DOE Office of Science: Dark Matter New Initiatives: Sponsor Deadline

Date: 

Thursday, May 30, 2019, 5:00pm

DOE Office of Science: Dark Matter New Initiatives
Sponsor LOI Deadline (highly encouraged): April 30, 2019 by 5 PM
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: May 22, 2019
Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline: May 30, 2019 by 5 PM
Award Amount: Award amount and period of performance varies by research track (see below)

The DOE SC program in High Energy Physics (HEP) invites applications for new opportunities to develop the design and execution plans for small projects to carry out dark matter particle searches, making use of DOE laboratory infrastructure and/or technology capabilities. Awards made under this FOA are to support research in developing plans for small projects that support one of the following Priority Research Directions (PRDs) defined in the Basic Research Needs (BRN) workshop on Dark Matter New Initiatives, which was held on October 15-18, 2018:

  1. Create and detect dark matter particles and associated forces below the proton mass, leveraging DOE accelerators that produce beams of energetic particles.
  2. Detect individual galactic dark matter particles below the proton mass through interactions with advanced, ultrasensitive detectors.
  3. Detect wave dark matter using innovative technologies with emphasis on resolving a decades old mystery of the physics inside the nucleus, the so-called "QCD axion".

The new opportunities supported in this FOA are divided into two separate "Tracks" that respond to the PRDs. Proposals must only address one track:

  • Track 1 ($500K - $2M) calls for 1 to 2 years of effort to pursue planning activities that culminate in a design report and execution plan for carrying out the small project.
  • Track 2 ($750K - $4M) calls for 2 to 4 years of effort with the first 1 to 2 years used to pursue near-term technology research and development followed by 1 to 2 years to pursue design studies that culminates in a design report and execution plan for carrying out the small project. The near-term technology studies can include technology development, demonstration and risk reduction efforts.

Applications may be submitted by either a single institution or a multi-institutional consortium. Funds are intended primarily for costs for engineering and technical efforts, apparatus, materials and supplies, management and travel related to the planned efforts. Limited university scientific staff may be supported. Funds are not intended to carry out the fabrication or operations phases of the small project. HEP expects that a process to be announced in the future will provide a mechanism for small project designs resulting from this FOA to apply and be considered for funding to move in to the small project fabrication phase.