Research Area The specific aim of this topic is to support quantum science needed to effectively scale quantum computing and enable flexible exchanges of coherent quantum information via locally networked heterogeneous quantum systems. Proposals must address one or more research advancements in the aforementioned directions in local and campus-area quantum networking. Research must be aimed at advancing our understanding of aspects, such as core concepts, devices, architectures, integration, and interfaces, that are necessary for a quantum counterpart to the current infrastructures of classical local and campus area networks within the scientific and other facilities.

Out of Scope Topics that are out of scope include:

• Research solely focused on quantum materials

• Research involving wide-area quantum repeaters

• Research involving wide-area quantum networking architectures and testbeds

• Research primarily focused on coexistence of quantum and classical communication

• Research in quantum security protocols.

Projects that fall within the out-of-scope areas described above will be declined without review.

References

1. ASCR Basic Research Needs in Quantum Computing and Networking” (Report), July 2023, https://doi.org/10.2172/2001045.

C) Neuromorphic Computing Technical Contact: Robinson Pino, Robinson.Pino@science.doe.gov

Neuromorphic computing spans a broad range of scientific disciplines from emerging devices, engineering, computer science to neuroscience, all of which are required to solve the neuromorphic computing grand challenge. The aim of this topic is to support high risk and high reward research and development of computational neuroscience and biologically inspired computing architectures with emphasis on analog applications on energy-efficient emerging microelectronic circuitry. The aim is to investigate and prototype foundational neuromorphic https://doi.org/10.2172/2001045 mailto:Robinson.Pino@science.doe.gov computing architecture primitive circuits that will replicate neurobiological processes and accelerate AI for scientific research applications while delivering energy efficiency.

Research Area This topic is specific to the modeling, fabrication, and prototyping of neuromorphic computing circuit primitives for generalizable applications emphasizing analog approaches, emerging devices, algorithms, and energy efficiency. Proposals must address state-of-the-art and propose to investigate basic research approaches beyond the state-of-the-art. In addition, pre-proposals and proposals must clearly articulate a computational neuroscience-based justification (beyond high level descriptions or representations of neuron and synapses), circuit primitive, and rationale for the proposed research approach through energy-efficient hardware implementations that leverage emerging devices and CMOS. This research topic focuses on demonstrating biologically realistic neuromorphic circuits primitives that capture the functionality of neural systems found in nature.

Out of Scope Topics that are out of scope include:

• Research that does not address the specific topic described above;

• Statistical, probabilistic, reservoir, crossbar, hyper dimensional, mix-signal, cryogenic, quantum, or digital approaches to neuromorphic computing;

• Projects that solely focus on materials-science research or software;

• Projects that do not propose fabrication;

• Projects that do not propose prototyping of emerging devices (non-CMOS) and CMOS.

Projects that fall within the out-of-scope areas described above will be declined without review.

References

1. DOE Workshop: Neuromorphic Computing for Science, September 2024, https://www.orau.gov/2024NeuromorphicComputing.

D) Computational Physical Systems Technical Contact: Hal Finkel, Hal.Finkel@science.doe.gov

Analog computing, which involves computation using continuous quantities, has been an essential aspect computing technology from the earliest eras to the present day. However, unlike the regimes of digital computing, which involves computing using discrete quantities and operations, both the theory of, and techniques for, analog computing remain underdeveloped.

Fortunately, work over the past decade has opened new avenues for the development of computer-science and mathematical techniques that are applicable to the design of complex chemical and physical systems, with applications ranging from the construction of data storage and computing systems to synthetic biology and nanotechnology. Thus, progress in analog computing might not only prove essential to the creation of future energy-efficient computing technologies, but can also drive innovation across many other domains that aim to create complex physical devices and systems. In the summer of 2024, the research community and other stakeholders gathered for the ASCR Analog Computing for Science Workshop [1] to explore recent advancements and future research opportunities.

https://www.orau.gov/2024NeuromorphicComputing mailto:Hal.Finkel@science.doe.gov

Research Area Each pre-application and application must propose fundamental research that aims to advance our understanding of how complex physical systems can be created whose evolution in time can be characterized as analog computation. The specific focus of the proposed research should include exploring the mathematical frameworks, programming paradigms, or creation of novel devices needed to design, co-design, and/or enable programmatic use of, analog computing systems, especially at large scale. The proposed work must include an aim to characterize the properties of the systems needed to support articulated relevant classes of algorithms and programming constructs. The techniques investigated should be scalable to use cases of non-trivial complexity, account for the inherent parallelism of the relevant physical systems, and account for the constraints implied by the targeted class of physical systems while optimizing relevant objectives which may include, but are not limited to: minimizing the number of dependent variables, maximizing the execution speed, minimizing the execution energy, or maximizing resilience.

Out of Scope Out of scope are pre-applications and applications that:

• Fail to address the research area specified above; or

• Investigate materials physics without a clear focus on novel devices for analog computation; or

• Fail to describe the class of physical systems applicable to the techniques under investigation; or

• Propose work applicable only to a single application domain.

References

1. 2024 Analog Computing for Science Workshop. See the pre-workshop document, accepted position papers, and other posted materials.

https://www.orau.gov/2024AnalogComputingWorkshop.

E) Deep Understanding of AI Models Technical Contact: Steve Lee, Steven.Lee@science.doe.gov

AI has a critical and growing impact on nearly all aspects of modern science [1], and advancement in AI has been driven by both significant advancement in practical techniques for the creation and use of large-scale AI models and by a solidifying, but still relatively nascent, theoretical understanding of the AI training process and the models that emerge from that process. To enable the creation and use of AI models for science, many aspects of the AI training and inference processes require optimization, including speed, energy efficiency, memory and data usage, and accuracy of the predicted values and the characterized uncertainty of those values.

Research Area https://www.orau.gov/2024AnalogComputingWorkshop mailto:Steven.Lee@science.doe.gov

Each pre-application and application must propose computer-science or applied-mathematics research that aims to advance our understanding of the AI-model training process and the representations that are developed by the training process within the resulting models. Of particular interest is the study of training dynamics [2], which views the AI model-training process as the evolution of a dynamical system, and allows building on the decades of advancement in applied mathematics for the evolution, characterization, and optimization of dynamical systems to improve the process of training large-scale AI models. Of particular interest is also the study of the representations of scientific concepts developed within AI models, including the generalizability and stability of those representations, the emergence of in-context learning and other reasoning capabilities, grokking [3] and other potential phase-transition phenomenon, and the interplay between those representations and properties of AI training algorithms.

This research area includes both the study of scientifically relevant aspects of large-language models, models that are trained on non-language scientific data, and models that are trained using a combination of both language and non-language scientific data.

Out of Scope Out of scope are pre-applications and applications that:

• Fail to address the research area specified above; or

• Fail to focus on fundamental advances in AI for science; or

• Focus on purely empirical studies of AI models or their scaling properties; or

• Do not have computer-science or applied mathematics research as the primary focus of the proposed work; or

• Provide discipline-specific and/or application-specific solutions that do not generalize to multiple applications; or

• Focus on the development of applications or approaches for quantum computers.

References

1. Advanced Research Directions on AI for Science, Energy and Security, 2023.

https://www.anl.gov/ai/reference/AI-for-Science-Energy-and-Security-Report-2023

2. Suh, Namjoon, and Guang Cheng. "A survey on statistical theory of deep learning:

Approximation, training dynamics, and generative models." Annual Review of Statistics and Its Application 12 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-statistics-040522-013920;

pre-print: https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.07187

3. Liu, Ziming, Ouail Kitouni, Niklas S. Nolte, Eric Michaud, Max Tegmark, and Mike Williams. "Towards understanding grokking: An effective theory of representation learning." Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 35 (2022): 34651-34663.

https://papers.neurips.cc/paper_files/paper/2022/file/dfc310e81992d2e4cedc09ac47eff13 e-Paper-Conference.pdf

Annual Meetings https://www.anl.gov/ai/reference/AI-for-Science-Energy-and-Security-Report-2023 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-statistics-040522-013920 https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.07187 https://papers.neurips.cc/paper_files/paper/2022/file/dfc310e81992d2e4cedc09ac47eff13e-Paper-Conference.pdf https://papers.neurips.cc/paper_files/paper/2022/file/dfc310e81992d2e4cedc09ac47eff13e-Paper-Conference.pdf

The selected awardees will be expected to attend one annual PI meeting. Applicants should anticipate a need for travel to effectively communicate with other researchers and request appropriate funding in their budgets.

Teaming Arrangements

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-institutional team can have only one lead institution. Each application within the multi-institutional team, including the narrative, starting with the title page, and all required appendices and attachments, must be identical with the following exceptions:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SUBAWARDS3

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

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

https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.ecfr.gov/

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

DOE/ NNSA National Laboratories4, other Federal agencies, and another Federal agency’s FFRDCs5, if participating in a team led by another institution, maybe 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.

DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN COLLABORATIVE APPLICATIONS AND SUBAWARDS

The following points of advice to applicants may be helpful:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4 The phrase “National Laboratories” is used broadly to encompass DOE/NNSA laboratories and sites capable of performing the work described in this NOFO and capable of receiving funds through the DOE Field Work System.

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

https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/ 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.

All entities submitting applications to this NOFO 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.trade.gov/export-solutions.

B. Program Goals, Objectives, and Priorities

The Office of Science’s (SC) mission is to deliver scientific discoveries and major scientific tools to transform our understanding of nature and advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States (U.S.). SC is the Nation’s largest Federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences and the lead Federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for our Nation’s energy future.

SC accomplishes its mission and advances national goals by supporting:

• The frontiers of science—exploring nature’s mysteries from the study of fundamental subatomic particles, atoms, and molecules that are the building blocks of the materials of our universe and everything in it to the DNA, proteins, and cells that are the building blocks of life. Each of the programs in SC supports research probing the most fundamental disciplinary questions.

• The 21st Century tools of science—providing the nation’s researchers with 28 state-of-the-art national scientific user facilities, the most advanced tools of modern science, propelling the U.S. to the forefront of science, technology development, and deployment through innovation.

• Science for energy and the environment―paving the knowledge foundation to spur discoveries and innovations for advancing the Department’s mission in energy and environment. SC supports a wide range of funding modalities from single principal investigators to large team-based activities to engage in fundamental research on energy production, conversion, storage, transmission, and use, and on our understanding of the earth systems.

SC is an established leader of the U.S. scientific discovery and innovation enterprise. Over the decades, SC investments and accomplishments in basic research and enabling research capabilities have provided the foundations for new technologies, businesses, and industries, making significant contributions to our nation’s economy, national security, and quality of life.

C. Award Contribution to Goals and Objectives

Awards resulting from this NOFO are intended to increase our understanding of mathematics, computer science, and the properties associated with computational systems.

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D. Performance Goals

You will be expected to demonstrate progress toward increasing knowledge in periodic progress reports.

E. Substantial Involvement

Either a grant or cooperative agreement may be awarded under this NOFO. If the award is a cooperative agreement, the DOE contract specialist/grants management specialist and DOE program manager will negotiate a Statement of Substantial Involvement prior to award.

F. Program Unallowable Costs

You must apply the cost principles of 2 CFR 200, as supplemented by 2 CFR 910 and 10 CFR 605, to your application and any resulting award.

G. Citations to Statute and Regulations

The programmatic authorizing statutes and governing regulations are:

Section 646 of Public Law 95-91, U.S. Department of Energy Organization Act Section 901, et seq. of Public Law 109-58, Energy Policy Act of 2005 Section 401 of Public Law 115-368, National Quantum Initiative Act 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

H. Program History

You can learn about SC’s history at https://science.osti.gov/About/History. You can read about our achievements at https://science.osti.gov/Science-Features/Science-Highlights. You can find information about all of our awards at https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/WebPAMSExternal/interface/awards/AwardSearchExtern al.aspx.

I. Other Information

ANTICIPATED AWARD SIZE

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

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

https://science.osti.gov/About/History https://science.osti.gov/Science-Features/Science-Highlights https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/WebPAMSExternal/interface/awards/AwardSearchExternal.aspx https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/WebPAMSExternal/interface/awards/AwardSearchExternal.aspx

DOE anticipates making awards with a project period of two 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.

CYCLING AWARDS

SC is committed to distributing workloads (internally and externally) across as much of the calendar as is practical. Accordingly, awards made under this NOFO will generally be made with budget periods that end between December 1 and June 30. New awards will generally be made with a first budget period of more than 12 months. Renewal awards will be made with first budget periods that may be longer or shorter than 12 months. Applicants should prepare budgets with a first period of 16 months, followed by additional 12-month periods. Actual start dates and cycle dates will be negotiated if an application is recommended for award. Budget periods will generally not be made for less than 9 months or more than 18 months.

IV. Application Contents and Format

A. Preliminary Submissions

1. Letter of Intent (LOI)

Not applicable.

2. Pre-application

PRE-APPLICATION DUE DATE

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

ENCOURAGE/DISCOURAGE DATE

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

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

NOFO.

Pre-applications will be reviewed for responsiveness of the proposed work to the research areas identified in this NOFO. 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 NOFO.

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.

If a multi-institutional team is submitting collaborative applications, only the lead institution may submit a pre-application.

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

The pre-application must begin with a title page that will not count toward the pre-application page limitation. Include, at the top of the title page, the following information:

Title of Pre-application Principal Investigator Name, Job Title

Lead Institution PI Phone Number, PI Email Address

NOFO Number: Include the NOFO Number indicated on the cover of this NOFO Include a list of all senior/key personnel at the applicant institution.

List of Collaborating Institutions Including Sub-Recipients PI Names and Job Titles at the Collaborating Institutions Including Sub-Recipients

The research area, specified in Section III, primarily addressed by the proposed work

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

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 IX of this NOFO. 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.

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

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

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

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

Names Institution Year 1

Budget Year 2 Budget

Total Budget

Lead

PI

Co-PI

Co-PI

Example budget table ($ in thousands)

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 NOFO as stated in Section III.

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 upon request 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. 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

mailto:PAMS.Autoreply@science.doe.gov https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/

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/. Select in PAMS the program manager associated with the research topic in Section III relevant for each pre-application. 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 IX of this NOFO.

B. Application

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

C. Component Pieces of the Application

LETTERS OF COLLABORATION OR ACCESS

Letters from collaborators or from institutions providing access to data, models, software, equipment and/or facilities should be placed in Appendix 8 (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, “<Application Name>,” is selected for funding under the NOFO Name, it is my intent to collaborate in this research by <Complete Sentence With a Very Short Description of What the Collaborator Offers to Do or Provide>.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate.

Sincerely…