Department of Energy (DOE) Proposal Toolkit

Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science

The DOE Office of Science supports basic research and the development, construction, and operations of open-access scientific user facilities and research capabilities that serve to deliver the scientific discoveries to transform our understanding of nature and advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States. The Office of Science is the nation’s largest federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences and the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for our nation’s future.

SC makes award selections based on expert peer review and publicly posts award information. The scientific discoveries and the impacts of SC funded research are highlighted on the SC News site. Likewise, scientific publications that result from SC-sponsored research are posted in a publically searchable database managed by the DOE Office of Scientific and Technology Information.

DOD consists of a number of service components and other activities and it has a substantial research budget; each unit can potentially have their own research programs, solicitations, and unique requirements (Unlike NIH/NSF with are fairly uniform in terms of proposal components and submission procedures). DOD awards may be in inform of grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, other transaction agreements (OTAs), or Technology Investment Agreements (TIAs).

Funding Opportunities

SC solicits proposals for research from the scientific community (colleges and universities, national laboratories, non-profit and for-profit organizations) through a number of funding opportunities that are announced each year.

Topical Funding Opportunity Awards

Lists below represent recommendations, at time of posting, for awards selected using competitive peer review under topical Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) sponsored by the Office of Science (SC). Topical FOAs are an important element of the overall research portfolio that SC supports. The lists provide the most recent topical FOA awards that have been selected by SC.

The Portfolio Analysis And Management System (PAMS) Award Search provides public abstracts, specific funding amounts, and more information once an award has been made. The PAMS Award Search also includes information about awards made prior to 2022 from topical FOAs as well as awards from the annually-issued “Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program.”

Early Career Research Program

The DOE Office of Science is the nation’s largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. Early career researchers may apply to one of eight Office of Science program offices: Advanced Scientific Computing Research; Biological and Environmental Research; Basic Energy Sciences; Fusion Energy Sciences; High Energy Physics; Nuclear Physics; Accelerator R&D and Production; and Isotope R&D and Production. Proposed research topics must fall within the programmatic priorities of DOE’s Office of Science, which are provided in the program announcement. Funding will be competitively awarded on the basis of peer review.

To be eligible for the program, a researcher must be an untenured, tenure-track assistant or associate professor at a U.S. academic institution or a full-time employee at a DOE national laboratory or Office of Science user facility. To address special circumstances and challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Science is extending the eligibility window for this competition from 10 to 12 years for all applicants.

Awards to an institution of higher education will be approximately $875,000 over five years and awards to a DOE national laboratory average around $2,500,000 over five years. The funding level for institutions of higher education has been raised to encourage these institutions to increase graduate student stipends. Pre-applications are mandatory for this program. Further information can be found on the Office of Science funding opportunities page.

Portfolio Analysis and Management System (PAMS)

The Office of Science (SC) Portfolio Analysis and Management System (PAMS) is SC’s web-based system for managing proposals submitted to SC in response to funding announcements, as well as for managing the peer reviews of those proposals.

PAMS has a public interface to allow for interactive search of current and past financial assistance awards (grants and cooperative agreements), going back to 2014. One can search for awards using a broad range of search parameters, e.g. institution name, Principal Investigator, and sponsoring SC program office. See the PAMS Public Abstract Search site.

PAMS also has a User interface for Principal Investigators (PI) submitting a proposal to a solicitation and Peer Reviewers who have been invited to review proposals submitted to the Office of Science. If you are a PI or a Reviewer, please see the PAMS User Login site.

Grants and Contracts Support

The Office of Grants and Contracts Support serves the Office of Science, the basic scientific research arm of the Department of Energy. This website will provide prospective grant applicants with information about the Office of Science grant process. Grant applications must be submitted through Grants.gov.

Grant Policy Guide

Instructions for preparing and submitting grant applications are contained in the Funding Opportunity Announcements posted on this site, at www.grants.gov, and at www.FedConnect.net. Please carefully follow the instructions provided by the FOA specific to your program of interest.

Grant Regulations

The rules governing SC's grants and cooperative agreements are regulations codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The following rules establish the basic requirements that SC and its awardees must follow for new or renewal awards made after December 19, 2014:

Grant and Cooperative Agreement Forms

The application forms for Office of Science use in applying for grants and cooperative agreements are available at the Grants.gov website. All Funding Opportunity Announcements published at Grants.gov contain information about the required forms, the application instructions, and details about how to submit the application. Grants and cooperative agreements will only be reviewed if their applications are on SF-424 (R&R) forms submitted through Grants.gov.

Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plans

Beginning in FY 2023, all Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) and DOE National Lab Announcements and other funding solicitations will require applicants to submit a Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan as an appendix to their proposal narrative. PIER Plans should describe the activities and strategies applicants will incorporate to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in their research projects. PIER Plans will be evaluated as part of the merit review process and will be used to inform funding decisions. The inclusion of PIER Plans in funding applications makes this commitment to inclusive excellence explicit and a consistent expectation of all SC-funded research and research related activities.

Applications to the Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Programs do not require PIER Plans at this time but will be phased in at a later date. Applications for supplemental funding on existing awards and applications requesting funding for conferences do not require PIER Plans.

Conference Proposals

Beginning in FY 2023, applications submitted to the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) requesting funding support for conferences will have additional requirements that must be included with the application. The language included in the FY 2023 Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Funding Opportunity Announcement defines the new requirement.

Statement on Digital Data Management

The Office of Science mission is to deliver the scientific discoveries and major scientific tools that transform our understanding of nature and advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States. The Office of Science Statement on Digital Data Management has been developed with input from a variety of stakeholders in this mission.

Here, data management involves all stages of the digital data life cycle including capture, analysis, sharing, and preservation. The focus of this statement is sharing and preservation of digital research data.

Merit Review of Grant Applications

The Office of Science reviews the scientific and technical merit of all applications. Office of Science "Merit Review System" (As published in Federal Register, March 11, 1991)

Office of Science Funding

Each year, DOE submits a budget request to Congress for the next fiscal year for Congress to consider through its Congressional appropriations process.

Applicant FAQs

The following Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) were developed to help applicants with commonly asked questions, including identifying allowable costs on SC financial assistance awards to support diversity, equity, and inclusion on SC awards and help researchers manage individual circumstances while supporting their research.

Additional Resources

Website	About
Grants.gov	A storefront web portal for use in electronic collection of data (forms and reports) for federal grant-making agencies through the Grants.gov site.
Sam.gov	The official U.S. Government system that consolidated the capabilities of CCR/Fed Reg, ORCA and EPLS. It validates applicant information and electronically shares the secure and encrypted data with the federal agencies' finance offices to facilitate paperless payments through Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). The SAM stores each applicant’s information, allowing Grants.gov to verify each applicant’s identity and to pre-fill applicant information on grant applications.
FedConnect	A web portal that bridges the gap between government agencies and their vendor and grants applicant/recipient communities to streamline the process of doing business with the government. Through this portal one will be able to review opportunities and receive awards.
DUNS #	A nine-digit number, issued by D&B, assigned to each business location in the D&B database, having a unique, separate, and distinct operation for the purpose of identifying them. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), a United States federal agency, announced in the June 27, 2003 issue of the Federal Register (68 FR 38402) that a DUNS number would be required for all grant applicants for new or renewal awards submitted on or after October 1, 2003.
OSTI	The DOE office that collects, preserves, and disseminates DOE-sponsored R&D results that are the outcomes of R&D projects or other funded activities at DOE labs and facilities nationwide and grantees at universities and other institutions.
PAMS	A web-based system for managing proposals and reviews submitted to the DOE Office of Science. Proposals may come from grant applicants, DOE National Laboratories, and other Federal agencies. Reviews are the scientific and technical comments provided by merit reviewers who assist DOE staff in making recommendations about which proposals should receive Federal support. PAMS is based on a Government-Off-The-Shelf (GOTS) product in use at other agencies for grants management lifecycle support. PAMS External User Guide (PDF, 5.82MB)
SBIR/STTR	The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is a highly competitive program that encourages domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) that has the potential for commercialization. The Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) is another program that expands funding opportunities in the federal innovation research and development (R&D) arena. Central to the program is expansion of the public/private sector partnership to include the joint venture opportunities for small businesses and nonprofit research institutions.
CFDA	A government-wide compendium of Federal programs, projects, services, and activities that provide assistance or benefits to the American public. It contains financial and nonfinancial assistance programs administered by departments and establishments of the Federal government.