FundOpp_DE-FOA-0003180.pdf

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (FOA): DE-FOA-0003180

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

OFFICE OF ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT

DEFENSE NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT UNIVERSITY PROGRAM

“CONSORTIA FOR NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION”

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (FOA) NUMBER:

DE-FOA-0003180

FOA TYPE: NEW AND RENEWAL APPLICATION

ASSISTANCE LISTING NUMBER: 81.113

Issue Date: November 15, 2023 Submission Deadline for Applications: February 06, 2024, 23:59:59 PM ET

Expected Date for Selection Notifications: May 14, 2024

Table of Contents

PART I. FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

SECTION I: FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

Background Summary Integration with DNN R&D Needs Technical Scope

SECTION II. AWARD INFORMATION

Type of Award and Instrument Maximum and Minimum Award Size Estimated Funding Expected Number of Awards Anticipated Award Size Period of Performance Type of Application

SECTION III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

Eligible Applicants Eligible Requirements Restricted Eligibility DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Site Requirements DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites’ Role and Responsibilities Roles and Responsibilities

SECTION IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISION

Write Your Application First Required Registrations Eligible Individuals Application Package Specifics Page Limitations Instructions for Application Submission Prime Applicant Subapplicant

PART II. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION

Section V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION Review Criteria Initial Review Criteria: Application Award Eligibility Merit Review Criteria Review and Selection Process Through the Merit Review Merit Review Selection Official Consideration Risk Assessment Reporting of Matters Related to Recipient Integrity and Performance (December 2015)

Government Discussions with Applicant Section VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION Award Notices Notice of Selection Notice of Non-selection Notice of Award (2014) Administrative and National Policy Requirements Section VII. OTHER INFORMATION Modifications Government Right to Reject or Negotiate Commitment of Public Funds Proprietary Application Information Intellectual Property Developed Notice Regarding Eligible/Ineligible Activities Protection of Personally Identifiable Information Annual Compliance Audits Foreign National Access to DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites Management Plan Funding Restrictions (December 2014) Submission from Successful Applicants Submission Dates and Times Section VIII. APPENDICES AND/OR REFERENCE MATERIAL Attachment 1. Applicant and Subapplicant Mandatory Forms and Format Attachment 2. DOE National Laboratories, Plants and Other Field Sites Attachment 3. Financial Assistance Environmental Checklist (NEPA) Attachment 4. Budget Justification Spreadsheet (Excel Worksheet) Section IX. QUESTIONS AND AGENCY CONTACTS Questions Agency Contact

PART I. FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

SECTION I: Funding Opportunity Description Background The direct outcome of this program is the development of a diverse and highly talented cadre of professionals with skill sets to support critical nonproliferation missions in early proliferation detection, nuclear security, and cross cutting areas outlined in the technical scope below. These professionals will have careers as scientists, engineers, technicians, operational personnel, and intelligence professionals, among others, and will be leaders in nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear arms control, nuclear incident response, nuclear intelligence activities, nuclear energy, and other nuclear-related fields. These professionals are expected to benefit academia, private industry, and several U.S. government agencies, including Energy, State, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and the Intelligence Community.

Summary The mission of the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development (DNN R&D) is to drive innovative research that develops technologies and expertise to detect foreign nuclear proliferation activities and produces technologies for integration into operational systems by leveraging capabilities at the DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites, as well as at universities and within private industry. DNN R&D supports U.S. national and nuclear security objectives in reducing global nuclear security threats through the innovation of unilateral and multi-lateral technical capabilities to detect, identify, and characterize: 1) foreign nuclear weapons development activities; 2) illicit diversion of special nuclear materials; 3) nuclear explosions globally; and 4) stewarding U.S. technical capabilities in nuclear nonproliferation.

Throughout this document the term, DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites, is used to collectively refer to DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites, and complexes. For DNN R&D, the role of Institutions of Higher Education (as defined in Section III) is to innovate, develop, and prove some of the most challenging basic aspects of new technology and methods in coordination with the DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites, which can in turn fulfill their unique role to perform mission-specific research and development that improves on capabilities until they are either adopted by operational enterprises or transitioned into private industry for commercialization. Transparency and effectively linking the roles of these IHE and DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites represents the core of how DNN R&D proposes to meet its objectives.

The intent of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to award two (2) five-year cooperative agreements to consortia consisting of accredited IHEs to provide the opportunity to receive and administer Federal financial assistance funds for student and faculty research, fellowships, and scholarship funding awarded by DOE/NNSA, DNN R&D.

Each cooperative agreement will be awarded to a consortium of IHEs which will include the participation of DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites as consortium-member(s). Individual IHEs consortium-member shall make specific contributions and shall receive specified portions of the funding.

The consortium may include student and research fellows and must have a long-term objective of building expertise in scientific disciplines directly relevant to nuclear nonproliferation. Research results should be incorporated readily into IHE curricula. Students, faculty, and researchers must be able to work unencumbered while moving across organizational and bureaucratic boundaries of the academic and governmental facilities engaged in the consortium, while properly protecting critical information and materials. The consortium should establish reciprocal DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites arrangements between the lead IHE and other IHEs as well as relationships with appropriate DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites (See Attachment 2).

Integration with DNN R&D Needs Integration of small businesses and Institute of Higher Education’s academicians along with the unique facilities and scientific skills of NNSA and Department of Energies’ national laboratories, the research and Development efforts provide the technical base for national and homeland security agencies to meet their nonproliferation, counterproliferation, and counterterrorism responsibilities.

Through the required management plan and structure for the proposed consortium, the mechanisms that link the support responsiveness to emerging research direction and needs, sponsored research at the DOE National Laboratories conducted by small businesses and the academic community are leveraged to ensure the advancement of research. New research results and challenges continually emerge from Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN), Research and Development (R&D) needs; thus, the management plan must detail innovative ideas with formal mechanisms for leveraging these capabilities. Where topically appropriate, DNN R&D encourages collaboration and innovative thinking across all nuclear science disciplines to develop technologies and approaches that will advance its mission.

Recipients and subrecipients must expect that DNN R&D management will be an active partner in the award. Therefore, the recipients and subrecipients are expected to participate in DNN R&D’s annual University Program Review (UPR). In addition to the participation, periodic assessments are conducted by DNN R&D to verify progress towards meeting the proposed topical/focus areas and applicable milestones. These assessments focus on but are not limited to the IHE's effective and efficient use of provided resources; maintaining nonproliferation-related disciplines through research and development; and conducting work pertinent to current and emerging nonproliferation activities.

Technical Scope The Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, Research & Development (DNN R&D) Program seeks to establish two university consortia to conduct unclassified research in support of nuclear nonproliferation. DNN R&D’s research areas are focused on the objectives listed below. Successful proposals will identify a well-structured team of universities positioned to partner with the DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites to conduct research in support of at least three of these objectives; however, it is not recommended that the proposals incorporate every objective, as that would likely spread resources too thinly to accomplish meaningful DNN R&D. Ideally, the proposals will connect the chosen research objectives by a common thread and are well-matched to research capabilities that exist at the participating universities and partner laboratories.

Develop new technologies and methods to detect, locate, and characterize production of special nuclear material and other materials, such as tritium. The fate and transport in the environment of relevant effluents is an important consideration.

Develop new technologies and methods for nuclear incident response.

Develop new methods and technologies to safeguard nuclear material and detect diversion of it from civilian nuclear power purposes.

Develop new technologies and methods to monitor and verify potential future arms control treaties, with a focus on nuclear warheads and nuclear material production. Technologies should place an emphasis on achieving high-confidence verification while protecting sensitive information about weapons or facilities.

Develop new and novel radiation detection materials, techniques, and algorithms.

Develop new remote sensing tools and applications in support of nuclear nonproliferation. DNN R&D defines remote sensing as sensing at distances greater than 100 meters, both terrestrial and space based.

Develop new or improved laboratory measurement capabilities of environmental samples, both gas and particulate, in support of nuclear nonproliferation.

Develop and maintain nuclear data investments to support relevant nuclear data measurements, theoretical work, and evaluation efforts. Perform targeted measurements of nuclear data quantities that address uncertainty drivers for specific nonproliferation applications.

Develop data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence methods and applications in support of these objectives. This also includes the development of digital twins relevant to nuclear nonproliferation as well as the incorporation of computer vision and augmented/virtual reality capabilities to enhance mission planning and effectiveness.

Develop solutions to future nuclear nonproliferation priorities by identifying and leveraging or countering emerging and disruptive technologies.

The selected recipient of the award (lead university) will be the lead organization and the prime award recipient and will be held responsible for managing the entire scope, schedule, and cost of the project, to include all reporting, at a minimum:

Propose at a minimum, three other university partners who meet the above definition of “university” as consortium member. An integrated approach to the work will be essential in tackling the proposed tasks under the consortium.

The lead university is discouraged from including an overly large number of loosely connected university partners.

Propose one or more DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites as consortium members in accordance with the “Other Eligibility Requirements” under Section III below. It is essential that the IHEs engage DOE National Laboratory partners early in proposal development as to forge a connection in collaborating on future work and having unique and innovative approaches to accomplishing proposed tasks.

This cooperative agreement will ONLY provide funding to the university members of the consortia. The DOE National Laboratory members will leverage existing DNN R&D funding to support involvement – including any mentoring – to the extent it delivers mutual benefit. DNN R&D will provide management consortia support funds directly to DOE National Laboratory team members (as done for previous consortia awards) to assist in managing the laboratory-University interactions, managing:

IHE Credit for Student: The lead IHE and consortium members should establish a program to acknowledge students who participate in DOE National Laboratory stints and working with DOE National Laboratory mentors.

This can be done at the discretion of the IHE; for example, by providing a one semester credit or internship for that student.

Eligible Students for Direct Benefit: Students who are directly funded and/or provided benefit by assisting with research and associated projects should be in their junior year or beyond for undergraduate academic studies or a graduate student who is pursuing studies toward a subject pertaining to the topic(s) being supported by their group.

The program will periodically request corroborating eligibility data when assembling metrics and various internal reports.

DOE National Laboratory Rotations: Postdoctoral (U.S. citizens and permanent residents) will be expected to conduct a lab/site/complex rotation with one of the partner DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites. A reasonable number of professors should expect to participate via a short detail, 4-8 weeks, at the lab with their student(s). The intent is to motivate professor and student teams in forging new collaborative relationships with the DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites and provide access to varying degrees of professional knowledge, application, and equipment. Universities should plan accordingly and budget to participate in these rotations.

Universities will need to engage with DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites as early as possible in their application process. Universities are encouraged to engage with a moderate number of well-considered DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Site partners who’ve really thought through their participation rather than having labs issue generic partnership letters.

Please note that the below sections and attachments are critical and must be reviewed to ensure that the application submitted by the prime applicant(s) has met the requirements. Lack of double-checking the application may cause the entire application to be rejected. Please ensure that you review your submission prior to the due date to ensure all components have been submitted and are correct.

Section IV of the APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION contains the Merit Review Criterion. It provides information related to formatting for each of the Merit Review Criterion.

Section V of the APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION contains the criterion that will be used for passing the review by which all applications will be evaluated in accordance with the Merit Review Criteria.

o Attachment 1 contains the applicant and subapplicant documentation requirements and page limitations.

o Attachment 2 contains a list and point of contacts of all DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites.

SECTION II. Award Information Type of Award and Instrument The type of instrument that is anticipated to be utilized by DOE/NNSA is a cooperative agreement. As per 2 CFR 200.1, a Cooperative Agreement means a legal instrument of financial assistance between a Federal awarding agency and a recipient or a pass-through entity and a subrecipient that, consistent with 31 U.S.C. 6302–6305:

Is used to enter into a relationship whereby the principal purpose of which is to transfer anything of value to carry out a public purpose authorized by a law of the United States (see 31 U.S.C. 6101(3)); and not to acquire property or services for the Federal Government or pass-through entity's direct benefit or use;

Is distinguished from a grant in that it provides for substantial involvement of the Federal awarding agency in carrying out the activity contemplated by the Federal award.

The term does not include: 1) A cooperative research and development agreement as defined in 15 U.S.C. 3710a;

or 2) an Agreement that provides only: a) Direct United States Government cash assistance to an individual; b) a subsidy; c) a loan; d) a loan guarantee; or e) insurance.

Information may be found at https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200/section-200.1#p-200.1(Cooperative %20agreement).

Maximum and Minimum Award Size The ceiling amount of $25,000,000.00 per award is expected to be available contingent upon the availability of funds for all five years.

Estimated Funding Approximately $5 million per award per year is expected to be available for awards under this announcement, contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds.

Expected Number of Awards DOE/NNSA anticipates making two (2) awards under this announcement.

Anticipated Award Size DOE/NNSA may fund $25 million per award under this FOA for the awards, contingent upon the availability of appropriated Federal government funds for all five years.

Period of Performance DOE/NNSA anticipates notifying the applicants selected for award by June 06, 2024. The awards are expected to start on March 14, 2025, depending on availability of Federal government funds. DOE/NNSA anticipates making awards that will run no longer than 5 years.

Type of Application DOE/NNSA will accept new and renewal applications under this announcement. Renewal applications are requests for additional funding for a period after that provided by a current award. Renewal applications compete with all other applications and must be submitted by the established due date/deadline. In preparing a renewal application, applicants should assume that reviewers will not have access to previous applications. The application should be developed as fully and as thorough as is possible and as though the applicant is applying for the first time. The application must include all the information required for a new project as well as include within the project narrative section a discussion of the results from previous awards and whether there is a current funded award currently in process.

SECTION III. Eligibility Information Eligible Applicants Definition In accordance with 2 CFR 910.126(b), Competition eligibility for award is restricted to domestic Institutes of Higher Education (IHE) (as defined below) because the purpose of the DNN R&D University Program is to support university research and development. IHEs provide a different, more fundamental, theoretical, innovative perspective on research and development than that provided by the laboratories or industry. IHEs are also the best sources for innovative, long-term ideas because of their inherent close ties to new developments in the basic sciences, their ability to construct cross-disciplinary teams, and their ability to test new concepts and ideas with theoretical and experimental rigor. Further, the support provided to IHEs will help foster a recruitment pipeline of future nuclear non-proliferation and other nuclear security professionals who will contribute significantly to the national security of the United States.

Institutions of Higher Education is defined at https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/20/1001 (downloaded document).

For this announcement, an IHE is defined as:

A public or private nonprofit educational institution that — o Is in a State.

o Admits as regular students only persons who —

Have a high school diploma.

Have the recognized equivalent of a high school diploma; or Are beyond the age of compulsory school attendance in the State in which the institution is physically located.

o Is legally authorized to provide an educational program beyond secondary education in the State in which the institution is physically located.

o Provides an educational program —

For which it awards an associate, baccalaureate, graduate, or professional degree.

That is at least a two-academic-year program acceptable for full credit toward a baccalaureate degree; or That is at least a one academic year training program that leads to a certificate, or other non-degree recognized credential, and prepares students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation; and May provide a comprehensive transition and postsecondary program, as described in eCFR :: 34 CFR Part

668 Subpart O -- Financial Assistance for Students With Intellectual Disabilities; and is an accredited or pre-accredited entity; or approved by state agency listed in the FEDERAL REGISTER in accordance with eCFR :: 34 CFR Part 603 -- Secretary's Recognition Procedures for State Agencies, if the institution is a public postsecondary vocational educational institution that seeks to participate only in Federal student assistance programs.

The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for DOE/NNSA support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:

Hispanic-serving Institutions Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions

Eligible Requirements To be considered for evaluation, an applicant’s submission must meet the criteria set forth below. If the application to DOE/NNSA does not meet these initial requirements, it will be removed from further consideration and ineligible for award.

Applicants should submit packages in advance of the deadline to ensure there is time to address and make corrections if needed. No exceptions will be made to the deadline.

Restricted Eligibility The DNN R&D University Program seeks the long-term development of expertise in academic fields supporting nuclear nonproliferation. Furthermore, one of DNN R&D’s goals within this program is to support a pipeline of talent that is well-prepared for nuclear nonproliferation and arms control careers in the DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites and U.S. government. These careers require the ability to attain and maintain a national security clearance. As such, it is important to restrict the eligibility for Senior/Key Persons, such as Principal Investigators, to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Several of the DOE/NNSA goals are not achievable by foreign nationals.

In conformity with the Guidance on Department of Energy (Guidance on Department of Energy Order 142.3A (lbl.gov)), applicants selected for award are required to submit and complete a form prior to award whereby the Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator(s) are U.S. citizens or permanent residents (refer to “Research & Related Personal Data” form at R&R Family | GRANTS.GOV, and resubmit as needed (example: Replacement of a Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator). Any individual person receiving funding support under this cooperative agreement must be a U.S. Person, defined as an individual that is a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. The FOA further restricts the eligibility of scholarships and fellowships (Post-doctoral Fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate students) to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Non-U.S. Persons are prohibited from receiving direct government or cost share funding under the cooperative agreement.

A “U.S. Person” is defined as an individual that is a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

Adjunct professors, visiting professors, and post-doctoral fellows are ineligible to be PIs. Investigators from foreign universities or academic institutions, irrespective of citizenship, are ineligible to be PIs.

Such individuals may receive funding under a subaward if the Principal Investigator requests and receives written permission for such funding from the NA-20 PM. There may be security restrictions on participation by foreign nationals at certain facilities and conferences, in accordance with applicable U.S. Department of Energy Security Policy, Directives, Regulations, or Requirements.

All persons receiving funding or direct involvement in the activities supported under this cooperative agreement must be a U.S. Person or the Director/Principal Investigator must request and receive written permission for such funding from the program official of NA-20. Requests for addition of non-US-persons is required throughout the period of award.

DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Site Requirements DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites (hereinafter referred to as DOE Laboratories) are not eligible to compete as the prime or subapplicant under this FOA; however, each lead IHE application must propose one or more DOE Laboratories as collaborators subject to the below guidelines. See Attachment 2 for a list of DOE Laboratories.

Authorization for DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites’ Participation: The cognizant Contracting Officer for the DOE Laboratories must authorize in writing the participation of the DOE Laboratories on the proposed project and this authorization is requested at selection and must be submitted upon request. However, collaboration letters from the collaborating employee must be submitted with the application to include a statement that no grant funds will be provided to the lab and/or site/complex from the awarded cooperative agreement.

The following language is acceptable for the cognizant Contracting Officer authorization and may be used when selected and upon request: "Authorization is granted for the [Name] Laboratory and/or Site/Complex to participate in the proposed project. The work proposed for the laboratory and/or Site/Complex is consistent with or complimentary to the missions of the laboratory and/or site/complex, will not adversely impact execution of the DOE/NNSA assigned programs at the laboratory and/or site/complex, and will not place the laboratory and/or site/complex in direct competition with the domestic private sector."

DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites: The portion of the effort to be performed by all DOE Laboratories’ collaborators in aggregate shall not approach or exceed 50% of the total effort. In addition, the DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Site effort should be well thought out rather than having all labs and/or site/complexes issue generic partnership letters to all university applicants. The intent is that the DOE Laboratories may not play a role comprising most of the teaming arrangement and work effort.

A DOE Laboratories is to provide a Draft of the Authorization discussed above and a Field Work Proposal in accordance with the Work Authorization System or NNSA SD 412.1, Work Authorizations as applicable, Work Authorization System with the lead university consortium application, and a Final to be submitted 30-45 days from notice of selection.

Funding for any work being done by a DOE Laboratories will be funded directly by the program office. This funding will be transmitted to the laboratory via an internal Work Authorization (WA)/Implementation Plan (IP) process. The amount of funds that a laboratory uses in teaming with the IHE will not be factored into the IHE’s total award amount.

Value/Funding: The value of, and funding for, the DOE Laboratories’ portion of the work should not be included in the prime IHEs proposed budget.

DOE/NNSA will examine the continuity and consistency of program objectives and assure that the objectives are responsive to all disciplines of nuclear science and security needs of DOE/NNSA and the nation. DOE/NNSA members will include the Program Manager and other senior DOE/NNSA officials as required.

The Proliferation Detection Office, as a part of DNN R&D, will directly fund the DOE Laboratories to support the consortium. The funding will be resourced in accordance with a Life Cycle Plan (LCP) to be submitted by each participating DOE National Laboratory. The consortia can freely discuss participation with their DOE Laboratory partners, but the Program Office retains control of funding and scope.

DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites:

The’ Roles and Responsibilities

The DOE Laboratories participating as a collaborator, will be represented and their participation facilitates coordination of research being conducted by the laboratories with that of the consortium.

As laboratory employees may rotate through the IHE to aid in research and assist postdoctoral, the laboratory will cover their own associated fees that may include per diem, lodging, and travel expenses.

Access to lab equipment, mentors, and facilities will be coordinated by the laboratory and a listed point of contact and/or project coordinator at that site.

The DOE Laboratories are responsible for the cost of equipment or facility usage incurred by Consortia’s Postdoctoral (typically a Ph.D.), Graduate Fellows, or Interns, except for reimbursement for use of facilities that require “user fees” in accordance with the labs policies and procedures.

Lead IHE and their university consortium members (subrecipients) should encourage students to take advantage of opportunities to spend time at the DOE Laboratories participate in on-site practicums, engage with National Laboratory scientists, and participate in symposia.

Lead IHE is responsible for ensuring their university consortium members (subrecipients) supply necessary information to allow for cost accruals and report submission by the end of each month.

The following roles and responsibilities are not all-inclusive but are being highlighted to better define the expectations of participant organizations. Upon selection, the following will be added to the consortium’s award.

DOE/NNSA Role and Responsibilities DOE/NNSA will participate in overall program management of the Consortium and is primarily represented by the

DOE/NNSA Program Manager. The Program Manager coordinates the activities of IHE with Headquarters and the Grants Officer.

The Program Manager reviews all deliverables and reviews/recommends approval of any other changes on the Cooperative Agreement to the Grant Officer. The Program Manager also reviews, recommends, and submits a Purchase Requisition (PR) to the Contracting Officer for annual incremental funding on the Cooperative Agreement and assures orderly progression of work from year-to-year. This process is the Continuation Application and is in the Terms and Conditions of the Cooperative Agreement.

Consortia Role and Responsibilities As consortia professor/student teams may detail to a laboratory and/or site/complex collaborator for forging new relationships and conducting research, the IHE will cover their own associated fee that may include stipends, tuition, per diem, lodging and travel expenses.

Access to the IHE equipment, colleagues and students, and facilities will be coordinated by the IHE and a listed point of contact and/or Principal Investigator at that site.

Responsibility of Successful Applicant (Lead IHE): The applicant will be the responsible authority regarding the settlement and satisfaction of all contractual and administrative issues, including but not limited to, disputes and claims arising out of any agreement between the applicant and the DOE Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites and other consortium members.

SECTION IV. Application and Submission Write Your Application First The following guidance may assist in developing a strong application that allows reviewers to better evaluate the science and merit of your proposal. This page provides tips for demonstrating to reviewers and the staff of DNN R&D the high quality of the personnel involved in your project and documenting resources and institutional support of the project. We provide information for new investigators, as well.

Though the advice provided is relevant for all research grants, it is general in nature and geared toward this DOE/NNSA Research Project. The tips should not replace your organization's internal guidance, specific advice provided by DOE/NNSA DNN R&D program or grants management staff, or instructions found in the funding opportunity announcement found the relevant information in Attachment 1. Application Submission Requirements and Information.

Use the instructions in the notice of funding opportunity in conjunction with the Grants.gov Workspace to prepare your application. If instructions conflict, follow the funding opportunity announcement instructions.

Pay attention to notices posted in the FOA. Notices may highlight topics of special interest to DOE/NNSA or update key aspects of funding opportunities. Guidance included in notices supersedes guidance in the funding opportunity announcement. Having a FedConnect account allows you to review questions/answers and other information posted by the program official and/or grant officer.

Submit the application in response to this specific funding opportunity especially if you are applying for funding notice DE-FOA-0003180. Do not confuse your application to this funding opportunity with other applications you may be submitting at the same time.

There is not a generic application form package that can be downloaded and used for all grant application submissions. You must use the application form package associated with the funding opportunity to which you are applying. Access the opportunity-specific form package through the Grants.gov Workspace.

Make sure that the DOE/NNSA DNN R&D Office that might be interested in your research is listed as a participating organization in the funding opportunity. Notices of special interest may identify DOE/NNSA Programs participating in the notice initiative that are not listed in the funding opportunity used for submission.

Return to the funding opportunity to check the Related Notices section before submission to ensure you are in line with the most recent guidance. FAQs are posted often and amendments to the funding opportunity may be posted daily. Note it is important to be registered with FedConnect as this is where you will find information related to postings and/or modifications to this FOA.

Pay particular attention to the review criteria and write your application keeping these review criteria in mind.

What is in a Grant Opportunity? Every funding opportunity contain a range of information that is spread across the header and four tabs on the View Grant Opportunity page. At the top of the View Grant Opportunity page, users will find two buttons:

Apply and Subscribe.

Required Registrations Applicant Organizations Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible.

Failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.

Registrations include the System for Award Management (SAM), FedConnect, and Grants.gov.

Eligible Individuals (Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s)) Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is/are invited to work with their organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from diverse backgrounds, including underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and women are always encouraged to apply for DOE/NNSA support.

Application Package Specifics The application forms that are package specific to this opportunity must be accessed through the Grants.gov Workspace.

In the Grants.gov Workspace, there may also be a link to FedConnect – you are required to register in FedConnect prior to beginning the application process.

Number of Applications That Can Be Submitted Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.

DOE/NNSA will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time. This means that the DOE/NNSA will not accept:

A new application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of an overlapping new or renewal application.

A renewal application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of the previous new application.

An application that has substantial overlap with another application pending appeal of initial peer review.

Type of Applications Accepted DOE/NNSA will accept new and renewal applications under this announcement. Renewal applications are requests for additional funding for a period after that provided by a current award. In preparing a renewal application, applicants should assume that reviewers will not have access to previous applications. The application should be developed as fully as though the applicant were applying for the first time. The application must include all the information required for a new project, plus the project narrative section should discuss the results from prior work.

Electronic Delivery The Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) is participating in the Grants.gov initiative to provide the grant community with a single site to find and apply for grant funding opportunities. Applicants must submit their applications online through Grants.gov.

How to Register to Apply through Grants.gov Instructions: Read the instructions below about registering to apply for DOE/NNSA funds. Applicants should read the registration instructions carefully and prepare the information requested before beginning the registration process.

Reviewing and assembling the required information before beginning the registration process will alleviate last-minute searches for required information.

Organizations must have an active System for Award Management (SAM) registration which provides a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), and Grants.gov account to apply for grants. If individual applicants (or those submitting on their own behalf) are eligible to apply for this funding opportunity, they need only refer to the steps below.

Creating a Grants.gov account can be completed online in minutes, AND SAM registration may take several weeks.

Therefore, an organization's registration should be done in sufficient time to ensure it does not impact the entity's ability to meet required application submission deadlines.

Organization registration instructions can be found on Grants.gov https://www.grants.gov/applicants/grant-applications/how-to-apply-for-grants.

System for Award Administration (SAM) Account All organizations (entities) applying online through Grants.gov must register with the System for Award Management (SAM). Failure to register with SAM will prevent your organization from applying through Grants.gov. SAM registration must be renewed annually. For more detailed instructions for registering with SAM, refer to:

https://www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant-registration. Both prime applicants and subapplicants must have a SAM account.

FedConnect Account: FedConnect is the repository for DOE/NNSA to submit questions regarding any issues and/questions with the application. FedConnect website is located at web address, www.fedconnect.net. Questions regarding the content of the funding opportunity announcement must be submitted through the FedConnect portal.

You must register with FedConnect to respond as an interested party, to submit questions, and to view responses.

To register with FedConnect, refer to: FedConnect - Gateway to Government Opportunities.

Grants.gov Account: Register and create an account at Grants.gov if you do not have an account. Registering with Grants.gov follows several steps. After navigating to the registration page, begin by completing a few form fields. You will be asked your first and last name, email address and phone number as well as username and password. You will then be asked to confirm your email address by clicking on the Send Temporary Code. Go to your email and find the Grants.gov Registration Temporary Code email and click on the link to confirm your email address by entering the Temporary Code. If you don’t see the message in your email box, check your spam inbox.

Applicants will want to add an individual profile or an organization profile. To add an organization applicant profile, you will need to provide your organization’s unique entity identifier (UEI) along with a profile name. The UEI is not applicable to individual profiles. Grantors that are registering with Grants.gov to request that they be affiliated with the agency. For more detailed instructions about creating a profile on Grants.gov, refer to: https://www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant-registration/add-profile.

Range of Roles in Grants.gov: Every organization has an E-Business Point of Contact or EBiz POC. This person is responsible among other things for assigning roles to all Grants.gov registered users within the organization.

There can be only one EBiz POC. The EBiz POC, however, may choose to give other users the ability to assist in managing organizational activities on Grants.gov. Users with the Expanded AOR Role (EXP) can manage all applicants and workspaces for the organization, assign roles, create workspace es, and submit any workspace application, among other things. Users given the Standard AOR Role can create workspaces, submit grant applications, and assign the Manage Workspace role, among other things. Users given the Workspace Manager (WM) role can create and setup a workspace for a specific funding opportunity and serve as the Workspace Owner.

Users may also be given a custom role with select privileges by the organization’s EBiz POC or Expanded AOR.

Users given no role may be added to a workspace, and they may conduct basic actions, such as filling out individual workspace forms, but they cannot apply. Find out more about the roles at User Roles and Access Levels in Workspace.

Electronic Signature: When applications are submitted through Grants.gov, the name of the organization applicant with the AOR role that submitted the application is inserted into the signature line of the application, serving as the electronic signature. The EBiz POC of the organization must authorize people who are able to make legally binding commitments on behalf of the organization as a user with the AOR role; this step is often missed, and it is crucial for valid and timely submissions.

Page Limitations All page limitations described in Attachment 1, Applicant and Subapplicant Required Forms and Format must be followed.

Only the designated page limitations will be reviewed – any additional pages will not be reviewed nor considered part of the submission. This applies to the Project Narrative, excluding appendices, which has a page limitation of 30 pages and includes the Cover Page.

Instructions for Application Submission DOE/NNSA performs an initial eligibility review of applicant submissions to determine whether they meet the eligibility requirements of the FOA and will not review or consider submissions that do not meet the eligibility requirements.

All submissions must conform to the following form and content requirements (see Attachment 1), including maximum page lengths (described below) and must be submitted as specifically stated and on the required due date (DOE/NNSA does not allow grace periods for submission of applications). DOE/NNSA will not review or consider applications submitted through means other than specifically stated in the FOA. DOE/NNSA will not extend deadlines for applicants who fail to submit required information and documents due to server/connection congestion.

Problems with computer systems at the applicant organization, Adobe compatibility settings issues, failure to follow instructions in the Funding Opportunity Announcement, or failure to attach documents to the application package correctly are not considered system issues. Grants.gov may be contacted at 1-800-518-4726, Option 6, and a customer service representative will assist you if you have any issues with your application submission. It is best to complete the application package a minimum of 24 to 48 hours prior to the due date, to ensure there is sufficient time to resolve any submission issues.

NOTE: Please read carefully. All applicant and subapplicant application requirements, regardless of whether the applicant or subapplicant is listed as, or a part of a University System, or integrated by, or under a university organization or listed as a member university under a Board of Regents, or considered inclusive to a university system, must provide all mandatory application documents as outlined in the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). Under no circumstances will deviations or exceptions from the FOA requirements be allowed. Failure to provide the required application documents per the FOA requirements, will be deemed your application to be non-responsive and dropped from further consideration or review. If necessary, contact the Funding Agency to explain this further.

Content and Applications Forms: All applicants including subapplicants must complete the mandatory forms and any applicable optional forms in accordance with the instructions on the forms and the additional instructions below as well as instructions provided in Attachment 1. Files that are attached to the forms must be in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) unless otherwise specified in this announcement.

NOTE: You may only use the following UTF-8 characters when naming your application.

Submission Dates and Times: Please review Key Dates and Time of Application Submission in Part I. Overview.

Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the due date to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission. When a submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day. The application due date is February 06, 2024 at 23:59:59 Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Applying to DOE/NNSA in Grants.gov Grants.gov applicants can apply online using Workspace. Workspace is a shared, online environment where members of a grant team may simultaneously access and edit different webforms within an application. For each funding opportunity announcement (FOA), you can create individual instances of a workspace.

There are 3 ways to complete grant application forms within a Workspace. You can complete forms on 1) Webforms by using a web browser; 2) download PDFs of individual forms and fill them out; and 3) reuse previous forms.

Webform: To fill out a Webform, first, click the form’s Weblink. The form will appear in your browser window. You can jump to specific parts of the form by clicking on the Sections menu to the left of the section’s menu of the screen. As you edit an online form, your changes will be automatically saved every five minutes. The data and attachment will be autosaved, but the workspace will not be updated until you click the “Save” button. Use the “SAVE” button often. Click the Check for Errors button to receive a list of errors or missing data in the online form.

The list will specify the section and data field with an error. Click the Close button when you are done completing the form and if you are with an organization when done completing the form. And, if you are with an organization, determine whether you want the application locked to other users by clicking on the appropriate button. Click the “yes” button as locking it will prevent others from updating a form while you work.

Wait for a few seconds as the form PDF opens in a new window. Click the Save button under the Form Actions section to save the form to your computer. Next, begin filling out the form, saving your progress as you go along.

When the form has been filled, click the Save button. Then click the “Check for Errors” button and a pop-up window will list any field errors in the form. Errors will also be outlined in red in the form. Finally, fix any fields that require attention, then click Save again. You are now ready to upload the completed form to your workspace. You can initiate this process by clicking the Upload link. Note that if the form is locked by another Participant, the Upload link will not be activated.

REUSING a Form From a Previous Workspace: To reuse a form, click the Reuse link. Next, in the Reuse Workspace Form pop-up window you will see a message stating that the selected form will be overwritten once you select a form to reuse. Click “Yes” to continue. In the Pop-up Window, search for the desired workspace form. You can preview the desired form by clicking the Preview link in the Actions column. To reuse a specific form, click the Select link. You will be taken back to the Forms tab of the Manage My Workspace page, and a message will read, Form Successfully Reused. You can also reuse forms by uploading a PDF form from a previous workspace application.