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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
For this Solicitation the Office of Science is using Grants.Gov
for the electronic submission of applications. Please
reference Funding Opportunity
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Financial Assistance Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-PS02-08ER08-16
Joint Solicitation for The OFES-NNSA The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES) of the Office of Science (SC) and the Defense Program (DP) of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), both of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), jointly announce their interests in receiving grant applications including renewals of existing grants in FY 2009 for research in the OFES-NNSA Joint Program in High Energy Density Laboratory Plasmas (HEDLP). This Announcement is directed at researchers who are not affiliated with DOE national laboratories and government laboratories. Applications should clearly indicate in the Title Page and in the Executive Summary the research area or areas (i) - (ii) identified in Section 1 the application is responding to. A companion Program Announcement to DOE Laboratories (LAB08-16) will be posted on the Office of Science Grants and Contracts web site at: http://www.science.doe.gov/grants/LAB08_16.html. LETTER OF INTENT DUE DATE: August 18, 2008 A Letter-of-Intent (LOI) to submit an application is REQUIRED and should be submitted by August 18, 2008. Failure to submit a LOI by an applicant may preclude the full application from due consideration. Electronic submission of the LOI and the formal application in PDF format is required. It is important that the submission be in a single PDF file. The LOI should clearly indicate the research area or areas identified in Section 1/Part I the application is responding to. The LOI should be submitted electronically by E-mail to John.Sauter@science.doe.gov, with a copy to Francis.Thio@science.doe.gov and Allan.Hauer@nnsa.doe.gov. Please include "Letter of Intent for Notice DE-PS02-08ER08-16" in the subject line. The purpose of the LOI is to facilitate the OFES and NNSA in planning the review and the selection of potential reviewers for the proposal. For this purpose, the LOI must include a one-page abstract of the proposed research, and list the names and institutional affiliations of Principal Investigators, any Co-Principal Investigators, key investigators, collaborators, or consultants, so as to reveal any potential conflict of interest in the selection of reviewers for the application. For proposed investigations requiring access to experimental user facilities, confirmation of communication with the facility's point-of- contact should be indicated in the LOI. Preapplication. Preapplications are not required. FORMAL APPLICATION DUE DATE: September 11, 2008, 8 PM Eastern Time
Applications must be submitted using Grants.gov, the Funding Opportunity Announcement can be found using the CFDA Number, 81.049 or the Funding Opportunity Announcement number, DE-PS02-08ER08-16. Applicants must follow the instructions and use the forms provided on Grants.gov. GENERAL INQUIRIES ABOUT THIS NOTICE SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO:
PROGRAM MANAGER: Dr. Francis Thio, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences
PROGRAM MANAGER: Dr. Allan Hauer, National Nuclear Security Administration SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 1. Descriptions of the Research Programs and the Applications Solicited under this Announcement. The OFES and NNSA have agreed to coordinate their research activities in the field of HEDLP under a Joint Program. This coordination is aligned with the recommendations of the interagency Task Force on High Energy Density (HED) Physics to provide improved stewardship of the field of HEDLP, while maintaining the interdisciplinary nature of this area of science, by tying the basic scientific research to its roots in application [1]. An important objective of the Joint Program in HEDLP in the long term is to enable the broader scientific community to conduct research at the major NNSA HED facilities - e.g., the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Z-pinch pulsed power accelerator at Sandia National Laboratory and the Omega laser at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester. However, extensive and comprehensive evaluation of concepts and proposed experiments are required to fully realize the scientific potential of these large-scale facilities and to capture the opportunities they afford. As a scientific path forward towards the use of these large-scale facilities, HEDLP conditions may be achieved at many small- or intermediate-scale facilities using pulsed power driven accelerators, lasers, or ion-beam compression techniques. The availability and use of experimental facilities to address the objectives of this program is discussed in Section 2. Another important objective of the Joint Program in HEDLP is to provide an avenue to explore the HED physics that underpins the scientific foundation for inertial fusion energy sciences. Planning of the Joint Program by the two Offices has been guided by the reports of the National Task Force on High Energy Density Physics chaired by Davidson [2], the interagency Task Force on High Energy Density Physics chaired by Keane and Kovar [1], and the HEDLP Workshop at Argonne National Laboratory chaired by Rosner and Browne [3]. Following are two of the main themes that encompass the scientific challenges and opportunities of HEDLP. Proposed research efforts can include experimental, theoretical, and/or computational science. Proposals integrating experiments, theory, and simulation are encouraged.
(i) Advance HED science that enables fusion energy
(ii) Creation, control, diagnosis and utilization of new HEDLP conditions The total amount of funds available for competition including funds for renewals of existing grants is expected to be approximately $6,000,000 in FY 2009, subject to further appropriation of funds for FY 2009 by the Congress and other factors. [1] Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Report of the Interagency Task Force on High Energy Density Physics (Chairs: C. Keane, D. Kovar, Executive Secretary: Y. C. F. Thio), National Science and Technology Council, Committee on Science, Interagency Working Group on the Physics of the Universe. [2] Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Frontiers for Discovery in High Energy Density Physics, National Task Force on High Energy Density Physics (Chair: R. C. Davidson), July 20, 2004. [3] R. Rosner and J. C. Browne, Summary of a Workshop on Opportunities for High Energy Density Laboratory Plasma Science, Argonne National Laboratory, May 23- 24, 2007. http://www.science.doe.gov/ofes/ProgramNews/Orbach-HEDLP-final_(2).pdf
2. Use of Experimental Facilities For applicants who propose investigations requiring the use of either laboratory- or university-based experimental facilities, the applicant must make arrangements with the appropriate laboratory or university. Potential applicants are responsible for contacting the specific laboratory or university to discuss any facility-related activities and utilization, including availability of beam-time and appropriate diagnostics, shot schedule, support for target fabrication, etc. A letter from either the facility manager or program manager indicating 1) the level of communication between the Principal Investigator (PI) and facility management, 2) the feasibility of the proposed use of the facility, and 3) arrangements pursued regarding facility availability for this project must be included with the application. For some national user facilities, such as those operated by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES), the applicant may need to compete in a separate user facility access solicitation. A description of BES national scientific user facilities can be found at http://www.science.doe.gov/bes/BESfacilities.htm. Budget requests supporting investigations at either laboratory- or university-based experimental facilities must include all incremental costs necessary to perform the proposed experiment above the facility's baseline operational budget. Examples of HED science experimental facilities include: Intermediate-scale facilities:
Jupiter Laser Facility (LLNL): http://jlf.llnl.gov/
Trident Laser Facility (LANL): http://Trident.lanl.gov
Alternate contact: Randy Johnson: rpjohnson@lanl.gov
Nevada Terawatt Facility (University of Nevada at Reno): http://www.ntf.unr.edu/
Petawatt Laser Facility (University of Texas at Austin):
Cobra Pulsed Power Facility (Cornell University):
http://www.plasmacenter.cornell.edu/
Laboratory of Plasma Studies Large-scale facilities:
National Ignition Facility (LLNL): https://lasers.llnl.gov/
Z Pulsed Power Accelerator (SNL): http://zpinch.sandia.gov/
Omega Laser (Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester):
http://www.lle.rochester.edu/ For the use of the Omega Laser Facility at the University of Rochester, a parallel solicitation for the National Laser User Facility (NLUF) is planned to request access. A link to this solicitation can be found on Grants.gov. A link will also be posted at http://www.lle.rochester.edu.
Other facilities of relevance to the solicitation include:
Shiva Star Pulsed Power Facility
NIKE Laser Facility, Naval Research Laboratory, http://other.nrl.navy.mil/ Program Funding Research Grant Awards (typically single-investigator projects) are expected to be made for a period of one to three years at a funding level appropriate for the proposed scope, with out-year support contingent on the availability of funds and satisfactory progress, though applications may request support for up to five years. Comprehensive, multi-disciplinary and multi-investigator Centers of Excellence are for five-year projects, managed as cooperative agreements with NNSA/DP or OFES. Proposals for new Centers or for the renewal of existing Centers may be submitted under this solicitation. In addition, consideration will be given to multi-institution consortia proposing Grand Challenge investigations advancing the state-of-the-art in the technical themes identified in Section 1/Part I of this solicitation and, as appropriate, culminating in the use of large-scale HEDP facilities (such as NIF, Z, and Omega), or intermediate-scale facilities. Funding of Research Grant Awards, typically a few hundred thousand dollars per year, will be managed as Research Grants. Centers of Excellence, with funding ranging from approximately $1,000,000 to $3,000,000 per year, will be managed under a negotiated cooperative agreement with substantial involvement by NNSA/DP or OFES. OFES and NNSA reserve the right not to make any awards if no application is judged to be of suitable scientific quality or of sufficient relevance to the programs described in Section 1. The cost-effectiveness of the application will be considered when comparing applications with differing funding requirements. Previous awards have ranged from approximately $50,000 to $1,000,000 per year in similar areas, typically less than $500,000 per year. A single award or multiple awards may be made depending on the number and quality of the applications received and favorably reviewed. If multiple awards are made, it is anticipated that award sizes may range from $25,000 to $1,000,000 per year, typically less than $500,000 per year. Collaboration Collaborative research projects involving more than one institution are encouraged. Applications submitted from different institutions, which are directed at a common research activity, should clearly indicate they are part of a proposed collaboration and contain a brief description of the overall research project, and include Letters of Coordination from the collaborative partners. However, each application must have a distinct scope of work and a qualified principal investigator, who is responsible for the research effort being performed at his or her institution. Further information on preparation of collaborative applications may be accessed via the Internet at: http://www.science.doe.gov/grants/Colab.html. For further submission information please see the full version of this notice, DE-PS02-08ER08-16, located at: http://www.grants.gov/ The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number for this program is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 CFR Part 605.
Posted on the Office of Science Grants and Contracts Web Site
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