[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 158 (Friday, August 15, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48896-48898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20863]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Notice DE-FG01-
03ER03-26; Fusion Science Centers

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice inviting grant applications.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES) of the Office of 
Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), announces its interest 
in receiving grant applications for Fusion Science Centers with a 
research focus in fusion plasma science. The duration of the Center 
grant will be five years, with the possibility of a one time renewal 
for five more years. All institutions or groups planning to submit 
applications for funding a new center in Fiscal Year 2004 should submit 
in response to this Notice. Applicants are not being asked, in any way, 
to fund or establish a Federally Funded Research and Development Center 
(FFRDC).

DATES: To permit timely consideration for awards in Fiscal Year 2004, 
applicants are required to submit a Preliminary Application by November 
14, 2003. Following a review of the Preliminary Application, applicants 
may be invited to submit a Full Application in response to this notice 
which must be received by DOE no later than 4:30 p.m., March 1, 2004. 
Electronic submission of formal applications in PDF format is required.
    Applicants are requested to submit a letter-of-intent by October 
15, 2003. Letters-of-Intent should be sent by e-mail to the following 
e-mail address: [email protected] and the subject line should 
state: Letter-of-Intent regarding Program Notice DE-FG01-03ER03-26.

ADDRESSES: A copy of the Preliminary Application should be sent by e-
mail to: [email protected] with a subject line titled 
Preliminary Application Regarding Program Notice DE-FG01-03ER03-26. In 
addition, you must provide two CDs, with one PDF file copy of the 
Preliminary Application on each, to be sent Federal Express to: John 
Sauter, SC-55, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, Germantown Building, 
U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-
1290. Full Applications in response to this solicitation Number DE-
FG01-03ER03-26 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 
Web site. It is suggested that this registration be completed several 
days prior to the date on which you plan to submit the formal 
application. 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. IIPS offers the option of 
submitting multiple files--please limit submissions to only one file 
within the volume if possible, with a maximum of no more than four 
files. Questions regarding the operation of IIPS may be e-mailed to the 
IIPS Help Desk at: [email protected], 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Michael D. Crisp, Research 
Division, SC-55, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, Germantown Building, 
U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, 
DC 20585-1290. Telephone: (301) 903-4883, or by e-mail address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: General information about development and 
submission of applications, eligibility, limitations, evaluations and 
selection processes, and other policies and procedures may be found in 
the Application Guide for the Office of Science Financial Assistance 
Program and 10 CFR part 605. Electronic access to SC's Financial 
Assistance Guide and required forms is possible via the Internet using 
the following Web site address: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html. DOE is under no obligation to pay for any costs 
associated with the preparation or submission of an application if an 
award is not made.

Program Objectives

    The development of new investigative techniques and research tools 
presents a window of opportunity for fundamental advances in the 
understanding of fusion plasma science. Many of the issues in plasma 
science are sufficiently complex that significant progress requires 
closely interacting, critical-mass groups of scientists with a broad 
mix of skills and backgrounds. There is also a need to strengthen the 
connection between the fusion research community and the broader 
scientific community. The objective of this initiative is to establish 
one or two university-based Fusion Science Centers (FSC), which will 
focus on fundamental issues in plasma science. The FSC will be 
supported to perform fusion plasma science research in areas of such 
wide scope and complexity that it would not be feasible for individual 
investigators or small groups to make progress. For example, 
understanding the dynamics of plasma turbulence and transport requires 
the development of appropriate physical models, computational 
algorithms for treating disparate space and times scales, as well as 
complex magnetic geometries, efficient programming on massively 
parallel computing platforms, and an understanding of nonlinear 
physics. A well coordinated collaboration of a team of scientists is 
more likely to have the breadth of knowledge and skills required to 
tackle such large and complex problems successfully. The research team 
that will be assembled for the FSC should also promote connectivity 
with the broader scientific community.

Areas of Focus

    The FSC will be a university-based center of excellence that will 
emphasize scientific issues that are of fundamental importance to 
fusion plasma science. Examples of topics that could serve as a focus 
of a FSC include, but are not limited to: turbulence and transport, 
chaos and self-organization, energetic particle dynamics, and high 
energy density plasma physics.

Educational Component

    Since future manpower requirements of the fusion energy sciences 
program are an important concern, proposals should discuss effective 
ways in which education and training are integrated within their 
research programs. Centers should be expected to sponsor 
multidisciplinary workshops and summer schools that will bring together 
students and researchers from various fields and institutions to focus 
on basic plasma science. The workshops should also serve to communicate 
the advances and challenges of fusion science to the broader scientific 
community.

Eligibility Information

    Applications are sought from academic institutions and groups,

[[Page 48897]]

within the United States, which have research and educational programs 
in plasma science. The Center is expected, and encouraged, to 
participate in collaborations with other research institutions. The FSC 
is envisioned to combine the expertise and approaches of national 
laboratories and universities. However, since the thrust of this 
initiative is for university-based institutions, any participation of a 
(FFRDC), including a Department of Energy National Laboratory, should 
be limited to no more than 20 percent of the Center funding.

Cost Sharing

    The host institution is required to provide at least 15 percent 
matching funds for the Center.

Application Process

    Applicants are requested to submit a letter-of-intent as stated 
above. Applicants will be required to submit a detailed Preliminary 
Application that will be reviewed by a panel of experts. Following the 
review of the Preliminary Application, applicants may be invited to 
submit a Full Application. The Full Application will receive an 
extensive review which may include oral presentations by the Principal 
Investigator and his collaborators.

Letter-of-Intent

    Letters-of-intent must include the title of the application, the 
name of the Principal Investigator(s), the requested funding and a one-
page abstract. These letters-of-intent will be used to organize and 
expedite review processes. Failure to submit a letter-of-intent will 
not negatively prejudice a responsive formal application submitted in a 
timely fashion.

Preliminary Application

    The Preliminary Application should consist of a description of the 
research proposed to be undertaken by the Fusion Science Center 
including a clear explanation of its importance to the advancement of 
fusion plasma science. The Preliminary Application should be limited to 
a maximum of 30 pages (including text and figures) of technical 
information. It should briefly describe the institutional setting of 
the FSC, its proposed scope and organization, activities in research 
and education and their integration, development of human resources and 
shared experimental facilities, links with related major research 
centers, on campus or off campus, and a management plan. The 
application should emphasize the synergy of collaborations that will be 
facilitated by the Center. A clear case should be made that the 
Center's research program will contribute more to the advancement of 
fusion plasma science than would be expected from the independent 
efforts of its individual investigators. Also included should be a 
description of educational activities that will be an integral part of 
the Center's research program and other information necessary for a 
concise overview of the FSC activities. The FSC application should 
describe proposed efforts to communicate concepts, methods, tools, and 
results to the wider world of science in order to raise awareness of 
the fusion science community's scientific accomplishments.

Full Application

    The Department of Energy will accept Full Applications for a Fusion 
Science Center by invitation only, based upon the results of an 
evaluation of the Preliminary Application. The Full Application should 
consist of a more detailed description of the material contained in the 
Preliminary Application. The Full Application may be modified in 
response to the reviewers' comments concerning the Preliminary 
Application. The review process for the Full Application may also 
include oral presentations, made to a review panel, by the proposed 
Center's key people.

Program Funding

    It is anticipated that about $2,000,000 of Fiscal Year 2004 funding 
will be available to fund one or two new Fusion Science Centers from 
applications received in response to this Notice. Because future year 
funding is not anticipated to increase, applications should propose 
constant effort in future years (allowing for inflation). Future year 
funding will depend upon suitable progress and the availability of 
funds. The cost-effectiveness of the application will be considered 
when comparing applications with differing funding requirements.

Merit Review

    Applications will be subjected to formal merit review and will be 
evaluated against the following criteria, which are listed in 
descending order of importance as set forth in 10 CFR part 605.
    1. Scientific and/or technical merit of the project,
    2. Appropriateness of the proposed method or approach,
    3. Competency of the applicant's personnel and adequacy of the 
proposed resources,
    4. Reasonableness and appropriateness of the proposed budget.
    The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences will also consider, as part of 
the evaluation, other available advice or information as well as 
program policy factors, such as ensuring an appropriate balance among 
and within the program areas, ensuring support for major computational 
efforts, ensuring support for experiments, and quality of previous 
performance.

Additional Review Criteria

    In order to encourage innovation and originality in the 
application, preconceived specifications are being kept to a minimum in 
this announcement. A proposal for a center should have a plan to 
identify, pose, and answer scientific questions of widely recognized 
importance. In all cases, however, a Center's application should 
demonstrate that the whole of the Center's effort will be substantially 
greater than the sum of its parts. Attention will be paid to the 
management plan, which should include a description of how the FSC will 
operate. The plan should also describe proposed activities that will be 
undertaken to enhance connectivity between the Center and the broad 
scientific community.
    In addition to the information required by 10 CFR part 605 each 
application should contain the following items: (1) A succinct 
statement of the goal of the research, (2) a detailed research plan, 
(3) the specific results expected at the end of the project period, (4) 
an analysis of the adequacy of the budget, (5) a discussion of the 
impact of the proposed research on other fields of science, and (6) for 
projects requiring significant computational resources (e.g., at the 
National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center), an estimate and 
justification of the resources that will be required.
    With respect to the enhanced productivity that one would expect 
from the synergy of a Center, additional review criteria are:
    (1) Clear evidence of collaborative work.
    (2) The extent to which the group addresses difficult problems 
requiring a team effort.
    (3) Clear evidence of scientific leadership.
    (4) The extent to which the management will evaluate the relevance 
and scientific impact of the group's work.
    Selection of applications for award will be based upon the findings 
of the technical evaluations, the importance and relevance of the 
proposed research

[[Page 48898]]

to the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences' mission, and funding 
availability.
    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this program 
is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 CFR part 
605.

    Issued in Washington, DC on: August 7, 2003.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 03-20863 Filed 8-14-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P