The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES) of the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) hereby announces its interest in receiving proposals for the development of scientific simulation codes needed to address complex problems in fusion energy sciences. The goal is the creation of codes that achieve high performance on a single node, scale to hundreds of nodes and thousands of processors, and have the potential to be ported to future generations of high performance computers. This announcement is focused on some of the topical areas that are important to developing integrated models of fusion systems and require the capabilities of terascale computers. Specific areas of interest include:

• turbulence and transport in order to predict energy and particle confinement in plasmas,
• macroscopic equilibrium and stability to be able to predict stability limits in magnetically confined plasmas,
• magnetic reconnection in order to understand the dynamo and "sawtooth" oscillations in plasmas,
• electromagnetic wave/particle interactions to be able to predict heating and current drive in plasmas,
• boundary layer effects in plasmas in order to predict the transport of heat and particles in the edge region of a fusion device, and
• electromagnetic fields and beam dynamics in particle accelerators to model efficient, high- current heavy ion accelerators.

Partnerships among universities, national laboratories, and industry are encouraged.

Background: Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing

Advanced scientific computing will be a key contributor to scientific research in the 21st Century. Within the Office of Science (SC), scientific computing programs and facilities are already essential to progress in many areas of research critical to the nation. Major scientific challenges exist in all SC research programs that can best be addressed through advances in scientific supercomputing, e.g., designing materials with selected properties, elucidating the structure and function of proteins, understanding and controlling plasma turbulence, and designing new particle accelerators. To help ensure its missions are met, SC is bringing together advanced scientific computing and scientific research in an integrated program entitled "Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing."

The Opportunity and the Challenge

Extraordinary advances in computing technology in the past decade have set the stage for a major advance in scientific computing. Within the next five to ten years, computers 1,000 times faster than today’s computers will become available. These advances herald a new era in scientific computing. Using such computers, it will be possible to dramatically extend our exploration of the fundamental processes of nature (e.g., the structure of matter from the most elementary particles to the building blocks of life) as well as advance our ability to predict the behavior of a broad range of complex natural and engineered systems (e.g., the earth’s climate or an automobile engine).

To exploit this opportunity, these computing advances must be translated into corresponding increases in the performance of the scientific codes used to model physical, chemical, and biological systems. This is a daunting problem. Current advances in computing technology are being driven by market forces in the commercial sector, not by scientific computing. Harnessing commercial computing technology for scientific research poses problems unlike those encountered in previous supercomputers, in magnitude as well as in kind. As noted in the 1998 report (See Footnote Number 1) from the NSF/DOE "National Workshop on Advanced Scientific Computing" and the 1999 report (See Footnote Number 2) from the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee, this problem will only be solved by increased investments in computer software—in research and development of scientific simulation codes as well as on the mathematical and computing systems software that underlie these codes.

Investment Plan of the Office of Science

To meet the challenge posed by the new generation of terascale computers, SC will fund a set of coordinated investments as outlined in its long-range plan for scientific computing, Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (See Footnote Number 3), submitted to Congress on March 30, 2000. First, it will create a Scientific Computing Software Infrastructure that bridges the gap between the advanced computing technologies being developed by the computer industry and the scientific research programs sponsored by the Office of Science. Specifically, the SC effort proposes to:

• Create a new generation of Scientific Simulation Codes that take full advantage of the extraordinary computing capabilities of terascale computers.
• Create the Mathematical and Computing Systems Software to enable the Scientific Simulation Codes to effectively and efficiently use terascale computers.
• Create a Collaboratory Software Environment to enable geographically separated scientists to effectively work together as a team and to facilitate remote access to both facilities and data.

These activities are supported by a Scientific Computing Hardware Infrastructure that will be tailored to meet the needs of SC’s research programs. The Hardware Infrastructure is robust, to provide the stable computing resources needed by the scientific applications; agile, to respond to innovative advances in computer technology that impact scientific computing; and flexible, to allow the most appropriate and economical resources to be used to solve each class of problems.

Specifically, the SC proposes to support:

• A Flagship Computing Facility, the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), to provide the robust, high-end computing resources needed by a broad range of scientific research programs.
• Topical Computing Facilities to provide computing resources tailored for specific scientific applications and to serve as the focal point for an application community as it strives to optimize its use of terascale computers.
• Experimental Computing Facilities to assess the promise of new computing technologies being developed by the computer industry for scientific applications.

Both sets of investments will create exciting opportunities for teams of researchers from laboratories and universities to create new revolutionary computing capabilities for scientific discovery.

The Scientific Computing Software Infrastructure, along with the upgrades to the hardware infrastructure, will enable laboratory and university researchers to solve the most challenging scientific problems faced by the Office of Science at a level of accuracy and detail never before achieved. These developments will have significant benefits to all of the government agencies that rely on high-performance scientific computing to achieve their mission goals as well as to the U.S. high-performance computing industry.

Background: Advanced Computational Research in Fusion Science

The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences supports a directed, basic research program to understand the elementary processes in plasmas and to use this knowledge to explore innovative approaches for confining fusion plasmas. Theoretical and computational plasma physics are critical to a fundamental understanding of plasmas, and much progress has been made during the past 25 years. The solicitationannouncement is focused on accelerating progress toward developing a quantitative understanding of nonlinear, non-equilibrium plasma systems.

The scope and complexity of the proposed projects will require close collaboration among researchers from the computational and theoretical plasma physics, computer science and applied mathematics disciplines. Accordingly, this solicitationannouncement calls for the creation of topical centers as the organizational basis for a successful proposal. A topical center is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary team that will

• create scientific simulation codes that take full advantage of terascale computers,
• work closely with other SciDAC teams to ensure that the best available mathematical algorithms and computer science methods are employed, and
• manage the work of the center in a way that will foster good communication and decision making (see section on Collaboration and Coordination below).

Partnerships among universities, national laboratories, and industry are encouraged.

Proposals are being sought in the six topical areas listed below.

1. Turbulence and transport:

An understanding of plasma turbulence is a prerequisite to the development of first-principles models of anomalous transport in magnetically confined plasmas. The development of accurate models for plasma turbulence and the availability of more powerful, massively parallel computers will enable comparison with experimental data in greater detail than has been achieved to date. In particular, comparisons for realistic experimental conditions, including profile effects, finite beta, flow shear, and electron effects will lead to a better understanding of the relation between plasma turbulence and anomalous transport. The development of synthetic diagnostic tools and use of scientific visualization capabilities can facilitate this. Proposals are solicited for the development of large-scale particle-in-cell (PIC) codes and continuum codes needed to understand turbulence and transport. The effort may include the development of a full- torus, continuum code. It is expected that the PIC codes will include the physics associated with kinetic electrons and electromagnetic fields, and that research will proceed on including neoclassical effects in continuum codes. An important element is understanding and reducing the differences between results obtained with PIC codes and continuum codes. Also there should be a focus on reducing code redundancy and on using object oriented techniques to facilitate code modernization and collaborative software development.

Computational methods based on sets of magneto-fluid equations for magnetized plasma that includes the effects of realistic geometry and boundary conditions will improve the efficiency, realism and accessibility of 3D magneto-fluid models of fusion plasmas. The nearly collisionless nature of high temperature plasmas can be taken into account by supplementing the fluid equations with particle-based closures of the moment equations. Development of user-friendly codes can be utilized to pioneer new applications in plasma and fusion science. For example, magneto-hydrodynamics should predict when sawtooth crashes and large-scale disruptions will occur. Proposals are solicited for the development of large-scale 3-D magneto-fluid codes needed to understand large-scale phenomena in fusion plasmas. Test problems used to compare and validate computational models can also be employed to elucidate important physics. Goals include improving computational efficiency, integrating data management and visualization tools into the codes, addressing important programmatic problems in fusion science, and advancing understanding of fundamental plasma processes of wider scientific interest such as plasma relaxation and self-organization. Focus on utilizing modern computational techniques, such as object oriented programming, can facilitate code modernization and collaborative software development.

Magnetic reconnection is the process in a magnetized plasma system that converts magnetic energy into high-speed flows and thermal energy. Because it is the basis of an important plasma transport mechanism, it impacts many plasma systems ranging from laboratory experiments to the Earth’s magnetosphere, the solar corona and the astrophysical environment. Exploration of diamagnetic stabilization, both in the linear and nonlinear phase of reconnection, is essential to understand the onset of reconnection in fusion experiments. Proposals are solicited for a coordinated effort that will focus on the critical scientific issues required to model and understand magnetic reconnection in the high temperature plasmas of fusion interest and the plasmas of interest to the space and astrophysical communities. The project may involve the development of new techniques for treating multi-scale phenomena such as adaptive mesh refinement and the dynamic embedding of kinetic models. It is anticipated that the use of slab geometry and a comparison of a variety of different models will allow identification of the essential physics required in the description of reconnection in high temperature plasmas. The development of adaptive mesh algorithms applied to the localized regions where the components of the magnetic field reverse, and utilized in multi-fluid codes may facilitate the modeling of high temperature plasma systems with real parameters. The computational effort may yield simulation results for direct comparison with laboratory experiments. By including the full geometry of laboratory experiments in the simulations, it may be possible to explain the observation that in a hot toroidal plasma, despite the absence of complete reconnection, the plasma energy from the entire core is expelled. Focus on utilizing modern computational techniques, such as object oriented programming, can facilitate code modernization and collaborative software development.

4. Electromagnetic wave/particle interactions:

Utilization of massively parallel processing will allow accurate predictive understanding of electromagnetic wave processes affecting heating, current drive, stability, and transport in fusion relevant plasmas. It is recognized that electromagnetic waves have the potential to penetrate high temperature plasmas and provide control of the various interacting processes at work in fusion plasmas. Wave-plasma interactions are described by large systems of partial differential equations of a complicated type that are neither elliptic nor hyperbolic. These systems of equations provide a challenging test bed for new iterative matrix inversion techniques. Proposals are solicited for a coordinated effort to develop a mode conversion code that is self- consistently linked with antenna-wave coupling modules. This code should self-consistently include the plasma dielectric response due to wave-driven evolution of the particle distribution function on longer time scales. Massively parallel processor platforms are to be used to determine self-consistently phenomena that are important in the interaction between waves and plasma particles, for example, wave coupling, propagation, absorption, and wave-driven equilibrium evolution. There should be a focus on reducing code redundancy and on using object oriented techniques to facilitate code modernization and collaborative software development.

5. Boundary layer effects in plasmas:

The performance of tokamaks, and other toroidal magnetic devices, is dependent on the dynamics of the edge region, which is the region that connects the hot core plasma through the separatrix to the material surface of the first wall. The edge region affects a whole variety of scientific issues ranging from confinement of hot fusion plasma to plasma-wall interactions and the technology of the first-wall design. Advances in understanding the non-linear edge plasma phenomena through development of appropriate modeling tools would be most beneficial. A major plasma science challenge results from the unique properties of edge plasmas. These unique properties include the widely varying space and time scales, the interplay between closed and open magnetic field lines, and physical processes that include atomic physics and both plasma-neutral and plasma-wall interactions. Proposals are solicited for a coordinated research effort to utilize and develop tools that will aid in fundamental understanding of edge plasma turbulence and transport. Initial efforts may involve validation and verification of existing codes through in depth comparisons with one another, with existing edge databases, and with analytic theory. There should be a focus on reducing code redundancy and on using object oriented techniques to facilitate code modernization and collaborative software development. The resulting community based code should incorporate full geometry, macroscopic transport, kinetic effects, and plasma-neutral interactions. With the use of efficient parallel solvers and other advanced numerical techniques, well-resolved simulations of the edge plasma should result.

6. Electromagnetic fields and beam dynamics in particle accelerators:

The physics of intense ion beams needed for Inertial Fusion Energy is both rich and subtle, due to the kinetic and nonlinear nature of the system and the wide range in spatial and temporal scales involved. Effects associated with both instabilities and non-ideal processes must be understood. 3-D chamber calculations are required in order to provide a realistically complete model of the chamber environment. These calculations would allow exploration of various propagation modes. By employing multiple modes, it is possible to compare implicit electromagnetic methods, which can eliminate fast time scales not essential to the physics, and explicit electromagnetic methods. In the accelerator, the beam dynamics is nearly collisionless and Liouvillean, and as a result emittance growth primarily takes place through complicated distortions, driven by collective behaviors, imperfect applied fields, image fields from nearby conductors and inter-beam forces. With development of qualitatively improved tools it would be possible to establish much deeper understanding of these processes. Proposals are solicited to develop a source-to-target simulation capability. This includes simulations of acceleration and confinement of the space-charge-dominated ion beams through the driver; electromagnetic and magneto-inductive simulations which describe the beam and fusion chamber environment, including multi-beam, neutralization, stripping, beam and plasma ionization processes, and return current effects; and simulations which can examine electron effects and collective modes in the driver and chamber. The code development may involve adoption of exiting codes to run on computers that use a hybrid of shared and distributed memory, production of new and improved numerical algorithms, e.g., averaging techniques that allow larger time-steps, and improved physics models. It is anticipated that modern scripting techniques for steering the code and advanced data visualization tools may be employed.

Collaboration and Coordination

Since each center will be developing new computational tools and physics models that could be useful to other centers, it is important that there be good communication between the different centers. Also, it is important to have some guidance on code capabilities and development priorities from the broader fusion, scientific and computational communities. To facilitate this process the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences has established a community governed Plasma Science Advanced Scientific Computation Institute. This institute will be responsible for organizing regular coordination meetings and annual progress reviews. It will also coordinate development of priorities for future work and ensure good communication between the fusion centers and the other SciDAC activities.

Preproposals

Each potential proposer is strongly encouraged to submit a brief preproposal that consists of a two to three page narrative describing the proposed research, including research objectives and technical approaches. Each preproposal should include a cover sheet with the title of the project, principal investigator, other senior personnel, institutions involved, and the name, telephone number, and e-mail address of the principal investigator. In addition, brief, one-page vitae should be submitted for the principal investigator and other senior personnel involved in the proposed center. Preproposals will be evaluated to assess their programmatic relevance, and a response will be provided to the principal investigator within 14 days of receipt. However, notification of a successful preproposal is not an indication that an award will be made in response to a formal proposal.

Program Funding

Approximately $1,700,000 of Fiscal Year 2001 funding will be available for awards in FY 2001. Additional funding for the proposed project may be available through the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research for closely related research in computer science and/or applied mathematics. Proposals may request support for up to three years, with out-year support contingent on the availability of funds and satisfactory progress. To support multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional efforts, funding levels of $0.6 million to $1.2 million may be requested for the first year of the project, with higher funding levels possible in future years.

As required by the SC grant application guide, proposers must submit their budgets using the Budget Page (DOE Form 4620.1) with one Budget Page for each year of requested funding. The requested funding for the proposed work in computer science and applied mathematics should be included with the other project costs on the Budget Page (DOE Form 4620.1). However, proposers are also requested to list the proposed computer science and applied mathematics costs separately in an appendix, as the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research may support this part of the work (up to 20-25% of the total project cost). The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences expects to fund two or three centers, depending on the size of the awards.

DATES: Preproposals referencing Program Announcement LAB 01-10 must be received by 4:30 P.M. EST, January 31, 2001. A response encouraging or discouraging the submission of a formal proposal will be communicated by e-mail within 14 days.

Formal proposals in response to this announcement should be received by 4:30 P.M., EST, March 15, 2001 to be accepted for merit review and funding in FY 2001.

ADDRESSES: Preproposals referencing Program Announcement LAB01-10 should be sent to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences SC-55, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290, ATTN: John Sauter. Preproposals may also be submitted via e-mail at the following e-mail address: john.sauter@science.doe.gov

Formal proposals referencing Program Announcement LAB 01-10, should be sent to: Mr. John Sauter, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences SC-55, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290, ATTN: Program Announcement LAB 01-10. This address must be used when submitting proposals by U.S. Postal Service Express Mail or any commercial mail delivery service, or when hand-carried by the applicant. An original and seven copies of the proposal must be submitted. In addition, electronic copies in pdf file format of all proposal material are encouraged.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Stephen Eckstrand or Dr. Arnold Kritz, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science SC-55, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290. Telephone numbers and e-mail addresses are listed below:

E-mail: steve.eckstrand@science.doe.gov, telephone: (301) 903-5546

The instructions and format described below should be followed. Reference Program Announcement LAB01-10 on all submissions and inquiries about the program.

Proposals from National Laboratories submitted to the Office of Science (SC) as a result of this program announcement will follow the Department of Energy Field Work Proposal process with additional information requested to allow for scientific/technical merit review. The following guidelines for content and format are intended to facilitate an understanding of the requirements necessary for SC to conduct a merit review of a proposal. Please follow the guidelines carefully, as deviations could be cause for declination of a proposal without merit review.

Proposals

Proposals will be subjected to scientific merit review (peer review) and will be evaluated against the following criteria listed in descending order of importance:

The evaluation of proposals under item 1, Scientific and Technical Merit, will pay particular attention to:

The evaluation under item 2, Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach, will also consider the following elements related to Quality of Planning:

Note that external peer reviewers are selected with regard to both their scientific expertise and the absence of conflict-of-interest issues. Non-federal reviewers may be used, and submission of a proposal constitutes agreement that this is acceptable to the investigator(s) and the submitting institution.

In addition, for this announcement, project descriptions must be 25 pages or less, including tables and figures, but excluding attachments. The proposal must also contain an abstract or project summary, letters of intent from all non-funded collaborators, and short curriculum vitae of all senior personnel.

The evaluation will include program policy factors such as the relevance of the proposed research to the terms of the announcement, the uniqueness of the proposer's capabilities, and demonstrated usefulness of the research for proposals in other DOE Program Offices as evidenced by a history of programmatic support directly related to the proposed work.

Field Work Proposal (FWP) Format (Reference DOE Order 5700.7C)
Proposal Cover Page
Table of Contents
Abstract
Narrative
Literature Cited
Budget and Budget Explanation
Other support of investigators
Biographical Sketches
Description of facilities and resources
Appendix

An original and seven copies of the formal proposal/FWP must be submitted.

Proposals must be readily legible, when photocopied, and must conform to the following three requirements: the height of the letters must be no smaller than 10 point with at least 2 points of spacing between lines (leading); the type density must average no more than 17 characters per inch; the margins must be at least one-half inch on all sides. Figures, charts, tables, figure legends, etc., may include type smaller than these requirements so long as they are still fully legible.

3.1 Field Work Proposal Format (Reference DOE Order 5700.7C)

The Field Work Proposal (FWP) is to be prepared and submitted consistent with policies of the investigator's laboratory and the local DOE Operations Office. Additional information is also requested to allow for scientific/technical merit review. Laboratories may submit proposals directly to the SC Program office listed above. A copy should also be provided to the appropriate DOE operations office.

The following proposal cover page information may be placed on plain paper. No form is required.

Title of proposed project
SC Program announcement title
Name of laboratory
Name of principal investigator (PI)
Position title of PI
Mailing address of PI
Telephone of PI
Fax number of PI
Electronic mail address of PI
Name of official signing for laboratory*
Title of official
Fax number of official
Telephone of official
Electronic mail address of official
Requested funding for each year; total request
Use of human subjects in proposed project:
If activities involving human subjects are not planned at any time during the proposed project period, state "No"; otherwise state "Yes", provide the IRB Approval date and Assurance of Compliance Number and include all necessary information with the proposal should human subjects be involved.
Use of vertebrate animals in proposed project:
If activities involving vertebrate animals are not planned at any time during this project, state "No"; otherwise state "Yes" and provide the IACUC Approval date and Animal Welfare Assurance number from NIH and include all necessary information with the proposal.
Signature of PI, date of signature
Signature of official, date of signature*
*The signature certifies that personnel and facilities are available as stated in the proposal, if the project is funded.

Provide the initial page number for each of the sections of the proposal. Number pages consecutively at the bottom of each page throughout the proposal. Start each major section at the top of a new page. Do not use unnumbered pages and do not use suffices, such as 5a, 5b.

Provide an abstract of no more than 250 words. Give the broad, long-term objectives and what the specific research proposed is intended to accomplish. State the hypotheses to be tested. Indicate how the proposed research addresses the SC scientific/technical area specifically described in this announcement.

The narrative comprises the research plan for the project and is limited to 25 pages. It should contain the following subsections:

Background and Significance: Briefly sketch the background leading to the present proposal, critically evaluate existing knowledge, and specifically identify the gaps which the project is intended to fill. State concisely the importance of the research described in the proposal. Explain the relevance of the project to the research needs identified by the Office of Science. Include references to relevant published literature, both to work of the investigators and to work done by other researchers.

Preliminary Studies: Use this section to provide an account of any preliminary studies that may be pertinent to the proposal. Include any other information that will help to establish the experience and competence of the investigators to pursue the proposed project. References to appropriate publications and manuscripts submitted or accepted for publication may be included.

Research Design and Methods: Describe the research design and the procedures to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project. Describe new techniques and methodologies and explain the advantages over existing techniques and methodologies. As part of this section, provide a tentative sequence or timetable for the project.

Subcontract or Consortium Arrangements: If any portion of the project described under "Research Design and Methods" is to be done in collaboration with another institution, provide information on the institution and why it is to do the specific component of the project. Further information on any such arrangements is to be given in the sections "Budget and Budget Explanation", "Biographical Sketches", and "Description of Facilities and Resources".

List all references cited in the narrative. Limit citations to current literature relevant to the proposed research. Information about each reference should be sufficient for it to be located by a reviewer of the proposal.

A detailed budget is required for the entire project period, which normally will be three years, and for each fiscal year. It is preferred that DOE's budget page, Form 4620.1 be used for providing budget information*. Modifications of categories are permissible to comply with institutional practices, for example with regard to overhead costs.

A written justification of each budget item is to follow the budget pages. For personnel this should take the form of a one-sentence statement of the role of the person in the project. Provide a detailed justification of the need for each item of permanent equipment. Explain each of the other direct costs in sufficient detail for reviewers to be able to judge the appropriateness of the amount requested.

Other support is defined as all financial resources, whether Federal, non-Federal, commercial or institutional, available in direct support of an individual's research endeavors. Information on active and pending other support is required for all senior personnel, including investigators at collaborating institutions to be funded by a subcontract. For each item of other support, give the organization or agency, inclusive dates of the project or proposed project, annual funding, and level of effort devoted to the project.

This information is required for senior personnel at the laboratory submitting the proposal and at all subcontracting institutions. The biographical sketch is limited to a maximum of two pages for each investigator.

Describe briefly the facilities to be used for the conduct of the proposed research. Indicate the performance sites and describe pertinent capabilities, including support facilities (such as machine shops) that will be used during the project. List the most important equipment items already available for the project and their pertinent capabilities. Include this information for each subcontracting institution, if any.

Include collated sets of all appendix materials with each copy of the proposal. Do not use the appendix to circumvent the page limitations of the proposal. Information should be included that may not be easily accessible to a reviewer. Reviewers are not required to consider information in the Appendix, only that in the body of the proposal. Reviewers may not have time to read extensive appendix materials with the same care as they will read the proposal proper. The appendix may contain the following items: up to five publications, manuscripts (accepted for publication), abstracts, patents, or other printed materials directly relevant to this project, but not generally available to the scientific community; and letters from investigators at other institutions stating their agreement to participate in the project (do not include letters of endorsement of the project).

4. Detailed Instructions for the Budget
DOE Form 4620.1 "Budget Page" may be used with one Budget Page for each year of requested funding with one Budget Page for each year of requested funding. The requested funding for the proposed work in computer science and applied mathematics should be included with the other project costs on the Budget Page (DOE Form 4620.1). However, applicants are also requested to list the proposed computer science and applied mathematics costs separately in an appendix.

List the names of the principal investigator and other key personnel and the estimated number of person-months for which DOE funding is requested. Proposers should list the number of postdoctoral associates and other professional positions included in the proposal and indicate the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) person-months and rate of pay (hourly, monthly or annually). For graduate and undergraduate students and all other personnel categories such as secretarial, clerical, technical, etc., show the total number of people needed in each job title and total salaries needed. Salaries requested must be consistent with the institution's regular practices. The budget explanation should define concisely the role of each position in the overall project.

DOE defines equipment as "an item of tangible personal property that has a useful life of more than two years and an acquisition cost of $5000 or more." Special purpose equipment means equipment which is used only for research, scientific or other technical activities. Items of needed equipment should be individually listed by description and estimated cost, including tax, and adequately justified. Allowable items ordinarily will be limited to scientific equipment that is not already available for the conduct of the work. General purpose office equipment normally will not be considered eligible for support.

The type and extent of travel and its relation to the research should be specified. Funds may be requested for attendance at meetings and conferences, other travel associated with the work and subsistence. In order to qualify for support, attendance at meetings or conferences must enhance the investigator's capability to perform the research, plan extensions of it, or disseminate its results. Consultant's travel costs also may be requested.

Foreign travel is any travel outside Canada and the United States and its territories and possessions. Foreign travel may be approved only if it is directly related to project objectives.

The budget should itemize other anticipated direct costs not included under the headings above, including materials and supplies, publication costs, computer services, and consultant services (which are discussed below). Other examples are: aircraft rental, space rental at research establishments away from the institution, minor building alterations, service charges, and fabrication of equipment or systems not available off-the-shelf. Reference books and periodicals may be charged to the project only if they are specifically related to the research.

The budget should indicate in general terms the type of required expendable materials and supplies with their estimated costs. The breakdown should be more detailed when the cost is substantial.

The budget may request funds for the costs of preparing and publishing the results of research, including costs of reports, reprints page charges, or other journal costs (except costs for prior or early publication), and necessary illustrations.

Anticipated consultant services should be justified and information furnished on each individual's expertise, primary organizational affiliation, daily compensation rate and number of days expected service. Consultant's travel costs should be listed separately under travel in the budget.

The cost of computer services, including computer-based retrieval of scientific and technical information, may be requested. A justification based on the established computer service rates should be included.

Subcontracts should be listed so that they can be properly evaluated. There should be an anticipated cost and an explanation of that cost for each subcontract. The total amount of each subcontract should also appear as a budget item.

Explain the basis for each overhead and indirect cost. Include the current rates.

_________________________

Posted at the Office of Science Grants and Contracts Web Site January 9, 2001.