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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY For more information about the Office of Science, go to Office of Science |
To DOE National Laboratories LAB 05-12
Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP):
SUMMARY: The Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby announces
interest in receiving proposals for research in the Environmental Management Science Program
(EMSP) to support innovative, fundamental research investigating coupled reactive contaminant
transport processes across different spatial scales in heterogeneous subsurface environments at
DOE sites; research is also invited on new tools for measuring subsurface properties and
parameters important to understanding coupling and scaling phenomena.
DATES:Researchers are strongly encouraged to submit a preproposal for programmatic review.
Preproposals should be submitted by February 10, 2005, to allow sufficient time for review of
programmatic relevance and for subsequent preparation of the full proposal. The preproposal
narrative of no more than two pages should consist of a description of the research objectives,
approach, and relevance to DOE needs. The preproposal should also include a list of the key
investigators, their disciplines and their institutions using at most one page.
The deadline for receipt of formal proposals is 4:30 P.M., Eastern Time, Tuesday, April 26,
2005, in order to be accepted for merit review and to permit timely consideration for award early
in Fiscal Year 2006.
ADDRESSES: Preproposals referencing Program Announcement LAB 05-12 should be sent by
E-mail to roland.hirsch@science.doe.gov.
Formal proposals in response to Program Announcement LAB 05-12 are to be submitted as 2
paper copies of the proposal and one CD containing the proposal in PDF format. Color images
should be submitted as a separate file in PDF format and identified as such. These images should
be kept to a minimum due to the limitations of reproducing hardcopies. They should be
numbered and referred to in the body of the technical scientific proposal as Color image 1, Color
image 2, etc.
The 2 copies of the proposal and the CD, referencing Program Announcement LAB 05-12,
should be sent to: Environmental Remediation Sciences Division, Office of Biological and
Environmental Research, SC- 75, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290,
ATTN: Program Announcement LAB 05-12.
When submitting by U.S. Postal Service Express Mail, any commercial mail delivery service, or
when hand carried by the researcher, the following address must be used:, Office of Biological
and Environmental Research, SC-75, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy, 19901
Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290, ATTN: Program Announcement LAB 05-12.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Roland F. Hirsch, Environmental
Remediation Sciences Division, SC-75/Germantown Building, Office of Biological and
Environmental Research, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence
Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. 20585-1290, telephone: (301) 903-9009, E-mail:
roland.hirsch@science.doe.gov, fax: (301) 903-4154. Please do not use regular mail as delivery
may be delayed.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Office of Science sponsors environmental remediation research to help fulfill DOE's
continuing commitment to the cleanup of the Department's environmental contamination legacy.
Proposed basic research under this announcement should contribute to environmental
management activities that would decrease risk for the public and workers, provide opportunities
for major cost reductions, reduce time required to achieve DOE's mission goals, provide
contingency strategies, and, in general, should address problems that are considered to be
intractable without new knowledge.
Program Funding
It is anticipated that up to a total of $4 million of Fiscal Year 2006 Federal funds will be
available for new and renewal awards resulting from this Announcement. Three-year funding of
awards is anticipated, contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds and successful
annual progress. Award sizes will be determined by the scope and collaborative nature of the
project. Collaborative projects involving several research groups or more than one institution
conducting integrated research at multiple scales may be funded up to a limit of $600,000 per
year over the three year cycle of the project. Single investigator projects should not exceed
$400,000 per year over the three year cycle.
Investigators early in their careers and/or new to DOE's environmental remediation research
program are encouraged to apply. The Program Manager is available to discuss new ideas and
their alignment with the program.
Collaboration and Training
Multi-disciplinary and inter-institutional collaborations are strongly encouraged to enhance and
strengthen research capabilities as needed. Collaboration could include institutions such as
universities, industry, non-profit organizations, federal laboratories and Federally Funded
Research and Development Centers, including the DOE National Laboratories. All proposals
should include letters of agreement to collaborate from included collaborators; these letters
should specify the contributions the collaborators intend to make if the proposal is accepted and
funded and outline a management structure for integrating collaborating investigators. DOE may
encourage collaboration among prospective investigators by promoting joint proposals or joint
research projects based on review of the preproposals or through other forms of communication.
Involvement of students and post doctoral scientists is encouraged. Refer to
http://www.science.doe.gov/grants/Colab.html for details.
Representative Research Areas
Basic research is solicited to elucidate the influence of coupled biological, chemical and
hydrologic processes on subsurface contaminant behavior at multiple scales in the vadose and
saturated zones (including regions of saturated zone/surface water interaction) and for new tools
and approaches that could be incorporated into this research to quantitatively assess process
coupling and scaling in heterogeneous environments. Inherent in these studies is the need for
multidisciplinary and integrated approaches that allow derivation and scaling of constitutive
properties and development of conceptual and numeric models that describe reactive transport
behavior in different hydrogeologic environments. Relevant scientific disciplines include, but are
not limited to: geosciences (including geology, mineralogy, geochemistry, geophysics,
hydrogeologic flow and transport modeling, process modeling, and hydrologic field-studies),
chemical sciences (including fundamental interfacial chemistry, computational chemistry,
actinide chemistry, and analytical chemistry and instrumentation), biological sciences (including
microbiology and biogeochemistry), and engineering and materials sciences (including barrier
systems design, diagnostics and transport processes).
Relevance to Mission
A key consideration in the evaluation of research proposals will be applicability to the
Environmental Remediation Science Division (ERSD) mission of DOE environmental
remediation. Researchers will need to identify specific areas of scientific need and make a strong
case for the value of the proposed research in helping resolve those needs. The proposal should
explain how resolution of these needs could improve capabilities in site stewardship and/or
contaminant remediation. Therefore, all proposals submitted in response to this Solicitation
must explicitly state how the proposed research will support the accomplishment of the
BER Long Term Measure of Scientific Advancement to develop science-based solutions for
cleanup and long-term monitoring of DOE contaminated sites.
DOE will also consider, as part of the evaluation, program policy factors including balance
among the program areas and research already in progress. Past research solicitations, abstracts,
and research reports of projects funded under EMSP can be viewed at:
http://emsp.em.doe.gov/researcher.htm.
Subsurface Contamination Research Needs
The Department of Energy is responsible for remediation of waste and environmental
contamination resulting from the nation's nuclear weapons program. The nuclear weapons
complex includes 5000 facilities at 16 major sites and over 100 smaller sites located in a wide
range of climatic and geologic conditions.
Research has been funded in this program to address a broad range of cleanup issues, ranging
from facilities deactivation and decommissioning to health and ecological risk, but one of the
most vexing problems has been how to identify, predict and control contaminant migration at
DOE sites across the nation. The ability to define and predict contaminant transport will be
critical to assess risk and, where needed, to develop innovative remediation methods to attenuate
or remove contaminants. The need to predict contaminant mobility over the long-term is
reinforced by DOE estimates that over 100 sites will have residual contamination once cleanup
programs are completed (Reference: DOE, 2001b).
An assessment by the National Research Council of research needs in subsurface science at
contaminated DOE sites (NRC, 2000a) explicitly recognized that contamination will remain in
the subsurface after surface cleanup and that prediction of contaminant transport in conjunction
with development of technologies for containment and stabilization of contaminants in-place are,
and will continue to be, critical issues. Key needs in site stewardship that were identified include
predicting and simulating the fate and transport of contaminants, developing appropriate
remediation or stabilization methods based on this knowledge, and assessing performance of
both predictive models and mitigation efforts over the long term.
The development of conceptual and numeric models for the fate and transport of contaminants is
of primary concern to DOE ERSD as well as to the environmental science community. The
inherent complexity of the subsurface in conjunction with the limited ability to observe processes
and interactions as they occur in these systems has proven to be a major obstacle to predictive
simulation of contaminant behavior at the field scale. A comprehensive DOE/SC effort to
identify the technical frontiers in large scale simulation (DOE, 2004) called for interdisciplinary
laboratory and field investigations of subsurface processes at all fundamental length scales.
These advances in computation and modeling will reliably extend fundamental knowledge of the
processes controlling contaminant reactivity at the molecular/microscopic scales to prediction of
contaminant transport at the field. A recent assessment by an Interagency Steering Committee on
Multimedia Environmental Models (ISCMEM,
http://www.iscmem.org/) indicated that most of
the ten participating agencies have programs to simulate the transport of chemical contaminants
in subsurface environments. The assessment indicated that the most important technical issues
facing the application of these simulations were (1) the formulation of coupled reactive process
conceptual models representing a scientific understanding of processes controlling the
transformation and movement of contaminants and other relevant properties and processes for a
specific system, and (2) how to scale reaction parameters for field scale simulation. Conceptual
models should include the coupled reaction networks, hydrologic properties, and geologic
structure for a specific system. Depending on the system, a conceptual model for a groundwater
contaminant plume might also consist of descriptions of the spatial distribution of chemical and
biological components; sediment and mineralogical properties; hydrologic properties, such as
hydraulic conductivity; aqueous composition and controlling chemical and microbial reactions.
(Davis et al, 2004)
A workshop was convened by the ISCMEM in 2004 to assess the state of the art in modeling
processes controlling the field scale migration of contaminants and in conceptual model
development and parameterization for reactive transport modeling. Research priorities were
established and are summarized in detail (Davis et al, 2004) and the document is available on the
Interagency Steering group web site (
http://www.iscmem.org/). It was concluded that a major
difficulty in conceptual model development is the identification of appropriate process models in
the presence of multi-scale heterogeneities. It was further concluded that process and parameter
upscaling in multidimensional systems can best be examined by studying transitions in system
behavior across a range of scales. Investigation of conceptual models for inter-scale processes in
the same system was thought to be the best approach to identify independent constraints on the
components of coupled field scale reactive transport models.
Coupled transport and scaling are also highlighted in an upcoming NRC report on nonaqueous
phase liquids (NAPLs) source zone assessment and remediation (NRC, 2004), and coupled
reactive transport is an issue because biogeochemical processes result in a contaminant plume
with a different composition than the original NAPL source. Coupled reactive transport models
are also needed that describe the geochemical interactions and reactive transport behavior of
contaminants such as U, 129I, and CCl4 in the varied geohydrochemical environments and
sediment facies found at DOE sites such as in the Hanford vadose zone and unconfined aquifer.
The influence of waste source composition, temperature, co-contaminants, and other properties
on reaction chemistry (e.g. sorption, incorporation, precipitation) requires explicit consideration.
Thus the following research priorities and avenues of research are the focus of this Solicitation.
Contaminants
DOE sites across the United States contain over 6 billion cubic meters of contaminated soil,
groundwater, and other environmental media (NRC, 2000a). Contaminants of concern across the
DOE complex broadly include: radionuclides, metals, and nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs).
Key contaminants (and their mixtures) of interest for this Solicitation are:
A description of the nature and extent of contamination at the principal DOE sites is available at
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309065496/html/index.html/. More detailed information is available
in some cases from the major DOE sites: Hanford (http://www.hanford.gov,
http://www.hanford.gov/cp/gpp/,
http://www.hanford.gov/cp/gpp/science/sandt.cfm)
Integrated Research Needs
This Solicitation has the primary objective of achieving scientific advances in our ability to
better define and predict contaminant fate and transport in multidimensional heterogeneous (i.e.,
real world) systems.
Two principal scientific topics have emerged that cross-cut the program needs described above
(NRC, 2001b, NRC, 2004, Anderson et al, 2004, Davis et al, 2004). First, contaminant or co-
contaminant subsurface behavior results from a complex interplay of geologic, hydrologic,
chemical, and biological processes and reactions. These processes are often coupled and
interdependent, and a multidisciplinary approach must be used to incorporate these dependencies
into conceptual modeling and into developing strategies for remediation, including containment
and stabilization. Second, the processes occur over different spatial and temporal scales in the
subsurface, often in heterogeneous media and flow regimes. Scaling methods must therefore
address transitions in contaminant chemistry and water movement and changes in contaminant
spatial distributions driven by system heterogeneities. These topics form the basis for this
Solicitation. Research proposals are solicited in the following areas:
Successful research in these areas requires close integration of observations of process coupling
at different scales into better conceptual models. A desirable product of these studies would be
the definition of constitutive relationships that would enable application of the research results to
different locations in the DOE site complex. It is expected that successful approaches will entail
strong interdisciplinary interactions and integrated experimental and computational components.
For example, new methods and approaches, supported by laboratory and field measurements, are
needed to describe and model the coupled microbial and chemical reactions that control
contaminant behavior at the microscopic and pore-scales and to derive fundamental relationships
that can be used in conjunction with scale-dependent physical properties to improve reactive
transport modeling across larger spatial and time scales. An illustration of the types of processes
and the range of scales considered pertinent to this Solicitation is given on page 135 of the
SCaLeS (A Science-Based Case for Large Scale Simulation) program document (DOE, 2004)
While research has traditionally been targeted within each scale (see illustration at
http://www.pnl.gov/scales/docs/SCaLeS_v2_draft_toc.pdf), methods to bridge between the
scales is needed. Research may span all or part of this spectrum in the subsurface up to, and
including the zone of groundwater/surface water interaction. Research focused on a single set of
DOE site geohydrologic conditions is encouraged to facilitate quantitative descriptions of
transitions between different spatial scales and domains. However, this does not preclude
innovative approaches based on data from distributed sites. Examples of DOE sites representing
a range of geohydrologic conditions are given in the websites listed above.
Technological Research Needs
The development and application of new tools for parameter measurement and characterization
from the molecular/microscopic to field scales is encouraged when incorporated into research
efforts addressing the two topic areas of coupled reactive transport and scaling listed above.
Examples include new methods for measurement of biogeochemical processes at the pore scale;
new methods for high resolution imaging and mapping of heterogeneity; innovative use of
isotopic geochemistry and "designer" tracers to identify contaminant sources, preferential flow
paths and regions of contaminant attenuation; and natural analogs to assess transport over
extended length and time scales. New methods for remote sensing and for characterization and
speciation of contaminants are sought. The development and validation of these tools for use in
the subsurface environment is expected to markedly extend DOE's ability to characterize and
monitor subsurface environments and address research needs in this area identified by the
National Academy of Sciences (NRC, 2000a, NRC, 2000b, NRC, 2001a) and DOE (DOE,
2001a).
Availability of User Facilities and Other Specialized Resources
The ERSD within the DOE Office of Biological and Environmental Research
(http://www.science.doe.gov/ober/ERSD_top.html)
has responsibility for programs and facilities that offer unique and complementary resources
for conduct of EMSP research. Potential researchers are encouraged to consider use of these
programs/facilities in development of proposals.
Submission Information
For this solicitation, the research description must be 20 pages or less, exclusive of attachments,
and must contain an abstract or summary of the proposed research (to include the hypotheses
being tested, the proposed experimental design, and the names of all investigators and their
affiliations). Researchers who have current ERSD support (i.e., renewal proposals) must
include a Progress Section with a description of results, the funding history (i.e., number of
years and amounts per year for all PI's and co-PI's), and a list of publications derived from
that funding. Attachments should include short (2 pages) curriculum vitae, QA/QC plan, a
listing of all current and pending federal support and letters of intent for proposed collaborators
(when applicable). Curriculum vitae should be submitted in a form similar to that of NIH or
NSF. DOE is under no obligation to pay for any costs associated with the preparation or
submission of applications.
Researchers must comply with federal and state laws and regulations as appropriate; for example,
the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) as it applies to genetically modified organisms.
Although compliance with NEPA is the responsibility of DOE, grantees proposing to conduct
field research are expected to provide information necessary for the DOE to complete the NEPA
review and documentation.
Information about ERSD programs on the role of microbes in contaminant remediation and
transport can be found at: http://www.lbl.gov/NABIR/.
The ERSD may issue further Solicitations on the role of microorganisms on contaminant metals
and radionuclides during FY 2005. Proposals focused on the use of biological processes for
in situ remediation should respond to these other Solicitations. Proposals featuring
biological affects on coupled reactions and on upscaling issues in contaminant fate and
transport should be submitted to this Solicitation.
REFERENCES
Note: World Wide Web locations of these documents are provided where possible. For those
without access to the World Wide Web, hard copies of these references may be obtained by
contacting Roland Hirsch at the electronic mail address listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section.
Anderson, S.P.; J. Blum; S.L. Brantley; O. Chadwick; J. Chorover; L.A. Derry; J.I. Drever; J.G.
Herring; J. W. Kirchner; L.R. Kump; D. Richter; A.E. White 2004. Proposed Initiative Would
Study Earth's Weathering Engine EOS 85, 265-269.
Davis, J.A.; S.B. Yabusaki; C.I. Steefel; J.M. Zachara; G.P. Curtis; G.D. Redden; L.J. Criscenti;
B.D. Honeyman 2004. Assessing Conceptual Models for Subsurface Reactive Transport of
Inorganic Contaminants EOS 85, 449-455.
Department of Energy, 2001a. A National Roadmap for the Vadose Zone Science & Technology.
http://www.inel.gov/vadosezone/
Department of Energy, 2001b. A Report to Congress on Long-Term Stewardship. Office of
Environmental Management. Washington, DC.
Department of Energy, 2004. A Science-Based Case for Large Scale Simulation. Vol. II. Office
of Science, United States Department of Energy. Washington, DC
http://www.pnl.gov/scales/docs/SCaLeS_v2_draft_toc.pdf
National Research Council, 2000a. Research Needs in Subsurface Science, U.S. Department of
Energy's Environmental Management Science Program. National Academy Press, Washington,
DC. http://www.nap.edu/browse.html
National Research Council, 2000b. Seeing into the Earth: Noninvasive Characterization of the
Shallow Subsurface for Environment and Engineering Application, U.S. Department of Energy's
Environmental Management Science Program. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
http://www.nap.edu/browse.html
National Research Council, 2001a. A Strategic Vision for Department of Energy Quality of
Research and Development. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
http://www.nap.edu/browse.html
National Research Council, 2001b. Science and Technology for Environmental Cleanup at
Hanford. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. http://www.nap.edu/browse.html
The instructions and format described below should be followed. Reference Program
Announcement LAB 05-12 on all submissions and inquiries about this program.
GUIDE FOR PREPARATION OF SCIENTIFIC/TECHNICAL PROPOSALS TO BE SUBMITTED BY NATIONAL LABORATORIES 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. 1. Evaluation Criteria Proposals will be subjected to formal merit review (peer review) and will be evaluated against the following criteria which are listed in descending order of importance:
Appropriateness of the proposed method or approach Competency of the personnel and adequacy of the proposed resources Reasonableness and appropriateness of the proposed budget For renewals, progress on previous ERSD funded research will be an important criterion for evaluation. As part of the evaluation, program policy factors also become a selection priority. Note, external peer reviewers are selected with regard to both their scientific expertise and the absence of conflict-of-interest issues. Federal and non-federal reviewers will be used, and submission of an application constitutes agreement that this is acceptable to the investigator(s) and the submitting institution. 2. Summary of Proposal Contents
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 Formal proposals in response to Program Announcement LAB 05-12 are to be submitted as 2 paper copies of the proposal and 1 CD containing the proposal in PDF format. Color images should be submitted as a separate file in PDF format and identified as such. These images should be kept to a minimum due to the limitations of reproducing hardcopies. They should be numbered and referred to in the body of the technical scientific proposal as Color image 1, Color image 2, etc. 3. Detailed Contents of the Proposal Adherence to type size and line spacing requirements is necessary for several reasons. No researcher should have the advantage, or by using small type, of providing more text in their proposals. Small type may also make it difficult for reviewers to read the proposal. Proposals must have 1-inch margins at the top, bottom, and on each side. Type sizes must be 10 point or larger. Line spacing is at the discretion of the researcher but there must be no more than 6 lines per vertical inch of text. Pages should be standard 8 1/2" x 11" (or metric A4, i.e., 210 mm x 297 mm). 3.1 Field Work Proposal Format (Reference DOE Order 5700.7C) (DOE ONLY) 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. 3.2 Proposal Cover Page The following proposal cover page information may be placed on plain paper. No form is required.
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:
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. 3.3 Table of Contents 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. 3.4 Abstract 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. 3.5 Budget and Budget Explanation A detailed budget is required for the entire project period 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. Further instructions regarding the budget are given in section 4 of this guide. * Form 4620.1 is available at web site: http://www.sc.doe.gov/grants/Forms-E.html Changes made from this point in the document to the end. 3.6 Project Description The Project Description 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". 3.7 Literature Cited 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. 3.8 Biographical Sketches 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. 3.9 Description of Facilities and Resources 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. 3.10 Other Support of Investigators 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. 3.11 Appendix 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 4.1 Salaries and Wages 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. 4.2 Equipment 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 $25,000 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. 4.3 Domestic Travel 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. 4.4 Foreign Travel 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. 4.5 Other Direct Costs 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. a. Materials and Supplies 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. b. Publication Costs/Page Charges 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. c. Consultant Services 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. d. Computer Services 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. e. Subcontracts 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. 4.6 Indirect Costs Explain the basis for each overhead and indirect cost. Include the current rates.
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