June 6, 2008

Energy Frontier Research Centers Funding Opportunity

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Sciences recently released a Funding Opportunity Announcement for the Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC), a new initiative to bring together the skills and talents of multiple investigators in order to help meet the global need for abundant, clean, and economical energy. The awards are expected to be in the $2–5 million range annually for an initial 5-year period, and it is anticipated that about $100 million will be available starting next year.

You may have already started planning an EFRC proposal from your university or national lab as is being done at BNL. A key component of any proposal is developing the advanced instrumentation required to characterize the structure of novel materials or device assemblies and relate structure to materials properties or device function. The DOE energy funding initiative provides an opportunity to partner with the NSLS in developing such advanced synchrotron-based instrumentation. With the projected completion of the NSLS-II in 2015, major instrumentation can be developed and utilized at the NSLS and then transitioned to the new facility. In particular, this is an excellent opportunity for new faculty members to become involved in the development of leading-edge instrumentation that will make their research programs unique.

If you have a proposal for a synchrotron-based instrument or have an idea on how to enhance the application of a synchrotron technique for energy research, please contact us to discuss a possible partnership. These partnerships, if appropriate, can be incorporated in a BNL EFRC proposal or can be incorporated in a university or national laboratory EFRC proposal.