Scientific Infrastructure Support for Consolidated | DE FOA 0001914

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001914

The grant opportunity titled "Scientific Infrastructure Support for Consolidated" (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0001914) is a discretionary grant program run by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), with administration listed under the DOE Idaho Field Office. Its main purpose is to strengthen nuclear-energy-related research and education by investing in university infrastructure and capabilities that help the research community contribute to national nuclear energy priorities. The program sits under the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP), which uses up to 20 percent of funds appropriated to DOE-NE research and development (R&D) to support university-based infrastructure and R&D work that aligns with DOE-NE mission needs.

At the center of the opportunity is the idea that strong, modern infrastructure is essential if universities and related institutions are going to educate the next generation of nuclear scientists, engineers, and policy professionals, while also performing R&D that matters to the Department and the broader nuclear energy industry. The DOE frames this as a workforce and capability-building effort: by improving foundational facilities, equipment, and technical capacity, institutions are better positioned to attract and train high-quality students across graduate programs, undergraduate programs, and even two-year programs, and to carry out relevant research that advances U.S. nuclear energy objectives.

The supported work is tied to several key DOE-NE program areas. These include Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FC R&D), which generally covers technologies and approaches related to nuclear fuel, waste management, and the overall fuel cycle; Reactor Concepts Research, Development and Demonstration (RC RD&D), which focuses on advancing reactor technologies and demonstrating improvements that could enable advanced reactor concepts; and Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS), which emphasizes sophisticated computational tools, modeling, and simulation to accelerate nuclear technology development and reduce reliance on expensive physical testing where appropriate. While the opportunity is about infrastructure support, it is clearly intended to reinforce these priority areas and expand institutions' practical ability to participate in them.

A notable feature of this funding announcement is that the infrastructure being requested should be "individual, discrete, and definable" items or capabilities. In practice, this points to tangible, clearly scoped investments rather than vague or open-ended requests. The DOE describes three main ways such infrastructure should create value: (1) supporting, maintaining, or enhancing an institution's ability to recruit and teach strong students in nuclear-energy-related fields; (2) building research or education capabilities at the institution; and (3) enhancing the institution's ability to perform R&D relevant to DOE-NE's mission. The emphasis is not only on buying equipment, but on building lasting institutional capacity that directly supports instruction and mission-relevant research outcomes.

In terms of who can apply, eligibility includes public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education, with an additional category of "others" referenced in the opportunity materials for further clarification. The funding activity category is listed as Energy under CFDA number 81.121. The award ceiling is stated as $2,500,000, with an expectation of around 30 awards, indicating a program designed to make a meaningful number of sizable investments across the university nuclear research and education landscape.

Finally, the DOE explicitly notes that it reserves the right to adjust to shifts in priorities during fiscal year 2019 due to external events, policy developments, or Congressional and budget direction. That statement signals that even after the funding opportunity is posted, the Department may change the timing, scale, or emphasis of awards in response to evolving federal priorities, and that such considerations may affect when awards are announced and how funding decisions are made. The opportunity was created on September 10, 2018, with an original closing date of November 15, 2018, which situates it as a time-limited competitive grant cycle under the NEUP infrastructure support framework.

• The Department of Energy, Idaho Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Scientific Infrastructure Support for Consolidated" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.121.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 10, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 15, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 30 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for DE FOA 0001914

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