RESEARCH & EDUCATION PROGRAMS - New DOE funding program targeted to early career scientists

On July 2, 2009, the Office of Science of the Department of Energy (DOE) released a new funding opportunity specifically for early career researchers at universities and DOE national laboratories. The purpose of the program is to support the development of individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers and to stimulate research careers in the areas supported by the DOE Office of Science. The following program areas are participating in this funding opportunity: Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR); Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); High Energy Physics (HEP), and Nuclear Physics (NP). As you may know, BES and BER already have a number of programs that support basic research in the plant sciences.

For university applicants, eligibility is limited to untenured assistant professors on the tenure track at a U.S. academic institution as of the deadline for the application. For DOE laboratory applicants, eligibility is limited to full-time, permanent, non-postdoctoral national laboratory employees as of the deadline for the proposal. No more than ten (10) years can have passed between the year the Principal Investigator's Ph.D. was awarded and the year of the deadline for the application. For the present competition, those who received doctorates on or after January 1, 1999 are eligible.

Please note there is a very short turn-around for this program. A letter of intent providing a brief summary of the proposed research (one paragraph) is encouraged and should be submitted by 4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on August 3, 2009 to early.career@science.doe.gov. Full applications must be received via grants.gov by 8:00 p.m. EDT on September 1, 2009.

For tenure-track applicants at universities, general program information can be found on the DOE website. The full university funding opportunity announcement with submission instructions and forms should be accessed through www.grants.gov as Funding Opportunity Number DE-PS02-09ER09-26. For DOE laboratory applications, program and submission instructions are on the DOE website.