Today (July 9), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $21 million in funding for 31 research projects under the federal Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). EPSCoR is designed to build capabilities in underserved regions of the country that will enable them to compete more successfully for other federal R&D funding.
Under the DOE program, university researchers from EPSCoR states partner with researchers at DOE National Laboratories on topics of common interest. Subjects include fundamental research in chemistry and materials science, advancing solar energy and battery technologies, studies in particle physics, and other areas.
"The projects announced today (July 9) are collaborative DOE Lab-Academia efforts that will simultaneously advance science and technology, as well as strengthen America's research infrastructure and capabilities," said Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar. "Both EPSCoR states and the National Laboratories benefit strongly from these very productive, innovative research partnerships."
The award teams are led by universities in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The proposed teams include partner institutions in Louisiana and Nevada.
Projects were chosen by competitive peer review under a DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement for EPSCoR State-National Laboratory Partnerships. The DOE EPSCoR program is managed by the Department's Office of Science through its Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Projects announced today are selections for negotiation of financial award. The final details for each project award are subject to final grant and contract negotiations between DOE and the awardees.
Funding totals approximately $21 million with Fiscal Year 2020 funding for projects lasting up to three years in duration.
