Grants / Department of Energy / Office of Science

DE-FOA-0003450: Early Career Research Program

Closed Closed April 22, 2025 Opportunity DE-FOA-0003450 ☆ Save

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 2025.

• Award ceiling$2.8 million
• Award floor$875,000
• Total funding$136 million
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant, Other, Procurement Contract

Key dates

Who can apply

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

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

In accordance with 2 CFR 910.126, Competition, eligibility for award is restricted to U.S. Institutions of Higher Education, DOE National Laboratories (listed at https://www.energy.gov/national-laboratories), and institutions operating SC Scientific User Facilities (listed at https://science.osti.gov/User-Facilities).This eligibility restriction is intended to create an opportunity for the most promising scientists who are (a) early in their careers, (b) in positions with sufficient permanence to support independent research efforts, and (c) for investigators not at DOE-affiliated institutions, in positions that require working with the students who will become the scientific workforce of the future.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Office of Science Financial Assistance Program awards averaged $1.2 million; this notice allows up to $2.8 million per award.
• Most of the program's money (69% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

The Office of Science’s (SC) mission is to deliver scientific discoveries and major scientific tools to transform our understanding of nature and advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States (U.S.). SC 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 energy future. · Science for energy, economic and national security―building a foundation of scientific and technical knowledge to spur discoveries and innovations for advancing the Department’s mission. SC supports a wide range of funding modalities from single principal investigators to large team-based activities to engage in fundamental research on energy production, conversion, storage, transmission, and use, and on our understanding of the earth systems. · The frontiers of science—exploring nature’s mysteries from the study of fundamental subatomic particles, atoms, and molecules that are the building blocks of the materials of our universe and everything in it to the DNA, proteins, and cells that are the building blocks of life. Each of the programs in SC supports research probing the most fundamental disciplinary questions. The 21st Century tools of science—providing the nation’s researchers with 28 state-of-the-art national scientific user facilities, the most advanced tools of modern science, propelling the U.S. to the forefront of science, technology development, and deployment through innovation. SC is an established leader of the U.S. scientific discovery and innovation enterprise. Over the decades, SC investments and accomplishments in basic research and enabling research capabilities have provided the foundations for new technologies, businesses, and industries, making significant contributions to our nation’s economy, national security, and quality of life.

Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

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.