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Department of Energy

US DOE Office of Science

Last Updated March 24, 2009

On March 23, US Energy Secretary Steven Chu was at Brookhaven National Laboratory to announce how the Department of Energy will distribute $1.2 billion in new Office of Science funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  You can read the official press release here:  http://www.energy.gov/news2009/7083.htm.

In a nutshell, the announcement provided more information than we previously had, but was still short on details about specific opportunities for colleges and universities.  Of the $1.2 billion he addressed, funding available for university-based activities includes:

• $277 million for Energy Frontier Research Centers; and
• $90 million for other core research, providing support for graduate students, postdocs, and Ph.D. scientists across the nation. We have no furtherdetails on how the $90 million will breakdown.

Most of the other funds, within this $1.2 billion, go to US Department of Energy National Laboratories.  See attachments for more details.

Keep in mind that there is still an additional $400 million for the Office of Science that has not yet been apportioned.  As we understand, out of this $400 million pool, there will be an additional $15 million for graduate fellowships and $25 million for young investigator awards at universities.

Energy Frontier Research Centers

As for Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs), which I know several SUNY teams have applied for, the $277 million in the stimulus will support ~12 EFRCs for their full five year duration (i.e. DOE will forward fund these centers).

Please note that these will be funded somewhat differently than those supported by non-stimulus dollars.  The other ~25 EFRCs will be funded for one year with the notion that they will have to depend on an annual yearly appropriation, as is normally the case with DOE centers since DOE does not usually forward fund such efforts.

That means we can expect to see a total of about 35-40 EFRC proposals funded.  However, depending on the source of funds they will have different funding structures and different reporting requirements.

Specific information about EFRC's from the Department of Energy can be found here:

http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/EFRC_update_26MAR09.pdf

Other Potential US DOE Opportunities

Please also remember that this is just a summary of stimulus announcements within the DOE Office of Science and not other parts of US Department of Energy such as the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).  While the Office of Science is focused on basic research, we may see more applied research and training support opportunities emerge from EERE.