ORNL LDRD Director's R&D Fund Overview

The Director’s R&D Fund is the strategic component of the LDRD program and the key tool for addressing the R&D needs of ORNL’s initiatives—the critical areas on which the Laboratory must concentrate if it is to meet future DOE and national requirements for science and technology.

The success of an initiative depends to a large extent on the Laboratory’s ability to identify and nurture cutting-edge science and technology on which enduring capabilities can be built. To do this, ORNL uses the resources of the Director’s R&D Fund to encourage the research staff to submit ideas aimed at addressing initiative-specific research goals. Each spring, the Deputy Director for Science and Technology issues a call for proposals that emphasizes the research priorities of the initiatives for the upcoming year. To select the best ideas, a review committee of senior technical managers and subject matter experts including external members is established for each initiative.

Proposals to the Director’s R&D Fund undergo two rounds of review. In the first round, the committees evaluate preliminary proposals and select the most promising for full development. In the second round, the committees review the full proposals and the progress of ongoing projects that are requesting second- or third-year funding. After the reviews are completed, the committees provide funding recommendations to the Deputy Director for Science and Technology, who develops an overall funding strategy and presents it for approval to the Leadership Team, ORNL’s executive committee headed by the Laboratory Director. All projects selected for funding must also receive concurrence from the Department of Energy.

Follow these links for more information about LDRD Director’s R&D Fund.