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Grants / Department of Energy / Office of Science

DE-FOA-0002581: Urban Integrated Field Labs (IFL)

Closed Closed June 16, 2022 Opportunity DE-FOA-0002581

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Genesis Mission Graduate Fellowship Pilot (DE-FOA-0003673). Status: Closes January 12, 2027 (66 days left). It is in our archive of Office of Science notices from 2022.

Office of Science offered grants of up to $25.0 million (at least $10.0 million) to the applicants described in the notice. It expected to make $85.0 million in total. Applications closed on June 16, 2022.

From the official notice on Grants.gov, last changed March 23, 2022. Checked November 7, 2026.

Key dates

PostedMarch 23, 2022
DeadlineJune 16, 2022
Archived by Grants.govJuly 16, 2022

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

All types of domestic applicants are eligible to apply, except nonprofit organizations described in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that engaged in lobbying activities after December 31, 1995. Federally affiliated entities must adhere to the eligibility standards below: 1. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories DOE/NNSA National Laboratories 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 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. 2. Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs are eligible to submit applications under this FOA but are not eligible to be proposed as lead in a collaborative application or as subrecipients under another organization’s application. Instead, they must submit their own application as a team member in a multi-institutional team led by another institution. If recommended for funding in a multi-institutional team, funding may be provided through an interagency agreement 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. 3. Other Federal Agencies Other Federal Agencies are eligible to submit applications under this FOA but are not eligible to be proposed as lead in a collaborative application or as subrecipients under another organization’s application. Instead, they must submit their own application as a team member in a multi-institutional team led by another institution. If recommended for funding, either as the sole applicant or in a multi-institutional team, funding will be provided through an interagency agreement. Additional instructions for providing statutory authorization are found in Section VIII of this FOA.

Is this a realistic fit?

What the grant funds

The DOE SC Program in Biological and Environmental Research (BER), Earth and Environmental System Sciences Division (EESSD) hereby announces its interest in applications from the scientific community for Urban Integrated Field Laboratories (Urban IFLs) that will improve the science underpinning our understanding of climate and environmental predictability across complex and variable urban regions. EESSD supports fundamental systems level research aimed at identifying the foundational principles of dynamic physical, biogeochemical, and human processes and interactions and advancing fundamental understanding of the predictability of the climate and broader Earth system. EESSD develops the science, technology, and knowledge base that is necessary to inform actions to enable the resilience of natural-human systems that are exposed to climate trends, variabilities, and extremes. For the purposes of this FOA, urban regions are densely populated areas, encompassing interdependent environmental, ecological, infrastructure, and human components. Urban regions of interest for this FOA are in climate-sensitive locations, and are highly heterogeneous, i.e. having uneven distribution of physical landforms and vegetation, environmental processes, the built environment and infrastructure, population density, and socioeconomic clustering in the urban landscape, particularly when that heterogeneity relates to impacts on disadvantaged communities. The Urban IFLs will necessarily involve diverse scientific disciplines to develop comprehensive projects including field observations, data assimilation, modeling, and model-data fusion, to inform equitable solutions based on state-of-the-art uncertainty quantification and data analytics. Applications must be multi-institutional and focus on the development of a single IFL. While multiple IFLs may be selected in response to this FOA, considered together, each of the selected IFLs will represent different aspects of understanding urban systems, potentially including diverse demographic characteristics; differing climate-induced pressures on people and infrastructures; and unique geographic settings, e.g., coastal; arid lands; mountains; plains; or Great Lakes.

Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

Who has won Office of Science Financial Assistance Program grants before

From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Office of Science Financial Assistance Program (81.049) awarded $7.7 billion across 6,205 grant awards, an average of $1.2 million per award.

Largest recipients, fiscal 2021 to 2025
RecipientStateAwardsAmount
Michigan State University FoundationMichigan84$573 million
General AtomicsCalifornia30$495 million
University of Wisconsin SystemWisconsin101$275 million
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts118$238 million
University of IllinoisIllinois61$201 million

Top states: California ($1.5 billion), Michigan ($707 million), Massachusetts ($509 million), Illinois ($461 million), New York ($445 million).

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, DE-FOA-0003673, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.

Questions people ask

Is DE-FOA-0002581 still open?

No. It closed on June 16, 2022. A newer notice is open: DE-FOA-0003673, closes January 12, 2027 (66 days left).

Who can apply for Urban Integrated Field Labs (IFL)?

Office of Science accepted applications from the applicants described in the notice. The notice adds further conditions, so read its eligibility section.

What is the deadline for Urban Integrated Field Labs (IFL)?

Closed June 16, 2022. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.

How much funding is available?

Awards of up to $25.0 million each. About $85.0 million in total.

Who has won Office of Science Financial Assistance Program grants before?

The largest recipients over five fiscal years were Michigan State University Foundation, General Atomics, University of Wisconsin System. The program made 6,205 awards worth $7.7 billion in that time.

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