# Office of Science Financial Assistance Program (81.049)

Source: https://welltoldgrants.com/programs/81-049-office-of-science-financial-assistance-program/  
Publisher: Well Told Grants. Data: USAspending.gov and Grants.gov, updated October 31, 2026.

Office of Science Financial Assistance Program is run by Department of Energy. From fiscal 2021 to 2025 it awarded $7.7 billion in 6,205 grants, about $1.2 million per award.

## Objectives

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. 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. Additional descriptions of recent science discoveries can
be found at https://science.osti.gov/Science-Features/Science-Highlights.
SC accomplishes its mission and advances national goals by supporting:
- 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.

## Funding by fiscal year

| Year | Amount | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $1.4 billion | 1,892 |
| 2022 | $1.5 billion | 2,124 |
| 2023 | $1.7 billion | 2,232 |
| 2024 | $1.7 billion | 2,006 |
| 2025 | $1.4 billion | 1,375 |

## Largest recipients

| Recipient | State | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Michigan State University | Michigan | $573 million |
| General Atomics | California | $495 million |
| University of Wisconsin System | Wisconsin | $275 million |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts | $238 million |
| University of Illinois | Illinois | $201 million |
| South Dakota Science & Technology Authority | South Dakota | $166 million |
| University of Washington | Washington | $125 million |
| University of California, Los Angeles | California | $119 million |
| University of Texas at Austin | Texas | $101 million |
| Regents of the University of Michigan | Michigan | $87.9 million |
| University of California, San Diego | California | $87.6 million |
| Regents of the University of Minnesota | Minnesota | $80.7 million |
| California Institute of Technology | California | $78.5 million |
| Cornell University | New York | $77.9 million |
| The Pennsylvania State University | Pennsylvania | $76.8 million |
| The Krell Institute Inc | Iowa | $76.2 million |
| University of Tennessee | Tennessee | $72.4 million |
| The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York | New York | $71.6 million |
| The Trustees of Princeton University | New Jersey | $68.2 million |
| University of California Irvine | California | $62.8 million |

## Open opportunities

- [The Genesis Mission: Transforming Science and Energy with AI](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/de-foa-0003612-the-genesis-mission-transforming-science-and-energy-with/), closes December 17, 2026
- [Genesis Mission Graduate Fellowship Pilot](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/de-foa-0003673-genesis-mission-graduate-fellowship-pilot/), closes January 12, 2027
- [FY 2027 Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/de-foa-0003665-fy-2027-continuation-of-solicitation-for-the-office/), closes September 30, 2027