Department of Energy ASCR: Offering Grant for Exploratory Research in Extreme-Scale Science

Federally affiliated entities must adhere to the eligibility standards below:

III.A.1. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories

DOE/NNSA National Laboratories are eligible to submit applications (either as a lead organization or as a team member in a multi-institutional team) under this FOA and may be proposed as subrecipients under another organization’s application. If recommended for funding as a lead applicant or a team member, funding will be provided through the DOE Field-Work Proposal System and work will be conducted under the laboratory’s contract with DOE. No administrative provisions of this FOA will apply to the laboratory or any laboratory subcontractor. If recommended for funding as a proposed subrecipient, the value of the proposed subaward will be removed from the prime applicant’s award and will be provided to the laboratory through the DOE Field-Work Proposal System and work will be conducted under the laboratory’s contract with DOE. Additional instructions for securing authorization from the cognizant Contracting Officer are found in Section VIII of this FOA.

III.A.2. Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs

Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs are eligible to submit applications (either as a lead organization or as a team member in a multi-institutional team) under this FOA and may be proposed as subrecipients under another organization’s application. If recommended for funding as a lead applicant or a team member, funding will be provided through an interagency agreement Award to the FFRDC’s sponsoring Federal Agency. If recommended for funding as a proposed subrecipient, the value of the proposed subaward may be removed from the prime applicant’s award and may be provided through an Inter-Agency Award to the FFRDC’s sponsoring Federal Agency. Additional instructions for securing authorization from the cognizant Contracting Officer are found in Section VIII of this FOA.

III.A.3. Other Federal Agencies

Other Federal Agencies are eligible to submit applications under this FOA and may be proposed as subrecipients under another organization’s application. If recommended for funding as a lead applicant, funding will be provided through an interagency agreement. If recommended for funding as a proposed subrecipient, the value of the proposed subaward may be removed from the prime applicant’s award and may be provided through an interagency agreement. Additional instructions for providing statutory authorization are found in Section VIII of this FOA.

Extreme-scale science recognizes that disruptive technology changes are occurring across science applications, algorithms, computer architectures and ecosystems. Recent reports point to emerging trends and advances in high-end computing, massive datasets, visualization, and artificial intelligence on increasingly heterogeneous architectures. Significant innovation will be required in the development of effective paradigms and approaches for realizing the full potential of scientific computing from emerging technologies. Proposed research should not focus on a specific science use case, but rather on creating the body of knowledge and understanding that will inform future advances in extreme-scale science. Consequently, the funding from this FOA is not intended to incrementally extend current research in the area of the proposed project. It is expected that the proposed projects will significantly benefit from the exploration of innovative ideas or from the development of unconventional approaches.

DOE is committed to promoting the diversity of investigators and institutions it supports, as indicated by the ongoing use of program policy factors (see Section V.B.2) in making selections of awards. To strengthen this commitment, DOE encourages applications that are led by, or include partners from, institutions in Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR)[1] jurisdictions or that are underrepresented in the ASCR portfolio[2], and applications led by individuals from groups historically underrepresented in STEM.

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

Exploratory Research for Extreme-Scale Science (EXPRESS) opportunities exist for the following research topics:

A)  Harnessing Technology Innovations to Accelerate Science through Visualization

B)  Scalable Space-Time Memories for Large Discrete/Agent-Based Models

C)  Neuromorphic Computing

D)  Advanced Wireless

E)   Quantum Hardware Emulation

Applications submitted in response to this FOA must substantially address one among the preceding list of research topics.

[1] https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/epscor/state-websites

[2] Information about SC awards can be found in the Public Award Search at

https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/WebPAMSExternal/Interface/Awards/AwardSearchExternal.aspx