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Grants / Department of Energy / Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy

DE-FOA-0003506: CATALYTIC APPLICATION TESTING FOR ACCELERATED LEARNING CHEMISTRIES VIA HIGH-THROUGHPUT EXPERIMENTATION AND MODELING EFFICIENTLY SBIR/STTR (CATALCHEM-E SBIR/STTR)

Closed Closed December 17, 2024 Opportunity DE-FOA-0003506

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Unlocking New Levels of Output and Capacity for Key Subsurface Resources (UNLOCK) (DE-FOA-0003630). Status: Closes November 20, 2026 (13 days left). It is in our archive of Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy notices from 2024.

Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy offered grants of up to $3.5 million (at least $2.5 million) to small businesses. It expected to make about 12 awards worth $35.0 million in total. Applications closed on December 17, 2024.

From the official notice on Grants.gov, last changed February 11, 2025. Checked November 7, 2026.

Key dates

PostedNovember 14, 2024
DeadlineDecember 17, 2024
Archived by Grants.govJune 19, 2025

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to small businesses.

See Section II.A. of the NOFO

More grants for small businesses.

Is this a realistic fit?

What the grant funds

This is Modification 02 to the NOFO: • Clarified the meaning of the Program Policy Factors in Section V.C. • The CP due date for this NOFO has already closed and is not being extended with this modification. To obtain a copy of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) please go to ARPA-E eXCHANGE at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov. Program Overview The Catalytic Application Testing for Accelerated Learning Chemistries via High-throughput Experimentation and Modeling Efficiently (CATALCHEM-E) program aims to disrupt and accelerate the design and development cycle for heterogeneous catalyst R&D workflows. The program will span from rational material discovery to synthesis and final reactor testing. These novel workflows will be developed by coupling the latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) with high-throughput experimentation (HTE) to verifiably complete 10–15 years of traditional catalysis R&D work within 12–18 months, thus achieving more than a ten-time acceleration in the catalyst development cycle.[1] The program will then use these new tools to discover and optimize catalytic chemistries relevant to ARPA-E’s goals. These new chemistries will ultimately help advance the objective of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.[2] Innovations developed under the CATALCHEM-E program will involve: · Future refinery relevant or other next-generation feedstocks such as hydrogen (H2), nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2), water (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), methanol (MeOH), ethanol (EtOH), bio-intermediates (CxHyOz), waste plastics, and triglycerides (TAGs); and · Products like ethylene (C2=) and propylene (C3=) as low carbon monomers, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), diesel, and syngas as distillate range hydrocarbons. [1] Sharon Mitchell, Nina-Luisa Michels, and Javier Pérez-Ramírez, “From Powder to Technical Body: The Undervalued Science of Catalyst Scale Up,” Chemical Society Reviews 42, no. 14 (June 21, 2013): 6094–6112, https://doi.org/10.1039/C3CS60076A. [2] U.S. Department of Energy. “How we’re moving to net-zero by 2050,” (April 2021). https://www.energy.gov/articles/how-were-moving-net-zero-2050.

Category: Opportunity Zone Benefits, Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

Who has won Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy grants before

From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (81.135) awarded $1.4 billion across 729 grant awards, an average of $1.9 million per award.

Largest recipients, fiscal 2021 to 2025
RecipientStateAwardsAmount
RTX CorporationConnecticut15$33.9 million
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts16$31.4 million
BWXT Advanced Technologies LLCVirginia1$30.9 million
Ge Vernova Operations LLCNew York8$26.4 million
University of Maryland, College ParkMaryland11$23.6 million

Top states: California ($231 million), Massachusetts ($148 million), Texas ($122 million), New York ($107 million), Maryland ($82.5 million).

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, DE-FOA-0003630, 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-0003506 still open?

No. It closed on December 17, 2024. A newer notice is open: DE-FOA-0003630, closes November 20, 2026 (13 days left).

Who can apply for CATALYTIC APPLICATION TESTING FOR ACCELERATED LEARNING CHEMISTRIES VIA HIGH-THROUGHPUT EXPERIMENTATION AND MODELING EFFICIENTLY SBIR/STTR (CATALCHEM-E SBIR/STTR)?

Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy accepted applications from small businesses. The notice adds further conditions, so read its eligibility section.

What is the deadline for CATALYTIC APPLICATION TESTING FOR ACCELERATED LEARNING CHEMISTRIES VIA HIGH-THROUGHPUT EXPERIMENTATION AND MODELING EFFICIENTLY SBIR/STTR (CATALCHEM-E SBIR/STTR)?

Closed December 17, 2024. 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 $3.5 million each. About $35.0 million in total across about 12 awards.

Who has won Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy grants before?

The largest recipients over five fiscal years were RTX Corporation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC. The program made 729 awards worth $1.4 billion in that time.

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