ORNL Initiatives and LDRD Research Priorities

Brief descriptions of ORNL’s research initiatives for 2008 are listed below.

Advanced Energy Systems

This initiative seeks to stimulate the development of new technologies that have the potential to supply, distribute, and/or utilize energy with high efficiency, at low cost, and with low environmental risks. Research areas being emphasized in FY 2008 are transportation, nanotechnology for energy applications, buildings technology, and transformational energy technology.

Advanced Materials

Building upon existing strengths in materials science and molecular processes, this initiative will allow ORNL to position itself as a world-leader in understanding and controlling interfacial physical and chemical phenomena in complex systems of relevance to energy. This initiative seeks to build revolutionary new capabilities in three areas: synthesis of multi-functional materials with specific interfacial characteristics that lead to desired properties, theory/modeling/simulation of complex interfacial systems that exploit tailored materials and molecular processes to produce specific functionalities, and nanoscale imaging and spectroscopy to enable the study of interfaces at atomic and molecular levels and under realistic conditions.

National Security Science and Technology

ORNL provides innovative technical solutions to compelling national problems that materially improve global, national, and homeland security. The National Security Science and Technology Initiative is designed to build strong capabilities that will underpin enduring leadership roles for ORNL in meeting these security needs. During FY 2008, proposals are sought in sensors and detectors for chemical, biological, and nuclear threats; mobile power sources; computer and computational sciences for national security, and materials research for security applications.

Neutron Sciences

The intent of the Neutron Sciences Initiative is to establish ORNL as the world's foremost center for neutron sciences, providing unprecedented new capabilities for understanding the structure and properties of materials. This initiative will stimulate new research directions, proof-of-principle experiments, and technical innovations essential to achieving leadership in neutron science. Research priorities for FY 2008 focus on five themes: (1) novel applications of neutron scattering; (2) extreme environments and unique capabilities; (3) novel instrumentation concepts; (4) scientific challenges of power upgrades for spallation neutron sources; and (5) developing biological applications of neutron scattering.

Systems Biology for Energy, Water, and Carbon Cycles

Through this initiative we seek to use systems biology to provide a scientific basis for sustainable solutions to the development and use of energy and the management of carbon and water cycles. Understanding these cycles, what drives them, and how they can be managed will provide a scientific basis for dealing with the changes our society faces during this century and beyond. Research topics for FY 2008 are bioenergy, including biomass to biofuels; detection and simulation of ecosystem response, linking biology and ecosystems to energy and carbon cycles; and tools to measure health interactions with energy and carbon cycles.

Ultrascale Computing

The intent of the Ultrascale Computing Initiative is to establish ORNL as a world leader in computing and computational sciences to deliver new insights and to achieve breakthroughs with broad impact for U.S. scientific leadership. Proposals are sought in four areas for FY 2008: (1) computer science and mathematics; (2) science and engineering applications, particularly in the areas of earth systems modeling and energy systems science and technology; (3) knowledge discovery; and (4) cybersecurity and network assurance.