[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 201 (Thursday, October 17, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64103-64106]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-26397]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial 
Assistance Program--Notice 03-01

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Annual Notice of Continuation of Availability of Grants and 
Cooperative Agreements.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Science (SC) of the Department of Energy (DOE) 
hereby announces its continuing interest in receiving grant 
applications for support of work in the following program areas: Basic 
Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Advanced 
Scientific Computing, Fusion Energy Sciences, Biological and 
Environmental Research, and Energy Research Analyses. On September 3, 
1992, DOE published in the Federal Register the Office of Energy 
Research Financial Assistance Program (now called the Office of Science 
Financial Assistance Program), 10 CFR part 605, Final Rule, which 
contained a solicitation for this program. Information about submission 
of applications, eligibility, limitations, evaluation and selection 
processes and other policies and procedures are specified in 10 CFR 
part 605.

DATES: Applications may be submitted until September 30, 2003, in 
response to this Notice of Availability.

ADDRESSES: Formal applications in response to this solicitation are to 
be electronically submitted by an authorized institutional business 
official through DOE's Industry Interactive Procurement System (IIPS) 
at: http://e-center.doe.gov/. IIPS provides for the posting of 
solicitations and receipt of applications in a paperless environment 
via the Internet. In order to submit applications through IIPS your 
business official will need to register at the IIPS website. The Office 
of Science will include attachments as part of this notice that provide 
the appropriate forms in PDF fillable format that are to be submitted 
through IIPS. Color images should be submitted in IIPS as a separate 
file in PDF format and identified as such. These images should be kept 
to a minimum due to the limitations of reproducing them. They should be 
numbered and referred to in the body of the technical scientific 
proposal as Color image 1, Color image 2, etc. Questions regarding the 
operation of IIPS may be e-mailed to the IIPS Help Desk at: center.doe.gov">HelpDesk@e-center.doe.gov or you may call the help desk at: (800) 683-0751. 
Further information on the use of IIPS by the Office of Science is 
available at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html.
    If you are unable to submit an application through IIPS please 
contact the Office of the Director, Grants and Contracts Division, 
Office of Science, DOE at 301-903-5212 in order to gain assistance for 
submission through IIPS or to receive special approval and instructions 
on how to submit printed applications.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Notice is published annually and 
remains in effect until it is succeeded by another issuance by the 
Office of Science, usually published after the beginning of the fiscal 
year. This annual Notice 03-01 succeeds Notice 02-01, which was 
published December 20, 2001.
    It is anticipated that approximately $400 million will be available 
for grant and cooperative agreement awards in Fiscal Year 2003. The DOE 
is under no obligation to pay for any costs associated with the 
preparation or submission of an application. DOE reserves the right to 
fund, in whole or in part, any, all, or none of the applications 
submitted in response to this Notice.
    The following program descriptions are offered to provide more in-
depth information on scientific and technical areas of interest to the 
Office of Science:

1. Basic Energy Sciences

    The Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program supports fundamental 
research in the natural sciences and engineering leading to new and 
improved energy technologies and to understanding and mitigating the 
environmental impacts of energy technologies. The science areas and 
their objectives are as follows:

(a) Materials Sciences and Engineering

    The objective of this program is to increase the fundamental 
understanding of phenomena, properties, and behavior important to 
materials that will contribute to improving current energy technologies 
and developing new energy technologies. This program is comprised of 
the subfields materials physics, condensed matter physics, materials 
chemistry, engineering physics, and related disciplines where the 
emphasis is on the science of materials. Program Contact: (301) 903-
3427.

(b) Chemical Sciences

    The objective of this program is to expand, through support of 
basic research, knowledge of various areas of chemistry, chemical 
engineering and atomic molecular and optical physics with a goal of 
contributing to new or improved processes for developing and using 
domestic energy resources in an efficient and environmentally sound 
manner. Disciplinary areas where research is supported include atomic 
molecular and optical physics; physical, inorganic and organic 
chemistry; chemical physics; photochemistry; radiation chemistry; 
analytical chemistry; separations science; actinide chemistry; and 
chemical engineering sciences. Program Contact: (301) 903-5804.

(c) Geosciences

    The goal of this program is to develop a quantitative and 
predictive understanding of geologic processes related to energy and 
environmental quality. The program emphasizes cross-cutting basic 
research that will improve understanding of reactive geochemical 
transport and other subsurface processes and properties and how to 
image them using techniques ranging from electrons, x-rays or neutrons 
to electromagnetic and seismic waves. Applications of this fundamental 
understanding might include transport of contaminant fluids, 
hydrocarbons, sequestered CO2 or performance prediction for 
repository

[[Page 64104]]

sites. The emphasis is on the disciplinary areas of geochemistry, 
geophysics, geomechanics, and hydrogeology with a focus on the upper 
levels of the earth's crust. Particular emphasis is on processes taking 
place at the atomic and molecular scale. Specific topical areas 
receiving emphasis include: high resolution geophysical imaging; rock 
physics, physics of fluid transport, and fundamental properties and 
interactions of rocks, minerals, and fluids.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-4061.

(d) Energy Biosciences

    The primary objective of this program is to generate an 
understanding of fundamental biological mechanisms in plants and 
microorganisms that will support future technological developments 
related to DOE's mission. The research serves to provide the basic 
information foundation for environmentally responsible production and 
conversion of renewable resources for fuels, chemicals, and the 
conservation of energy. This program has special requirements for the 
submission of preapplications, when to submit, and the length of the 
applications. Applicants are encouraged to contact the program 
regarding these requirements.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-2873.

2. High Energy and Nuclear Physics

    This program supports about 90% of the U.S. efforts in high energy 
and nuclear physics. The objectives of these programs are indicated 
below:

(a) High Energy Physics

    The primary objectives of this program are to understand the 
ultimate structure of matter in terms of the properties and 
interrelations of its basic constituents, and to understand the nature 
and relationships among the fundamental forces of nature. The research 
falls into three broad categories: experimental research, theoretical 
research, and technology R&D in support of the high energy physics 
program.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-3624.

(b) Nuclear Physics (Including Nuclear Data Program)

    The primary objectives of this program are a fundamental 
understanding of the interactions and structures of atomic nuclei and 
nuclear matter, and an understanding of the forces of nature as 
manifested in nuclear matter.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-3613.

3. Advanced Scientific Computing Research

    This program fosters and supports fundamental research in advanced 
computing research (applied mathematics, computer science and 
networking), and operates supercomputer, networking, and related 
facilities to enable the analysis, modeling, simulation, and prediction 
of complex phenomena important to the Department of Energy.

(a) Mathematical, Information, and Computational Sciences

    This subprogram is responsible for carrying out the primary mission 
of the ASCR program: discovering, developing, and deploying advanced 
scientific computing and communications tools and operating the high 
performance computing and network facilities that researchers need to 
analyze, model, simulate, and--most importantly--predict the behavior 
of complex natural and engineered systems of importance to the Office 
of Science and to the Department of Energy.
    The computing and the networking required to meet Office of Science 
needs exceed the state-of-the-art by a wide margin. Furthermore, the 
algorithms, software tools, the software libraries and the software 
environments needed to accelerate scientific discovery through modeling 
and simulation are beyond the realm of commercial interest. To 
establish and maintain DOE's modeling and simulation leadership in 
scientific areas that are important to its mission, the MICS subprogram 
employs a broad, but integrated research strategy. The basic research 
portfolio in applied mathematics and computer science provides the 
foundation for enabling research activities, which includes efforts to 
advance networking, to develop software tools, software libraries and 
software environments. Results from enabling research supported by the 
MICS subprogram are used by computational scientists supported by other 
Office of Science and other DOE programs. Research areas include:

(b) Applied Mathematics

    Research on the underlying mathematical understanding and numerical 
algorithms to enable effective description and prediction of physical 
systems such as fluids, magnetized plasmas, or protein molecules. This 
includes, for example, methods for solving large systems of partial 
differential equations on parallel computers, techniques for choosing 
optimal values for parameters in large systems with hundreds to 
hundreds of thousands of parameters, improving our understanding of 
fluid turbulence, and developing techniques for reliably estimating the 
errors in simulations of complex physical phenomena.

(c) Computer Science

    Research in computer science to enable large scientific 
applications through advances in massively parallel computing such as 
very lightweight operating systems for parallel computers, distributed 
computing such as development of the Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM) 
software package which has become an industry standard, and large scale 
data management and visualization. The development of new computer and 
computational science techniques will allow scientists to use the most 
advanced computers without being overwhelmed by the complexity of 
rewriting their codes every 18 months.

(d) Networking

    Research in high performance networks and information surety 
required to support high performance applications--protocols for high 
performance networks, methods for measuring the performance of high 
performance networks, and software to enable high speed connections 
between high performance computers and networks. The development of 
high speed communications and collaboration technologies will allow 
scientists to view, compare, and integrate data from multiple sources 
remotely.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-5800.

4. Fusion Energy Sciences

    The mission of the Fusion Energy Sciences program is to advance 
plasma science, fusion science, and fusion technology--the knowledge 
base needed for an economically and environmentally attractive fusion 
energy source. The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES) supports 
basic and applied research, encourages technical connectivity with the 
broader U.S. science community, and uses international collaboration to 
accomplish this mission.

(a) Research Division

    This Division seeks to develop the physics knowledge base needed to 
advance the Fusion Energy Sciences program. Research is conducted on 
medium to large-scale confinement devices to study physics issues 
relevant to basic plasmas and to the production of fusion energy. 
Experiments on this scale of devices are used to explore the

[[Page 64105]]

limits of specific confinement concepts, as well as study associated 
physical phenomena. Specific areas of interest include: (1) Reducing 
plasma energy and particle transport at high densities and 
temperatures, (2) understanding the physical laws governing stability 
of high pressure plasmas, (3) investigating plasma wave interactions, 
(4) studying and controlling impurity particle transport and exhaust in 
plasmas, and (5) interaction and coupling among these four issues in a 
fusion experiment.
    Research is also carried out in the following areas: (1) Basic 
plasma science research directed at furthering the understanding of 
fundamental processes in plasmas; (2) theoretical research to provide 
the understanding of fusion plasmas necessary for interpreting results 
from present experiments, planning future experiments, and designing 
future confinement devices; (3) critical data on plasma properties, 
atomic physics and new diagnostic techniques for support of confinement 
experiments; (4) supporting research on innovative confinement 
concepts; and (5) research on issues that support the development of 
Inertial Fusion Energy, for which high energy density physics necessary 
for target development is carried out by the Office of Defense Programs 
in the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Agency.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-4095.

(b) Facilities and Enabling Technologies Division

    This Division is responsible for overseeing the facility operations 
and enabling research and development activity budgets within the OFES. 
Grant program opportunities are in the enabling research and 
development activity. (Grants for scientific use of the facilities 
operated/maintained by this Division should be addressed to the 
Research Division.) The enabling technologies program supports the 
advancement of fusion science in the nearer-term by carrying out 
research on technological topics that: (1) enable domestic experiments 
to achieve their full performance potential and scientific research 
goals; (2) permit scientific exploitation of the performance gains 
being sought from physics concept improvements; (3) allow the U.S. to 
enter into international collaborations gaining access to experimental 
conditions not available domestically; and (4) explore the science 
underlying these technological advances.
    The enabling technologies program supports pursuit of fusion energy 
science for the longer-term by conducting research aimed at innovative 
technologies, designs and materials to point toward an attractive 
fusion energy vision and affordable pathways for optimized fusion 
development.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-3068.

5. Biological and Environmental Research Program

    For over 50 years the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) 
Program has been investing to advance environmental and biomedical 
knowledge connected to energy. The BER program provides fundamental 
science to underpin the business thrusts of the Department's strategic 
plan. Through its support of peer-reviewed research at national 
laboratories, universities, and private institutions, the program 
develops the knowledge needed (1) to identify, understand, and 
anticipate the long-term health and environmental consequences of 
energy production, development, and use, and (2) to develop biology 
based solutions that address DOE and National needs.

(a) Life Sciences Research

    Research is focused on using DOE's unique resources and facilities 
to develop fundamental knowledge of biological systems that can be used 
to address DOE needs in clean energy, carbon sequestration, and 
environmental cleanup and that will underpin biotechnology based 
solutions to energy challenges. The objectives are: (1) To develop the 
experimental and, together with the Advanced Scientific Computing 
Research program, the computational resources, tools, and technologies 
needed to understand and predict the complex behavior of complete 
biological systems, principally microbes and microbial communities; (2) 
to take advantage of the remarkable high throughput and cost-effective 
DNA sequencing capacity at the Joint Genome Institute to meet the DNA 
sequencing needs of the scientific community through competitive, peer-
reviewed nominations for DNA sequencing; (3) to develop and support DOE 
national user facilities for use in fundamental structural biology at 
synchrotron and neutron sources; (4) to use model organisms to 
understand human genome organization, human gene function and control, 
and the functional relationships between human genes and proteins at a 
genomic scale; (5) to understand and characterize the risks to human 
health from exposures to low levels of radiation; and (6) to anticipate 
and address ethical, legal, and social implications arising from genome 
research.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-5468.

(b) Medical Applications and Measurement Sciences

    The research is designed to develop the beneficial applications of 
nuclear and energy-related technologies for bio-medical research, 
medical diagnosis and treatment. The objectives are: (1) To utilize 
innovative radiochemistry to develop new radiotracers for medical 
research, clinical diagnosis and treatment, (2) To develop the next 
generation of non-invasive nuclear medicine technologies, such as 
positron emission tomography, (3) To develop advanced imaging detection 
instrumentation capable of high resolution from the sub-cellular to the 
clinical level, (4) To utilize the unique resources of the DOE in 
engineering, physics, chemistry and computer sciences to develop the 
fundamental tools to be used in biology and medicine, particularly in 
imaging sciences, photo-optics and biosensors.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-3213.

(c) Environmental Remediation

    This research delivers the scientific knowledge, tools, and 
enabling discoveries in biological and environmental research to reduce 
the costs, risks, and schedules associated with the cleanup of the DOE 
nuclear weapons complex; to extend the frontiers of biological and 
chemical methods for remediation; to discover the fundamental 
mechanisms of contaminant transport in the environment; to develop 
cutting edge molecular tools for investigating environmental processes; 
and to develop an understanding of the ecological impacts of 
remediation activities. Research priorities include bioremediation, 
contaminant fate and transport, nuclear waste chemistry and advanced 
treatment options, and the operation of the William R. Wiley 
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) and the Savannah 
River Ecology Laboratory (SREL). The research performed for this 
program will provide fundamental knowledge on a broad range of 
remediation problems.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-4902.

(d) Climate Change Research

    The program seeks to understand the basic physical, chemical, and 
biological processes of the Earth's atmosphere, land, and oceans and 
how these processes may be affected by energy production and use. The 
research is designed to provide data that will enable an objective 
assessment of the potential for and the consequences of human-induced 
climate change at global and regional scales. It also provides data

[[Page 64106]]

to enable assessments of mitigation options to prevent such a change. 
The program is comprehensive with an emphasis on understanding and 
simulating the radiation balance from the surface of the Earth to the 
top of the atmosphere (including the effect of clouds, water vapor, 
trace gases, and aerosols), on enhancing the quantitative models 
necessary to predict possible climate change at global and regional 
scales, and on understanding ecological effects of climate change. The 
carbon sequestration research seeks the understanding necessary to 
exploit the biosphere's natural carbon cycling processes to enhance the 
sequestration of carbon dioxide in terrestrial systems and the ocean, 
and to understand its potential environmental implications. The program 
includes research that can lead to the development of approaches to 
reduce or overcome the environmental and biological factors or 
processes that limit the sequestration of carbon in these systems to 
enhance the net sequestration of carbon. The research includes studies 
on terrestrial and ocean carbon sequestration and disposal, including 
research to modify the carbon sequestration capacity and rate by marine 
and terrestrial organisms and to understand the potential environmental 
implications.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-3281.

6. Energy Research Analyses

    This program supports energy research analyses of the Department's 
basic and applied research activities. Specific objectives include 
assessments to identify any duplication or gaps in scientific research 
activities, and impartial and independent evaluations of scientific and 
technical research efforts. Consistent with these overall objectives, 
this program conducts numerous research studies to assess directions in 
science and to identify and assess new and improved approaches to 
science management.
    Program Contact: (202) 586-9942.

7. Experimental Program To Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR)

    The objective of the EPSCoR program is to enhance the capabilities 
of EPSCoR states to conduct nationally competitive energy-related 
research and to develop science and engineering manpower to meet 
current and future needs in energy-related fields. This program 
addresses basic research needs across all of the Department of Energy 
research interests. Research supported by the EPSCoR program is 
concerned with the same broad research areas addressed by the Office of 
Science programs that are described in this notice. The EPSCoR program 
is restricted to applications, which originate in twenty-one states 
(Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, 
Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North 
Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, 
and Wyoming) and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is anticipated 
that only a limited number of new competitive research grants will be 
awarded under this program subject to the availability of funds.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-3427.

    Issued in Washington, DC on October 10, 2002.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 02-26397 Filed 10-16-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-03-U