[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 6, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 635-638]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-201]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Notice DE-FG01-
04ER04-08; Scientific Discovery Through Advanced Computing: Climate 
Change Prediction Program

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice inviting grant applications.

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SUMMARY: 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 grants in 
the Climate Change Prediction Program (CCPP), which is a component of 
the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP). Applications should 
describe research projects supporting the development of simulation 
models (computer programs) for prediction of climate decades to 
centuries in the future, and should clearly describe how that research 
will contribute to a measurably improved ability to use terascale 
computing to predict climatic change. All applications submitted in 
response to this notice must explicitly state how the proposed research 
will support accomplishment of the BER Climate Change Research 
Division's (CCRD's) Long Term Measure of Scientific Advancement to 
deliver improved data and models for policy makers to determine 
acceptable levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

DATES: Applicants are encouraged (but not required) to submit a 1-2 
page preapplication for programmatic review. There is no deadline for 
the

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preapplication, but early submission of preapplications is encouraged 
to allow time for meaningful discussions.
    Formal applications submitted in response to this notice must be 
received by 4:30 p.m., E.S.T., March 15, 2004, to be accepted for merit 
review and to permit timely consideration for award in Fiscal Year 
2004.

ADDRESSES: Preapplications referencing Program Notice DE-FG01-04ER04-08 
should be sent to Dr. Jeffrey S. Amthor, CCPP Program Manager, via e-
mail to: [email protected]. Please include ``Preapplication 
Program Notice DE-FG01-04ER04-08'' in the E-mail subject field.
    Formal applications referencing Program Notice DE-FG01-04ER04-08, 
must be sent electronically 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. IIPS 
offers the option of using multiple files, please limit submissions to 
one volume and one file if possible, with a maximum of no more than 
four PDF files. 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 grant application as Color image 1, 
Color image 2, etc. 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.
    If you are unable to submit an application through IIPS, please 
contact the Grants and Contracts Division, Office of Science at: (301) 
903-5212 or (301) 903-3604, in order to gain assistance for submission 
through IIPS or to receive special approval and instructions on how to 
submit printed applications.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Jeffrey S. Amthor, phone: (301) 
903-2507; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background: Scientific Discovery Through Advanced Computing Program and 
the Climate Change Prediction Program

    Accurate prediction of future climate on decadal to centennial time 
scales is a major scientific objective of the BER CCRD. The CCPP 
represents the current phase of BER's long-standing climate modeling 
and simulation research agenda. The CCPP is focused on developing, 
testing, and applying climate simulation and prediction models 
(computer programs) that stay at the leading edge of scientific 
knowledge and computational technology. The CCPP will continue to 
develop models based on more definitive theoretical foundations and 
improved computational methods that will run efficiently on current and 
future high-performance supercomputers. The intent is to increase 
dramatically both the accuracy and throughput of computer programs 
designed to predict effects of increased concentrations of greenhouse 
gases in the atmosphere on the climatic system. Specifically, the CCPP 
will measurably advance models used to predict climatic variability and 
change decades to centuries in the future under a variety of forcing 
scenarios. Such advancements will be associated with, but not limited 
to, improving component model performance and accuracy, implementing 
efficient strategies to couple model components, and maximizing 
throughput on computers capable of peak speeds of 10-50 trillion 
Operations Per Second (10-50 teraOPS).
    A portion of the current CCPP is funded by the DOE SC Scientific 
Discovery Through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) program. It is 
anticipated that applications to this Notice that are selected for 
support will be funded by the SciDAC portion of the CCPP. The goal of 
SciDAC is to develop the scientific computing software and hardware 
infrastructure needed to use terascale computers to advance research 
programs in Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental 
(including climatic) Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, and High Energy 
Physics, and Nuclear Physics. SciDAC creates a scientific computing 
software infrastructure that bridges the gap between the advanced 
computing technologies being developed by the computer industry and the 
scientific research programs sponsored by the DOE SC. All applications 
chosen for funding in response to this Notice will therefore explicitly 
state how the proposed research will contribute to a measurably 
improved ability to use terascale computing to address important 
climatic change prediction issues.
    Through SciDAC, the CCPP is presently supporting the Community 
Climate System Model (CCSM) Consortium Project at six DOE National 
Laboratories (Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los 
Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Pacific Northwest). The CCSM Consortium Project 
includes collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration's Data Assimilation Office and the National Center for 
Atmospheric Research. Software engineering is a key focus of the 
Project, and throughput has increased for the atmospheric, land 
surface, oceanic, and sea ice components of the CCSM as a result of 
Project activities. Other Project accomplishments include completion 
and release of a new version of the Parallel Ocean Program (POP), 
including improved performance on vector machines; development of the 
new hybrid vertical-coordinate version of POP, called HYPOP; and 
improvement of the dynamic core of the Community Sea Ice Model (CSIM). 
In addition, portability of the CCSM has been significantly enhanced by 
the Project. Where appropriate, applications to this notice are 
encouraged to include collaboration with the ongoing DOE CCSM 
Consortium Project.

Request for Grant Applications

    This notice requests applications for grants for one of the three 
following activities, all of which are to be directed at development of 
simulation models (computer programs) for prediction of climate decades 
to centuries in the future and contribute to an enhanced ability to use 
terascale computing to implement such models:
    (1) Renewal of projects presently funded by the CCPP. Applications 
for renewal funding should include clear descriptions of progress made 
with present CCPP support. Such descriptions should be part of the 
technical portion of the application (see below).
    (2) Development of improved representation of key climatic 
processes (surface processes, convective transport processes, etc.,) 
that accurately simulate these processes in general circulation models 
(GCMs) used to study potential decadal-to-centennial climatic 
variability and change with subcontinental spatial accuracy, and which 
are executed on supercomputers.
    (3) Development of improved or new mathematical techniques, model 
formulations, and computer algorithms

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for atmosphere, ocean, and coupled atmosphere-ocean GCMs that more 
accurately and efficiently describe and predict global climatic system 
behavior on decadal to centennial time scales and on subcontinental 
space scales, and which are executed on supercomputers.
    All applications submitted in response to this notice must 
explicitly state how the proposed research will support accomplishment 
of the BER CCRD's Long Term Measure of Scientific Advancement to 
deliver improved data and models for policy makers to determine 
acceptable levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. All 
applications should also state clearly how the proposed research would 
contribute to a measurably enhanced ability to use terascale computing 
to address critical climatic change prediction issues.
    Applicants seeking renewal of present grants should demonstrate, in 
their application, (a) the continued relevance of their work to the 
goal of advancing the science of decade-to-multi-century climatic 
change prediction and the contribution their work makes to an improved 
ability to use terascale computing to address climatic change issues; 
(b) the quality and relevance of work conducted under previous support 
to these goals, including a listing of publications and presentations; 
and (c) relevant contributions to the development of DOE climate 
modeling programs, including participation in the organization of 
meetings and workshops and collaborations with other DOE-supported 
investigators. The technical portion of applications should include a 
section titled ``Accomplishments under Previous Support'' that 
addresses items (b) and (c) above. Applicants should be prepared to 
provide, on short notice, complete legible copies of all publications, 
reports, etc., listed in this section, should they be required for the 
review process.
    Applicants seeking funds to develop improved representation of key 
climatic processes for inclusion in GCMs should focus their 
applications on efforts to more accurately describe and include such 
processes, and their interactions with other aspects of the simulated 
climatic system, in GCMs. These projects might explore opportunities, 
methods, and collaborations for incorporating the results of the CCSP's 
observational and experimental programs (such as the DOE Atmospheric 
Radiation Measurement [ARM] program) into model components that 
accurately describe climatic system processes at the temporal and 
spatial scales typically used for decade-to-multi-century climatic 
change prediction. Applications for such activities must include a 
clear plan for the dissemination of any developed model code, and 
necessary documentation, to the climate modeling community.
    Applicants seeking funds to develop improved or new mathematical 
techniques and numerical algorithms should target their applications 
toward methods that can be incorporated into GCMs running on computers 
capable of performing over 10 teraOPS. Applicants must demonstrate the 
role of their proposed research in improving the accuracy and/or 
computational efficiency of GCMs envisioned for use in making forecasts 
of long-term climatic change. Foci of the applications might include, 
but need not be limited to, atmospheric and oceanic dynamics and 
transport, surface energy and mass exchanges, atmospheric radiative 
transfer, ocean convection, and sea-ice dynamics and thermodynamics. 
Applications for such activities must include a clear plan for the 
dissemination of any developed model code, and necessary documentation, 
to the climate modeling community.
    To ensure that the CCPP meets both the broad needs of the climate 
modeling research community and the specific needs of the CCRD, 
successful applicants will participate as members of the CCPP Science 
Team along with scientists from related CCRD and SC programs. Costs for 
participation in Science Team meetings and workshops should be included 
in each application. Yearly estimates for Science Team travel should be 
based on one trip of five days to Washington, DC, one trip of five days 
to San Francisco, CA, and one trip of five days to Denver, CO.

Program Funding

    It is anticipated that about $4,000,000 will be available for 
awards in Fiscal Year 2004, contingent on the availability of 
appropriated funds. Project start dates of about September 15, 2004, 
are expected. Applications may request project support up to three 
years, with out-year support contingent on availability of appropriated 
funds, progress of the research, and programmatic needs. It is 
anticipated that a substantial fraction of available funds will be used 
to support renewal of existing research projects under (1) above. The 
allocation of funds within the other two research areas will depend on 
the quality of applications received. Typical awards are expected to be 
about $200,000 per year, but individual awards may deviate from this 
amount based on variation in the scope of work proposed in the 
applications. DOE is under no obligation to pay for any costs 
associated with the preparation or submission of applications if an 
award is not made.

Preapplications

    Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a brief (1-2 
pages of narrative), concise, and clear preapplication describing the 
proposed research project objectives and methods. These will be 
reviewed relative to the terms of this notice. Principal investigator 
name, organization, telephone number, and e-mail address are essential 
parts of the preapplication. A response to each preapplication, 
discussing the potential program relevance of a formal application, 
generally will be communicated within 30 days of receipt. There is no 
deadline for the submission of preapplications, but applicants should 
allow sufficient time to meet the application deadline of March 15, 
2004. SC's preapplication policy is on its Grants and Contracts Web 
Site at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/preapp.html.

Merit Review

    Applications will be subjected to formal merit review (peer review) 
and will be evaluated against the following evaluation criteria which 
are listed in descending order of importance codified at 10 CFR 
605.10(d):
    1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project;
    2. Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach;
    3. Competency of Applicant's personnel and Adequacy of Proposed 
Resources;
    4. Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget.
    For renewals, progress on previous funded research will be an 
important criterion for evaluation. The evaluation will include program 
policy factors such as the relevance of the proposed research to the 
terms of the announcement and an agency's programmatic needs. Note, 
external peer reviewers are selected with regard to both their 
scientific expertise and the absence of conflict-of-interest issues. 
Non-federal reviewers will often be used, and submission of an 
application constitutes agreement that this is acceptable to the 
investigator(s) and the submitting institution.

Submission Information

    Information about the development, submission of applications, 
eligibility, limitations, evaluation, the selection process, and other 
policies and procedures may be found in 10 CFR part

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605, and in the Application Guide for the Office of Science Financial 
Assistance Program. Electronic access to SC's Financial Assistance 
Application Guide is possible via the World Wide Web at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html.
    In addition, for this notice, the research description must be 20 
pages or less, exclusive of attachments, and must contain an abstract 
or summary of the proposed research, on a separate page with the name 
of the applicant, mailing address, phone, Fax and e-mail listed. 
Applicants who have had prior support must include a Progress Section 
with a brief description of results and a list of publications derived 
from that funding. Attachments should include short (2 pages) 
curriculum vitae, a listing of all current and pending Federal support 
and letters of intent when collaborations are part of the proposed 
research. Curriculum vitae should be submitted in a form similar to 
that of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or the National Science 
Foundation (NSF) (two to three pages).

    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 December 23, 2003.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 04-201 Filed 1-5-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P