Office of Biological and Environmental Research
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science
Announcements are posted on the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science Grants and Contracts website and at grants.gov. Information about preparing and submitting applications, as well as the DOE Office of Science merit review process, is available at the DOE Office of Science Grants and Contracts website.
For current announcements, visit BER Funding Opportunities.
The Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is now accepting applications for the 2018 Solicitation 1. Applications are due 5:00pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, May 15, 2018.
The SCGSR program supports supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students to conduct part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE national laboratory/facility in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist for a period of 3 to 12 consecutive months—with the goal of preparing graduate students for scientific and technical careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission. Detailed information about the program, including eligibility requirements and access to the online application system, can be found at: https://science.energy.gov/wdts/scgsr/.
Open calls from user facilities
The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program within the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) hereby announces its interest in receiving research applications for Environmental System Science (ESS). As part of the ESS program, the Terrestrial Ecosystem Science activity seeks to improve the understanding and representation of terrestrial ecosystems in ways that advance Earth system model parameterizations and capabilities. This FOA will consider applications that utilize and couple measurements, experiments, modeling and/or synthesis of terrestrial ecosystem across a continuum from the subsurface to the top of the vegetated canopy and from molecular to global scales. ESS hereby announces its interest in grant applications for improved quantitative and predictive understanding of critical terrestrial ecosystems processes and feedbacks within high latitude (i.e., Arctic and Boreal) and coastal ecosystems in the following areas: Interactions between above- and below-ground processes and traits, impacts of disturbances on ecosystems, and coupled biogeochemical and energy fluxes at the terrestrial-aquatic interface. Applicants are required to pose their research applications in the context of representing terrestrial ecosystem processes appropriate for improving the predictability of Earth system models.
Applications from this FOA will support the scientific mission for the Environmental System Science/Terrestrial Ecosystem Science (TES) activity (more information on the program can be found at https://science.energy.gov/ber/research/cesd/terrestrial-ecosystem-science/ and https://tes.science.energy.gov/.
DE-FOA-0001855 - Environmental System Science (https://science.energy.gov/grants/foas/open/) (https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=298742)
Please note the schedule below.
Deadline for Pre-applications (required): December 20, 2017; 5 pm eastern time
Deadline for Proposals: March 1, 2018; 11:59 pm eastern time
Please see the announcement for additional details.
Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science is pleased to announce that the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is now accepting applications for the 2017 Solicitation 2. Applications are due 5:00pm ET on Thursday, November 16, 2017.
The SCGSR program supports supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students to conduct part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE national laboratory in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist for a period of 3 to 12 consecutive months—with the goal of preparing graduate students for scientific and technical careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission. The Environmental Systems Science topic is one of the most popular in the SCGSR, and students are encouraged to consider applying to the new announcement: (e) Environmental Systems Science: Process-Level Terrestrial Ecosystem and Biogeochemical Research to Inform Models of the Earth and Environmental System Current land process, watershed, ecosystem, and climate models inadequately represent the structure and function of key environmental and ecological processes that span the continuum from the bedrock, through the soil and vegetation, and to the atmospheric interface. These processes (e.g., soil biogeochemical reactions, plant-rhizosphere interactions, reactive transport, microbe-mineral interactions, vegetative, etc.), have interfaces and interactions between the various components of the continuum and land surface, riverine environments, coastal zones and the subsurface environment. The inadequate representation of these terrestrial ecosystem, subsurface structures, biogeochemical processes and hydrologic interactions represents a major roadblock in our ability to predictively understand the Earth and environmental systems. Improving our representation of the complex Earth system requires a better understanding of terrestrial ecosystem and/or subsurface processes that can affect the cycling and transport of water, elements (including carbon), nutrients, and other constituents from process-level observational, ecosystem and hydrobiogeochemical research. Candidates for this topic are required to delineate an integrative, hypothesis-driven approach and clearly describe the existing needs in state-of-the-art models through terrestrial ecosystem and subsurface biogeochemical process research projects that will inform land process, watershed, and ecosystem models, and aligns with the scope and focus of the DOE Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and/or Subsurface Biogeochemical Research programs. Developing a workforce with experience in innovative, experimental approaches efforts in subsurface/belowground process research will enable DOE to make significant advances in the high resolution predictive understanding of the Earth and environmental system and to foster innovative research. Detailed information about the program, including eligibility requirements and access to the online application system, can be found at: https://science.energy.gov/wdts/scgsr/.
The SCGSR program is open to current Ph.D. students in qualified graduate programs at accredited U.S. academic institutions, who are conducting their graduate thesis research in targeted areas of importance to the DOE Office of Science. The program is open to graduate students with Permanent Resident status, in addition to U.S. Citizens, who meet all other eligibility requirements. The research opportunity is expected to advance the graduate students’ overall doctoral thesis/dissertation while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at the DOE laboratories. The supplemental award provides for additional, incremental costs for living and travel expenses directly associated with conducting the SCGSR research project at the DOE host laboratory during the award period. Since its inception in 2014, the SCGSR program has provided support to over 200 graduate awardees from about 90 different universities to conduct thesis research at DOE national laboratories across the nation. The SCGSR program is sponsored and managed by the DOE Office of Science’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS), in collaboration with the six Office of Science research programs offices and the DOE national laboratories, and the Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education (ORISE).
For any questions, please contact the SCGSR Program Manager, Dr. Ping Ge, at sc.scgsr@science.doe.gov.
DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is now accepting applications! Detailed information about the program, including eligibility requirements and access to the online application system, can be found at: https://science.energy.gov/wdts/scgsr/. Applications due May 16, 2017 5:00PM Eastern Time
2017 JGI Community Science Program Annual Call Released
The CSP Annual Call is focused on large-scale sequence-based genomic science projects that address questions of relevance to DOE missions in energy security and sustainability and global biogeochemistry. While applications will be accepted that address any aspect of these mission areas, priority for this call will be given to projects that address the specific areas of special emphasis that are listed in the call, and exploit the diversity of JGI technical and analytical capabilities.
This year four topics areas are emphasized:
Plant Functional Genomics and Microbiomes
Inter-organismal Interactions
Microbiology of Extreme Environments
Microbes and Communities Involved in Elemental Cycling in Terrestrial and Coastal Environments
A Letter of Intent is required before submitting a proposal. Letters of intent for CSP18 will only be accepted electronically and should be submitted between February 6 and March 31, 2017. For more information, please see the website.
Early Career Research Program (PDF, 405KB) Announcement Number: DE FOA 0001625; Posting Date: July 28, 2016; Closing Date: November 14, 2016 Companion Announcement: LAB 16-1625. See Also: additional information from the Office of Science
Notes: Pre-Application Due Date: 09/08/2016 at 5 PM Eastern Time (A Pre-Application is required);
Encourage/Discourage Date: 10/06/2016 at 5 PM Eastern Time;
Application Due Date: 11/14/2016 at 5 PM Eastern Time.
Science Graduate Student Research Accepting Applications The Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) is now accepting applications for the SCGSR Program for its first solicitation for 2016.Applications are due May 11, 2016. Please note that beginning with the 2015 Solicitation 2 the SCGSR Program began accepting applications from graduate students with Permanent Resident status, in addition to those who are U.S. citizens. Questions: sc.scgsr@science.doe.gov [2/16]
The Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program encourages undergraduate students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers by providing research experiences at the Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories. Selected students participate as interns appointed at one of 17 participating DOE laboratories/facilities. They perform research, under the guidance of laboratory staff scientists or engineers, on projects supporting the DOE mission. Applications for the SULI program are solicited annually for three separate internship terms. Internship appointments are 10 weeks in duration for the Summer Term (May through August) or 16 weeks in duration for the Fall (August through December) and Spring (January through May) Terms. Each DOE laboratory/facility offers different research opportunities; not all DOE laboratories/facilities offer internships during the Fall and Spring Terms. More information can be found at https://science.energy.gov/wdts/suli/.
Grant Notice: DE-FOA-0001437. Closing Date for Applications: Jan 22, 2016. Announcement PDF The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) of the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for research in Environmental Systems Science (ESS), including Terrestrial Ecosystem Science (TES) and Subsurface Biogeochemical Research (SBR). The mission of the Climate and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD) within BER is to advance a robust predictive understanding of Earth’s climate and environmental systems and to inform the development of sustainable solutions to the Nation’s energy and environmental challenges. The goal of the Environmental System Science (ESS) activity in the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) is to advance a robust predictive understanding of terrestrial environments, extending from bedrock to the top of the vegetated canopy and from molecular to global scales in support of DOE’s energy and environmental missions. Using an iterative approach to model-driven experimentation and observation, interdisciplinary teams of scientists work to unravel the coupled physical, chemical and biological processes that control the structure and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems across vast spatial and temporal scales. State-of-science understanding is captured in conceptual theories and models which can be translated into a hierarchy of computational components and used to predict the system response to perturbations caused, for example, by changes in climate, land use/cover or contaminant loading. Basic understanding of the system structure and function is advanced through this iterative cycle of experimentation and observation by targeting key system components and processes that are suspected to most limit the predictive skill of the models. Details.
Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program. The US Department of Energy is pleased to announce the Office of Science's Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) is now accepting applications for the new Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program for the 2015. The SCGSR program will support supplemental awards to graduate students to conduct part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE national laboratory for a period of 3 to 12 consecutive months. The goal of the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is to prepare graduate students for science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission, by providing graduate thesis research opportunities at DOE laboratories. The SCGSR program provides supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students to pursue part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE laboratory in areas that address scientific challenges central to the Office of Science mission. The research opportunity is expected to advance the graduate students' overall doctoral thesis while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at the DOE laboratories. Priority research areas for the 2015 SCGSR competition were identified to help address important workforce needs in support of Office of Science mission. The priority research areas for the 2015 SCGSR competition can be viewed at: https://science.energy.gov/wdts/scgsr/how-to-apply/priority-sc-research-areas/. Specific details and information on eligibility and how to apply can be found at the program website: https://science.energy.gov/wdts/scgsr/. If you have any questions, please contact the SCGSR program manager, Dr. Ping Ge. She can be reached at ping.ge@science.doe.gov or sc.scgsr@science.doe.gov.
BIR/STTR FY 2016 Phase II DE-FOA-0001405: Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for Fiscal Year 2016, Phase II Release 1. (Closing date: Dec 15, 2015.) See also http://sbir.er.doe.gov/sbir; Announcement PDF.
BIR/STTR FY 2016 DE-FOA-0001366:. Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for two distinct funding opportunities for DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for Fiscal Year 2016, Phase I Release 1. (Closing date: Oct 19, 2015) See also announcement PDF and http://sbir.er.doe.gov/sbir.
DE-FOA-0001386 Early Career Research Program Announcement: The Office of Science of the Department of Energy hereby invites grant applications for support under the Early Career Research Program in the following program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR); Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); High Energy Physics (HEP), and Nuclear Physics (NP). The purpose of this program is to support the development of individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers and to stimulate research careers in the areas supported by the DOE Office of Science.(Closing date: Nov 19, 2015)
Environmental System Science Funding Opportunity Number: DE-FOA-0001172. Pre-Application Due: 09/03/2014 (Pre-Application is required); Application Due Date: 12/2/2014 11:59 PM EST. The goal of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to improve the representation of terrestrial ecosystems and subsurface processes appropriate for advancing Earth system model capabilities, thereby improving the quality of climate model projections and providing the scientific foundation needed to inform DOE’s energy decisions.
Collaborative Research in Support of GOAmazon Campaign Science. DE-FOA-0000919. Posted: May 15, 2013, Closed:
June 28, 2013. Summary of projects awarded (Fall 2013)
.
Original Announcement: Tropical deep convection in its natural state and the underlying processes that drive it are poorly understood and modeled, often with insufficient observational data sets to advance either a
scientific understanding or modeling capabilities. Given the current state of the science, the
Office of Biological and Environmental Research's Climate and Environmental Sciences
Division (CESD) will provide support to the community to conduct a major field experiment to
advance the scientific understanding of coupled atmosphere-cloud-terrestrial tropical systems.
The field experiment, i.e., GreenOceanAmazon2014 (hereinafter referred to as GOAmazon2014)
(http://www.arm.gov/campaigns/amf2014amazon), will extend through the wet and dry seasons
for a one-year period, January 1 - December 31, 2014, with planned extensions through 2015. The Department of Energy's ARM Climate Research Facility, Environmental Molecular
Sciences Laboratory, and Terrestrial Ecosystem Science Program will provide support for
observational resources to be deployed in the Amazon Basin. In 2014 and 2015, both the ARM
Mobile Facility (AMF) and ARM Aerial Facility (AAF) airborne platform will be on location
near Manaus, Brazil for the GOAmazon campaign. Under this FOA, the Atmospheric System
Research, Regional and Global Climate Modeling, and Terrestrial Ecosystem Science programs
will support research using data collected as part of GOAmazon to evaluate and improve the
representation of these coupled processes in the climate models. [See full announcement]
Early Career Research Program. DE-FOA-0000751. Posted: July 20, 2012, Closed: November 26, 2012. List of Awards. Original Announcement: (Please note two climate and environmental science focus areas) Environmental System Science - Research that combines measurements, experiments, and modeling that provide improved quantitative and predictive understanding of the coupled biological, chemical and physical interactions of the belowground carbon cycle processes that in turn influence the directions of terrestrial ecology and global climate change. The goal should be to provide a refined understanding of critical belowground processes (e.g., soil carbon turnover, root dynamics, rhizo deposition, mycorrhizal interactions) in non-managed terrestrial ecosystems which mediate carbon cycling and feedbacks in a changing climate. Research should be posed in the context of representing terrestrial carbon cycle processes in Earth system models. Uncertainty Characterization for Integrated Earth System Modeling - Development of methodologies that characterize uncertainties in integrated global earth system models, by examining the components that contribute significantly to climate system and projection uncertainties. It is expected that proposed research will include novel approaches that examine nonlinear relationships between different component level uncertainties due to, e.g., data limitations associated with initial and boundary conditions, simplifications of parameterizations and submodel codes, resolution. [See full announcement]. See https://science.energy.gov/early-career/ for more information.
Terrestrial Ecosystem Science Seeks Research Funding Applications. DE-FOA-0000749. Posted: July 20, 2012, Closed: November 12, 2012. Summary of projects awarded (Spring 2013).
Original Announcement: The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) of the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) hereby announces its interest in receiving research applications for terrestrial ecosystem science. The goal of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Science (TES) program is to improve the representation of terrestrial ecosystem processes in Earth system models thereby improving the quality of climate model projections and providing the scientific foundation needed to inform DOE’s energy decisions. The TES program will consider applications on measurements, experiments, modeling and synthesis that provide improved quantitative and predictive understanding of the terrestrial ecosystem that, in turn, can affect atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration changes and thereby affect the greenhouse gas forcing of climate. In addition, the Earth System Modeling (ESM) Program, which funds development of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) will consider applications focused on development and coupling of the CESM land model component. The emphasis of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to understand non-managed terrestrial ecosystems in the context of a changing climate. Applicants should pose their research applications in the context of representing terrestrial ecosystem processes in Earth system models. [See full announcement]
Understanding Of The Role Of Terrestrial Ecosystems In Climate Forcing Related To A Changing Climate. DE-FOA-0000536. Posted: May 11, 2011, Closed: September 12, 2011. Summary of projects awarded (Spring 2012).
Original Announcement: The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) of the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for terrestrial ecosystem science that will improve the understanding of the role of terrestrial ecosystems in climate forcing related to a changing climate. BER’s Terrestrial Ecosystem Science (TES) program is the result of the consolidation of its former Terrestrial Carbon Processes (TCP) program and Program in Ecological Research (PER). The TES program will consider applications on measurements, experiments, modeling and synthesis that provide improved quantitative and predictive understanding of the terrestrial ecosystem that can affect atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration changes and thereby affect the anthropogenic gas forcing of climate. The emphasis of this FOA is to understand the impacts of, and feedbacks from a changing climate on non-managed terrestrial ecosystems. Authors should pose their research applications in the context of representing terrestrial ecosystem processes in earth system models. Both single investigator projects and multi-investigator projects are encouraged. Multi-investigator projects are expected to integrate the efforts of a multi-disciplinary team to tackle problems that cannot be effectively addressed by a single investigator. All projects should clearly delineate an integrative, hypothesis-driven research approach or synthesis activity and describe how the results of the research would ultimately improve our ability to understand and predict the role of the terrestrial ecosystems in a changing climate. [See full announcement]
Terrestrial Carbon Cycle Research announcement. DE-FOA-0000287. Posted: February 26, 2010, Closed: March 3, 2010.
Summary of projects awarded in 2010 and 2011.
Original Announcement: The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) of the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for terrestrial carbon cycle research that will improve the understanding of the role of terrestrial biomes in the global carbon cycle and aid carbon cycle predictions related to climate change. BER's carbon cycle science program will consider applications on measurements, experiments, and modeling that provide improved quantitative and predictive understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle processes that can affect atmospheric CO2 concentration changes and thereby affect the CO2 forcing of climate. The emphasis of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to understand the impacts of, and feed backs from a changing climate on non-managed terrestrial ecosystems. Authors should pose their research applications in the context of representing terrestrial carbon cycle processes in earth system models. Both single investigator projects and multi-investigator projects are encouraged. Multi-investigator projects are expected to integrate the efforts of a multi-disciplinary team to tackle problems that cannot be effectively addressed by a single investigator. All projects should clearly delineate an integrative, hypothesis-driven research approach and describe how the results of the research would ultimately improve our ability to understand and predict the role of the terrestrial biosphere in the global carbon cycle. Proposed research is intended to fill critical knowledge gaps, including the exploration of some high-risk approaches. BER also encourages the submission of innovative "high-risk" applications with potential for future high impact on terrestrial carbon cycle science. The probability of success and the risk-reward balance will be considered when making funding decisions. [See full announcement]
The Terrestrial Ecosystem Science program is sponsored by the Climate and Environmental Sciences Division of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research.
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