DOE Energy Frontiers Research Centers: Harvard Internal LOI Deadline

Department of Energy: Energy Frontiers Research CentersHarvard Internal Letter of Intent Deadline: December 17, 2019FAS/SEAS/OSP Pre-Proposal Deadline (if nominated): January 13, 2020Sponsor Pre-Proposal Deadline (if nominated): January 16, 2020FAS/SEAS/OSP Full Proposal Deadline (if invited): March 31, 2020Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline (if invited): April 7, 2020Award Amount: $2-4M per year for up to 4 yearsLimit on Number of Applications: 2 per institution as a lead organization; no limit per institution as a subawardee; an individual may be named an EFRC Director on only one pre-application; current EFRC Directors whose projects end in 2020 cannot be named as EFRC Director on any application in response to this application

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) has announced a call for Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) proposals. The EFRC program brings together the skills, talents, and expertise of teams of scientists to perform energy-relevant, basic research with a scope and complexity beyond what is possible in standard single-investigator or small-group awards. These multi-investigator, multi-disciplinary centers enable, encourage, and accelerate transformative scientific advances for the most challenging topics in materials sciences, chemical sciences, geosciences, and biosciences. EFRCs conduct fundamental research focused on one or more grand challenges, transformative opportunities, and basic research needs identified in major strategic planning efforts by BES and the scientific community.

Applications will be required to address priority research directions and opportunities identified in recent BES workshop and roundtable reports, the scientific grand challenges identified in the report, Directing Matter and Energy: Five Challenges for Science and the Imagination, and the opportunities described in the report Challenges at the Frontiers of Matter and Energy: Transformative Opportunities for Discovery Science. BES is soliciting proposals in four (4) topical areas: 1) Environmental Management (new and renewal proposals); 2) Quantum Information Science (new proposals only); 3) Microelectronics (new proposals only); and 4) Polymer Upcycling (new proposals only).

This is a limited submission opportunity and Harvard may not submit more than two applications as the lead organization. There is no limitation on the number of applications in which a specific entity may participate as a subawardee (team member). An individual may not be named as the EFRC Director on more than one pre-application. Directors of existing EFRC awards that do not have project end dates in 2020 cannot be named as the EFRC Director on any application in response to this FOA.

Those interested in submitting a proposal with Harvard as the lead organization must first submit a brief letter of intent of intent to Erin Hale at erin_hale@fas.harvard.edu no later than December 17, 2019 by 5:00PM.

The letter of intent should include the following information:

• Pre-application title (this is the EFRC Name);
• Lead principal investigator name, job title, email address (this is the EFRC Director);
• List of senior/key personnel and their institutional affiliations;
• A clear and concise statement of the scientific mission of the proposed EFRC;
• Priority research directions or opportunities identified in one or more of the Basic Research Needs and Roundtable reports that the proposed EFRC addresses;
• Grand challenge(s) defined in the report Directing Matter and Energy: Five Challenges for Science and the Imagination that the proposed EFRC addresses;
• Transformative opportunity or opportunities defined in the report Challenges at the Frontiers of Matter and Energy: Transformative Opportunities for Discovery Science that the proposed EFRC embodies. NOTE: EFRCs that propose research relevant to Chemical Upcycling of Polymers must identify at least two of the four PROs from that report in order to be responsive to the FOA.