Announcement Template

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)

OFFICE OF SCIENCE (SC)

IOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH (BER)

PILOT STUDY: OBSERVING MARINE CLOUDS AND AEROSOLS

FROM

SHIPS

DOE NATIONAL LABORATORY PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER:

LAB

24-3330

NNOUNCEMENT TYPE: INITIAL

Announcement Issue Date:

May 24, 2024

Submission Deadline for Letter of Intent:

July 2, 2024 at 5:00 PM ET

A Letter of Intent is required

Letters of Intent must be submitted by an

authorized institutional representative

Letter of Intent Response Date

July 9, 2024 at 5:00 PM ET

Submission Deadline for Proposals:

July 24, 2024 at 5:00 PM ET

Table of Contents

UPDATES AND REMINDERS ...................................................................................................... I

SECTION I – DOE NATIONAL LABORATORY OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION ................1

SECTION II – AWARD INFORMATION .....................................................................................7

II.A. TYPE OF AWARD INSTRUMENT ..................................................................................7

II.B. ESTIMATED FUNDING ...................................................................................................7

II.C. MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM AWARD SIZE .................................................................7

II.D. EXPECTED NUMBER OF AWARDS ..............................................................................8

II.E. ANTICIPATED AWARD SIZE .........................................................................................8

II.F. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE ..........................................................................................8

II.G. TYPE OF PROPOSAL .......................................................................................................8

SECTION III – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION ...........................................................................9

III.A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS AND TOPICS ........................................................................9

III.B. COST SHARING ...............................................................................................................9

III.C. ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS ...............................................................................................9

III.D. LIMITATIONS ON SUBMISSIONS................................................................................9

SECTION IV – PROPOSAL AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION .........................................10

IV.A. ADDRESS TO REQUEST PROPOSAL PACKAGE ....................................................10

IV.B. LETTER OF INTENT AND PRE-PROPOSAL .............................................................10

IV.C. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION AND CONTENT ...............................................................12

IV.D. SUBMISSIONS FROM SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS ...............................................21

IV.E. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES .............................................................................21

SECTION V - PROPOSAL REVIEW INFORMATION .............................................................23

V.A. CRITERIA ........................................................................................................................23

V.B. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS .........................................................................25

V.C. ANTICIPATED NOTICE OF SELECTION AND AWARD DATES ............................25

SECTION VI - AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION ..............................................26

VI.A. AWARD NOTICES ........................................................................................................26

VI.B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND POLICY REQUIREMENTS ..............................................26

VI.C. REPORTING ...................................................................................................................26

SECTION VII - QUESTIONS/AGENCY CONTACTS ...............................................................27

VII.A. QUESTIONS ..................................................................................................................27

VII.B. AGENCY CONTACTS .................................................................................................27

VI.C. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL HOTLINE:....27

SECTION VIII – SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL ...................................................................28

VIII.A. HOW-TO GUIDES .......................................................................................................28

VIII.B. POLICY PROVISIONS ................................................................................................41

UPDATES AND REMINDERS

RECOMMENDATION

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) encourages you to register in all

systems as soon as possible. You are also encouraged to submit letters of intent and proposals

before the deadline.

LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF SUBMISSIONS PER INSTITUTION

Applicant institutions are limited to no more than one letter of intent or proposal as the lead

institution.

PROMOTING INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE RESEARCH (PIER) PLAN

All new and renewal proposals must provide a Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research

(PIER) Plan as an appendix to the research narrative. Please read the instructions in Section IV

and the associated review criteria in Section V.

INTERAGENCY FORMATS FOR CURRENT AND PENDING SUPPORT AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Interagency common instructions for preparing current and pending support and biographical

sketches are being developed. The Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) system

at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/ will be updated to support the forthcoming common

instructions and formats. The fillable PDFs provided by the National Science Foundation are no

longer available. When interagency common formats and instructions are promulgated, their use

will be accepted. See https://new.nsf.gov/funding/senior-personnel-documents for more

information. SC strongly encourages all researchers to use the online SciENcv system to ensure

that their documents are prepared in the appropriate format with the least inconvenience.

INDIVIDUALS WHO SHOULD NOT SERVE AS MERIT REVIEWERS

Follow the updated instructions in Section VIII and consider the use of the Collaborator

Template available at https://science.osti.gov/grants/Policy-and-Guidance/Agreement-Forms. Do

not include this list as part of the biographical sketch.

SC STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT

The DOE SC is fully and unconditionally committed to fostering safe, diverse, equitable, and

inclusive work, research, and funding environments that value mutual respect and personal

integrity. SC is committed to advancing belonging, accessibility, justice, equity, diversity, and

inclusion across the portfolio of activities we sponsor. SC’s effective stewardship and promotion

of safe, accessible, diverse, and inclusive workplaces that value and celebrate the diversity of

people, ideas, cultures, and educational backgrounds across the country and that foster a sense of

belonging in our scientific community is foundational to delivering on our mission. We are

committed to promoting people from all backgrounds, including individuals and communities

that were historically underrepresented and minoritized in science, technology, engineering, and

math (STEM) fields and the activities we sponsor in recognition of our responsibility to serve the

public. We also recognize that harnessing a broad range of views, expertise, and experiences

drives scientific and technological innovation and enables the SC community to push the

frontiers of scientific knowledge for U.S. prosperity and security. Discrimination and harassment

undermine SC’s ability to achieve its mission by reducing productivity, discouraging, or

inhibiting talent retention and career advancement, and weakening the integrity of the SC

enterprise overall. SC does not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, including

sexual or non-sexual harassment, bullying, intimidation, violence, threats of violence, retaliation,

or other disruptive behavior at institutions receiving SC funding or other locations where

activities funded by SC are carried out. All applicants and collaborators should familiarize

themselves with the SC Statement of Commitment available at https://science.osti.gov/SW-

DEI/SC-Statement-of-Commitment.

UPDATING YOUR PAMS PROFILE

All applicants are encouraged to update their profiles in the PAMS website at

https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov regularly, at least annually, to ensure SC has your most up

to date information. The PAMS profile now requires that individuals provide responses to the

demographic related fields. SC strongly encourages personnel at applicant and awardee

institutions, including Principal Investigators (PIs), Co-PIs, and other Key Personnel, to provide

their demographic information. By providing your demographic information, you are assisting

with SC’s continued commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in its business

practices. Alternatively, for information you wish not to disclose, please select, “Do not wish to

provide.” Your individual demographic information will not be shared with peer reviewers and

the information in your PAMS profile is protected by the requirements established in the Federal

Privacy Act of 1974. Aggregate, anonymized demographic information may be shared with

confidential review committees who are charged to evaluate the quality and efficacy of SC’s

business practices. For example, summary statistics of all applicants to or award selections from

a particular SC FOA may be reviewed by a Committee of Visitors.

PDF GENERATION

The research narrative in a proposal must be one single machine-readable PDF file that contains

the DOE Title Page, project narrative, all required appendices, and other attachments. This single

PDF file may not be scanned from a printed document and must be uploaded in PAMS. This

must be a plain PDF file consisting of text, numbers, and images without editable fields,

signatures, passwords, redactions, or other advanced features available in some PDF-compatible

software. The research narrative will be read by SC staff using the full version of Adobe

Acrobat: Please ensure that the narrative is readable in Acrobat. If combining multiple files into

one research narrative, ensure that a PDF portfolio or binder is not created. If creating PDF files

using any software other than Adobe Acrobat, please use a “Print to PDF” or equivalent process

to ensure that all content is visible in the research narrative. Once a research narrative has been

assembled, please submit the combined research narrative file through a “Print to PDF” or

equivalent process to ensure that all content is visible in one PDF file that can be viewed in

Adobe Acrobat. Review your submission to ensure that blank pages are not present.

iii

Checklist for Avoiding Common Errors:

Item

Issue

Proposals

Submitted in PAMS. Do not submit proposals

in Grants.gov or FedConnect. Do not attempt

to submit a proposal unless you are affiliated

with a DOE/NNSA National Laboratory.

Letters of Intent (LOIs)

- LOIs must be submitted in PAMS by an

authorized institutional representative

- Do not submit the LOI in Grants.gov.

- Follow the instructions in Section IV for the

preparation of an LOI.

Page Limits

Strictly followed throughout proposal,

including particular attention to:

- Research Narrative

- Appendix 2 Narrative, if any

- Biosketches

- Data Management Plan(s) (DMPs)

- Letter(s) of Recommendation, if any

Personally Identifiable Information

None present in the proposal

Research Narrative

Composed of one PDF file including all

appendices

Project Summary / Abstract

Name(s) of applicant, PI(s), PI’s institutional

affiliation(s), Co-Investigator(s), Co-

Investigator’s institutional affiliation(s)

DOE Title Page

Follow instructions closely

Budget

Use current negotiated indirect cost and fringe

benefit rates

Budget Justification (attached to budget)

Justify all requested costs

Biographical Sketches

Follow page limits strictly and do not include

list of collaborators.

Current and Pending Support

Ensure complete listing of all activities,

regardless of source of funding.

List of Individuals who Should not Serve as

Merit Reviews

Emailed to the program manager by LOI due

date

Provided as separate file in proposal

Data Management Plans (DMP)

- If referring to an experiment’s DMP,

describe the relationship to the proposed

research

- Include a DMP even if no experimental

data is expected

Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research

(PIER) Plan

PIER Plans are a new requirement for new

and renewal proposals.

Institutions capable of being funded through

the DOE Field Work System

Do not create new institutions in the PAMS

website for any DOE/NNSA National

Laboratory or DOE Site.

Submissions will be evaluated for technical

merit, but any resulting funding, work, or

awards will be made under the laboratory or

site’s contract with DOE. No separate

financial assistance awards will be made. No

administrative provisions of this

Announcement will apply to the laboratory or

any laboratory subcontractor.

Section I – DOE NATIONAL LABORATORY OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

GENERAL INQUIRIES ABOUT THIS ANNOUNCEMENT SHOULD BE DIRECTED

TO:

Technical/Scientific Program Contacts:

Dr. Shaima Nasiri

[email protected]

Dr. Sally McFarlane

Sally.McFarlane@science.doe.gov

SUMMARY

The DOE SC program in Biological and Environmental Research (BER) hereby announces its

interest in receiving proposals for the development of a pilot study to measure marine aerosols,

clouds, and other environmental parameters of interest from commercial ocean vessels. Oceans

cover 71% of the Earth’s surface and the responses of marine clouds to climate change are a

critical uncertainty in Earth system models. More observations of marine aerosols, clouds,

greenhouse gases, and other atmospheric properties are needed to evaluate and improve Earth

system models. The ability to leverage the vast number of commercial vessels that regularly sail

the world’s oceans would provide opportunities to greatly expand the reach of shipborne

observations, but significant challenges must be addressed before a sustained atmospheric

observing program on commercial vessels would be feasible. This announcement solicits

proposals led by DOE/NNSA National Laboratories (including academic or industry partners, as

appropriate) that focus on the identification, development, and pilot deployment of a small suite

of instruments that can be operated autonomously on commercial vessels to address BER science

questions.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Program Objective

The mission of the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program

(https://science.osti.gov/ber) is to support transformative science and scientific user facilities to

achieve a predictive understanding of complex biological, earth, and environmental systems for

energy and infrastructure security, independence, and prosperity. Within BER, Atmospheric

System Research (https://science.osti.gov/ber/Research/eessd/Atmospheric-System-Research-

Program) is focused on quantifying the interactions among aerosols, clouds, precipitation, and

radiation to improve understanding of key cloud, aerosol, precipitation, and radiation processes

that affect the Earth’s radiative balance and hydrological cycle, especially processes that limit the

predictive ability of regional and global models.

In 2018, BER hosted a workshop to facilitate input and discussion from the scientific community

on the highest-priority opportunities for BER observational capabilities to best address the BER

goal of improving the predictability of Earth system models (Atmospheric Radiation

Measurement (ARM) User Facility ARM Mobile Facility Workshop Report). One of the key

areas identified in that workshop were marine regions. As discussed in the workshop report,

“Approximately 80% of all low clouds on Earth occur over the oceans, and uncertainty in how

marine low clouds are expected to change with increasing greenhouse gases remains the largest

source of uncertainty in cloud feedback and climate sensitivity. In addition, although most

anthropogenic aerosols originate from emissions over land, models show that a

disproportionately large fraction of the global aerosol indirect forcing is associated with aerosol-

cloud interactions over remote marine regions. Earth system models suffer from major biases in

their representation of clouds, precipitation, and aerosols in marine regions. There is a great need

for surface and in situ observations of clouds, aerosols, and precipitation in marine regions, but

logistical and measurement challenges mean that such observations are mostly restricted to

relatively short campaigns with research vessels and/or aircraft.”

Targeted field campaigns on dedicated research vessels allow deployment of complex

instruments to particular marine regions of interest to address important science questions.

However, these complex instruments usually require dedicated scientists and technicians to

operate them for high quality measurements. The expense of these dedicated campaigns and the

small number of available research vessels limit the amount of data that can be collected.

Development of suites of autonomously operating instrumentation that could be deployed on

ships without dedicated scientists/technicians would enable scientists to leverage the vast number

of commercial vessels that regularly sail the world’s oceans and would provide opportunities to

greatly expand the reach of shipborne observations.

A pilot study to identify and address the challenges in deploying unattended autonomously

operating instruments on commercial vessels for atmospheric observations would provide

important information for assessing the feasibility and scientific value of developing a sustained

observational program. In March 2024, BER organized a workshop to obtain information from

the research community on the highest scientific priorities, technical challenges and potential

solutions, and opportunities for deploying instrumentation to measure marine aerosols, clouds,

greenhouse gases, and other atmospheric variables on commercial ocean vessels. The draft

workshop report Observing Marine Aerosols and Clouds from Ships 2024 Workshop Report

identified key logistical challenges and potential solutions; opportunities for coordination with

existing efforts; high-priority feasible instrumentation for unattended autonomous operations;

scientific questions that could be potentially addressed with these measurements; and key

elements that would be necessary for a successful pilot program.

Pilot study

Given the significant challenges that must be overcome to develop a sustainable observational

program on commercial ships, BER is soliciting proposals for a pilot study to develop and

deploy a small suite of autonomously operating instruments on a commercial ship to address

BER science questions. The primary goals of the pilot study are to demonstrate feasibility of the

selected set of instrumentation for unattended operations on ships, develop data management

procedures suitable for the measurements, and illustrate the potential of the measurements for

addressing BER-relevant science questions.

Proposals must include:

• A vision for a sustained observational program of unattended autonomous measurements

of marine aerosols, clouds, and other environmental factors on commercial ships to

address BER science questions;

• A research plan and up to 3-year timeline for conducting a pilot study to test and assess

the feasibility and approach in support of the observational program vision;

• Discussion of collaboration, leveraging, or coordination with existing activities; and

• A comprehensive Data Management Plan (DMP) that spans quality control, data

processing, data flow, data archiving, and data distribution.

The proposed pilot study must include:

• Metrics of success for the pilot study demonstration;

• A set of specific BER-relevant science questions;

• A defined set of planned instrumentation and measurements that are clearly linked to the

set of specific BER-relevant science questions;

• Any necessary instrument development, hardening, packaging into modules, operational

configuration, and phased testing of autonomous operations;

• Development of instrument maintenance and calibration processes suitable for a

sustained observational program (i.e., that do not require skilled technicians to

operate/maintain the instruments onboard the vessel);

• Demonstration of unattended autonomous deployment of instrumentation on a non-

research marine vessel for at least a one-week period;

• Analysis of the proposed observations and evaluation of their applicability and utility for

addressing the set of BER-relevant science questions;

• A publicly available pilot study report that summarizes instrument development, data

management processes, best practices, and lessons learned; and

• Communication and engagement with the broader scientific community.

Applicants may consider phased approaches for the pilot study, in which a small set of

instruments is initially deployed, and additional more complex instruments are added in later

phases. The pilot study may focus on a smaller subset of science questions than those described

in the vision for a sustained observational program.

Coordination with existing DOE or other agency activities

Applicants are encouraged to coordinate with and/or leverage expertise on instrumentation, data

quality control, data processing, and data archiving from existing DOE projects or facilities (or

other agency efforts), where appropriate rather than developing new or stand-alone capabilities.

Funding for the personnel/effort to support these activities should be included in the budget of

this application.

Applicants should not assume that instrumentation from the Atmospheric Radiation

Measurement (ARM) facility will be available for loan or deployment to support the proposed

pilot project. Applicants may propose to use existing equipment owned by their institutions or to

purchase new equipment to support the pilot project.

Participation in ASR Meetings

To ensure that the program meets the broadest needs of the research community and the specific

needs of BER, successful applicants are expected to attend the annual science team meeting and

to participate as ASR science team members in the appropriate working group(s) relevant to their

efforts.

Costs for participation in the annual Joint ARM User Facility and ASR Principal Investigators

Meeting should be included in the budget. Estimated costs should be based on one one-week

meeting in Washington, D.C.

Teaming Arrangements

Teams of multiple institutions are invited to submit a proposal under this Program

Announcement. Any multi-institutional team must be led by a DOE/NNSA National Laboratory

1. Members of multi-institutional teams that are not DOE/NNSA National Laboratories

must be proposed as subawards under the proposal from the lead DOE/NNSA National

Laboratory.

2. Members of multi-institutional teams that are DOE/NNSA National Laboratories must be

proposed using the collaborative proposal process described below.

Limitation on Submissions

Applicant institutions are limited to no more than one letter of intent or proposal as the lead

institution.

Open Science

SC is dedicated to promoting the values of openness in Federally-supported scientific research,

including, but not limited to, ensuring that research may be reproduced and that the results of

Federally-supported research are made available to other researchers. These objectives may be

met through any number of mechanisms including, but not limited to, data access plans, data

sharing agreements, the use of archives and repositories, and the use of various licensing

schemes.

The use of the phrase “open-source” does not refer to any particular licensing arrangement, but is

to be understood as encompassing any arrangement that furthers the objective of openness.

To be in compliance with the data policy of the U.S. Global Change Research Program of full

and open access to global change research data and the Office of Science Statement on Digital

Data Management, the required DMP must include a description of the researcher's data sharing

plans if the proposed research involves the acquisition of data in the course of the research that

would be of use to the climate research and assessment communities. This includes data from

extensive, long-term observations and experiments and from long-term model simulations of

climate that would be costly to duplicate. The DMP must describe plans for sharing the data that

are to be acquired in the course of the proposed research, particularly how the acquired data will

be preserved, documented, and quality assured, and where it will be archived for access by

others. Data of potentially broad use in climate change research and assessments should be

archived, when possible, in data repositories for subsequent dissemination. Additional BER

requirements and guidance for digital data management is available at

https://science.osti.gov/ber/Funding-Opportunities/Digital-Data-Management.

Multi-Institutional Teams

SC uses two different mechanisms to support teams of multiple institutions.

COLLABORATIVE PROPOSALS

Teams of multiple institutions may submit collaborative proposals for DOE/NNSA National

Laboratories. Each submitted proposal in such a team must indicate that it is part of a

collaborative project/group. Every partner institution must submit its own proposal through its

own processes. Each multi-institutional team can have only one lead institution. Each proposal

within the multi-institutional team, including the narrative, starting with the title page, and all

required appendices and attachments, must be identical with the following exceptions:

• Each proposal must contain a correct PAMS cover page for the submitting institution only.

• Each proposal must contain a unique budget corresponding to the expenditures for that

proposal’s submitting institution only.

• Each proposal must contain a unique budget justification corresponding to the expenditures

for that proposal’s submitting institution only.

• Each proposal must include a list for the Identification of Merit Review Conflicts for the

submitting institution’s senior/key personnel and its subawards’ senior/key personnel.

• Each proposal must include the biographical sketches and current and pending support from

that institution’s senior/key personnel. The applicant leading the multi-institutional team

must include biographical sketches and current and pending support from each institution’s

senior/key personnel.

Our intent is to create from the various proposals associated with a multi-institutional team one

document for merit review that consists of the common, identical materials combined with a set

of detailed budgets from the partner institutions. Thus, it is very important that every research

narrative in the multi-institutional team be identical, while each team member must submit its

own system-generated cover page, budget, and budget justification.

SUBAWARDS

Multi-institutional teams may submit one proposal from a designated lead institution with all

non-DOE/NNSA National Laboratory team members proposed as subawards.

Other Federal agencies and another Federal agency’s FFRDCs

may not be proposed as team

members, either as subawardees or using the collaborative proposal process.

DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN COLLABORATIVE PROPOSALS AND SUBAWARDS

The following points of advice to proposers may be helpful:

1. Both collaborative proposals and proposed subawards are methods by which multiple

institutions can work together to reach the scientific objectives described in this

Announcement. Choose the appropriate structure based on the institutions being

proposed.

a. Team members that are not DOE/NNSA National Laboratories must be proposed

as subawards under the lead DOE/NNSA National Laboratory’s proposal.

b. Team members that are DOE/NNSA National Laboratories must be proposed

using the collaborative proposal process.

2. A single multi-institutional team may thus require the use of both subawards and

collaborative proposals.

An authoritative list of all Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) may be found at

https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/

Section II – AWARD INFORMATION

II.A. TYPE OF AWARD INSTRUMENT

DOE anticipates awarding laboratory work authorizations under this DOE National Laboratory

Program Announcement.

Any awards made under this Announcement will be subject to the provisions of the contract

between DOE and the awardee National Laboratory.

DOE will consider funding multi-institution teams submitted as collaborative proposals, in which

each institution must submit its own proposal with an identical common research narrative, under

this Announcement. Multi-institutional teams may also apply using a prime and subaward model

with one proposal submitted by the lead institution. Team members that are not DOE/NNSA

National Laboratories must be proposed as subawards under the lead DOE/NNSA National

Laboratory’s proposal. Team members that are DOE/NNSA National Laboratories must be

proposed using the collaborative proposal process.

II.B. ESTIMATED FUNDING

DOE anticipates that a total of $3 million in current fiscal year funds will be used to support

awards under this Announcement.

DOE is under no obligation to pay for any costs associated with preparation or submission of

proposals. DOE reserves the right to fund, in whole or in part, any, all, or none of the proposals

submitted in response to this Announcement.

II.C. MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM AWARD SIZE

(See B. Estimated Funding section above.)

A multi-institutional team, whether applied for as a prime applicant with subawards or as

collaborative proposals, is limited to a total request of no more than $3,000,000.

Ceiling

$3,000,000 total

The award ceiling applies to the total budget, regardless of whether the application is from a

single institution or from a multi-institutional team.

Floor

$2,750,000 total

II.D. EXPECTED NUMBER OF AWARDS

(See B. Estimated Funding Section above.)

One award is expected.

II.E. ANTICIPATED AWARD SIZE

(See B. Estimated Funding Section above.)

It is anticipated that award size will be approximately $3,000,000.

II.F. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

(See B. Estimated Funding section above.)

DOE anticipates making awards with a project period of two to three years.

Continuation funding (funding for the second and subsequent budget periods) is contingent on:

(1) availability of funds appropriated by Congress and future year budget authority; (2) progress

towards meeting the objectives of the approved proposal; (3) submission of required reports; and

(4) compliance with the terms and conditions of the award.

II.G. TYPE OF PROPOSAL

DOE will accept new DOE National Laboratory Proposals under this DOE National Laboratory

Announcement. Please only submit a PAMS lab technical proposal in response to this

Announcement; do not submit a DOE Field Work Proposal (FWP) at this time. SC will request

FWPs later from those selected for funding consideration under this Announcement.

Section III – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

III.A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS AND TOPICS

This is a DOE/NNSA National Laboratory-only Announcement. FFRDCs from other Federal

agencies are not eligible to submit in response to this Program Announcement.

III.B. COST SHARING

Cost sharing is not required.

III.C. ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS

Eligible individuals with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed

research as a Principal Investigator (PI) are invited to work with their organizations to develop a

proposal. Individuals from underrepresented groups as well as individuals with disabilities are

always encouraged to apply.

III.D. LIMITATIONS ON SUBMISSIONS

Applicant institutions are limited to no more than one letter of intent or proposal as the lead

institution.

Should DOE receive submissions in excess of the applicable limits, DOE reserves the right, in its

sole discretion, to request additional or clarifying information to ascertain the institution’s

intended submissions. Otherwise, DOE will consider the latest received submissions to be the

institution’s intended submissions.

• Letters of intent in excess of the limited number of submissions will be discouraged.

• Proposals in excess of the limited number of submissions will be declined without review.

LIMITATIONS ON PI

Individuals receiving less than half of their salary and benefits from a DOE/NNSA National

Laboratory may not be named as the PI in a proposal under this Announcement, regardless of

any arrangement between the Laboratory and another institution.

Section IV – PROPOSAL AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

IV.A. ADDRESS TO REQUEST PROPOSAL PACKAGE

Proposal submission instructions are available in this Announcement on the DOE SC Portfolio

Analysis and Management System (PAMS). Screenshots showing the steps in DOE National

Laboratory proposal submission are available in the PAMS Help materials, accessible by

navigating to https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov and clicking on the “PAMS Help” link.

Proposals submitted outside of PAMS will not be accepted.

IV.B. LETTER OF INTENT AND PRE-PROPOSAL

IV.B.1. Letter of Intent

LETTER OF INTENT DUE DATE

The LOI due date is printed on the cover of this Announcement.

RESPONSE DATE

The response date is printed on the cover of this Announcement. Applicants who have not

received a response regarding the status of their LOI by this date are responsible for contacting

the program manager to confirm this status.

A Letter of Intent is required and must be submitted by the date indicated on the cover of this

Announcement.

If a multi-institutional team is submitting collaborative proposals, only the lead institution should

submit an LOI.

The LOI is to help in planning the review and the selection of potential reviewers for the

proposal. The LOI must include, at the top of the cover page, the following information:

Title of LOI

Principal Investigator Name, Job Title

Institution

PI Phone Number, PI Email Address

Announcement Number: Include the Number indicated on the cover of this Announcement

• A list of all known senior/key personnel at the applicant institution and all team member

institutions

• A list of all known unfunded collaborators and their institutions

The material listed here defines the minimum acceptable information on a cover page. Additional

information may be provided at the applicant’s discretion.

• The cover page must be followed by a clear and concise description of the objectives and

technical approach of the proposed research.

• The description of the proposed research may not exceed two pages, when printed using

standard letter-size (8.5-inch x 11-inch) paper with 1-inch margins (top, bottom, left, and

right). The body text font must not be smaller than 11-point. Figures and references, if

included, must fit within the two-page limit. The cover page does not count toward the

two-page limit.

If a multi-institutional team is being proposed, provide the following information on a separate

page. This information will not count toward the page limitation.

• List all institutions by name with each institution’s PI on the same line.

• Indicate the lead PI who will be the point of contact and coordinator for the combined

research activity.

• Include a table modeled on the following chart providing summary budget information from

all institutions. Provide the total costs of the budget request in each year for each institution

and totals for all rows and columns.

Name

Institution

Year 1

Budget

Year 2

Budget

Year 3

Budget

Total

Budget

Lead PI

Institutional PI

Example budget table ($ in thousands)

In addition, the LOI must include a listing of senior/key personnel and a listing of individuals

who should not serve as merit reviewers of a subsequent proposal (i.e., conflict of interest

information for senior/key personnel). Detailed instructions for how to craft such a listing are

provided in Section VIII of this Announcement. Note that the listing of individuals who

should not serve as merit reviewers is rarely empty because the instructions contain

mandatory inclusions requirements. This listing will not count toward the LOI’s page limit.

The list of individuals should be combined into a single Excel spreadsheet and sent via

email to [email protected] by the LOI due date.

The LOI may include a list of suggested reviewers (including email address and organizational

affiliation) who they believe are especially well qualified to review the proposal. DOE is under

no obligation to consider any suggested reviewers.

LOI REVIEW

Those LOIs that are encouraged will be used to help SC begin planning for the proposal peer

review process. SC’s intent in discouraging submission of certain proposals is to save the time

and effort of applicants in preparing and submitting proposals not responsive to this

Announcement.

The PI will be automatically notified when the LOI is encouraged or discouraged. The DOE SC

Portfolio Analysis and Management System (PAMS) will send an email to the PI from

[email protected], and the status of the LOI will be updated at the PAMS

website https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/. Notifications are sent as soon as the decisions to

encourage or discourage are finalized.

LOI SUBMISSION

LOIs are created in the software system of your choice and must be submitted electronically

through the DOE SC Portfolio Analysis and Management System (PAMS) website

https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/. You cannot draft or edit an LOI in PAMS. Do not

submit an LOI through FedConnect or Grants.gov.

LOIs may only be submitted by a user at the PI’s institution with the “Submit to DOE” privilege

in PAMS. A PI may draft a LOI but will only be able to submit the LOI for institutional

countersignature.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to inform their DOE Program Manager if teaming

arrangements, proposed personnel, topics, or the anticipated title change between submitting the

LOI and when a proposal is submitted, to ensure that their proposal is properly linked to their

LOI and that reviewers are properly assigned to the proposal.

Detailed instructions about how to submit an LOI are in Section VIII of this Announcement.

IV.B.2. Pre-proposal

Not applicable.

IV.C. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION AND CONTENT

IV.C.1. Summary of Proposal Contents

Each DOE National Laboratory proposal will contain the following sections:

• A Cover Page, entered into PAMS as structured data using the on-screen form

• Budget, entered into PAMS as structured data using the PAMS budget form

• Abstract (one page), entered into PAMS as a separate pdf

• Budget justification, entered into PAMS as a separate pdf

• Proposal, combined into a single pdf containing the following information:

o Proposal Title Page

o Table of Contents

o Project Narrative (main technical portion of the proposal, including

background/introduction, proposed research and methods, timetable of activities, and

responsibilities of key project personnel)

o Appendix 1: Biographical Sketch(es)

o Appendix 2: Current and Pending Support

o Appendix 3: Bibliography and References Cited

o Appendix 4: Facilities and Other Resources

o Appendix 5: Equipment

o Appendix 6: Data Management Plan

o Appendix 7: Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan

o Appendix 8: Other Attachments (optional)

• Collaborator Information

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Completed proposals must be submitted into the DOE SC Portfolio Analysis and Management

System (PAMS) at https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov.

Important Instructions to the Sponsored Research Office of Submitting Institutions: SC

requires that you create one single machine readable PDF file that contains the DOE Title Page,

project narrative, biographical sketch, current and pending support, bibliography and references

cited, facilities and other resources, equipment, data management plan, and other attachments.

This single PDF file may not be scanned from a printed document and must be uploaded in

PAMS. This must be a plain PDF file consisting of text, numbers, and images without editable

fields, signatures, passwords, redactions, or other advanced features available in some PDF-

compatible software. Do not use PDF portfolios or binders. The research narrative will be read

by SC staff using the full version of Adobe Acrobat: Please ensure that the narrative is readable

in Acrobat. If combining multiple files into one research narrative, ensure that a PDF portfolio or

binder is not created. If creating PDF files using any software other than Adobe Acrobat, please

use a “Print to PDF” or equivalent process to ensure that all content is visible in the research

narrative. Once a research narrative has been assembled, please submit the combined research

narrative file through a “Print to PDF” or equivalent process to ensure that all content is visible

in one PDF file that can be viewed in Adobe Acrobat.

WARNING: The PAMS website at https://pampspublic.science.energy.gov will permit

you to edit a previously submitted proposal in the time between your submission and the

deadline. If you choose to edit, doing so will remove your previously submitted version

from consideration. If you are still editing at the time of the deadline, you will not have a

valid submission. Please pay attention to the deadline.

PROPOSAL DUE DATE

The proposal due date is printed on the cover of this Announcement.

LETTERS

Letters from collaborators or from institutions providing access to data, models, software,

equipment and/or facilities may be appended to your research narrative and are not considered

part of the research narrative’s page limit. Please ensure that letters from collaborators or from

institutions providing access to data, models, software, equipment and/or facilities only describe

the nature of the collaboration or the access to data, models, software, equipment and/or

facilities: Letters of support or recommendation are not allowed in applications under this

Announcement.

All letters may be addressed “To Whom It May Concern:”.

Letters of collaboration for unfunded or funded collaborations should be placed in Appendix 6

(Other Attachments). Each letter of collaboration may contain two and only two sentences and

must use the following format:

Dear <Principal Investigator Name>:

If your application entitled, “<Application Name>,” is selected for funding under the

Announcement Name, it is my intent to collaborate in this research by <Complete

Sentence With a Very Short Description of What the Collaborator Offers to Do or

Provide>.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate.

Sincerely,

<Collaborator’s Name and Signature Block>

IV.C.2. Abstract

The project summary/abstract is a summary of the proposed activity suitable for distribution to

the public and sufficient to permit potential reviewers to identify conflicts of interest. It must be

a self-contained document. The project summary/abstract must be comprised of

• A cover sheet containing the name of the applicant, the project title, the PI and the PI’s

institutional affiliation, and any coinvestigators or unfunded collaborators and their

institutional affiliations

• This information must be followed by a statement of the project’s objectives, a

description of the project, including methods to be employed, and the potential impact of

the project (i.e., benefits, outcomes).

• The description of the proposed research may not exceed one pages when printed using

standard letter-size (8.5-inch x 11 -inch) paper with 1-inch margins (top, bottom, left, and

right). The body text font must not be smaller than 11-point. Figures and references, if

included, must fit within the one-page limit.

A sample is provided below:

Project Title

A. Smith, Lead Institution (Principal Investigator)

A. Brown, Institution 2 (Co-Investigator)

A. Jones, Institution 3 (Co-Investigator)

A. Williams, Institution 3 (unfunded collaborator)

Text of abstract (no more than one page, excluding Project Title and list of

investigators)

The narrative portion of the project summary must not exceed one page when printed using

standard letter-size (8.5-inch x 11-inch) paper with 1-inch margins (top, bottom, left and right)

with body text font not smaller than 11-point. To attach a Project Summary/Abstract, click “Add

Attachment.”

If an application is recommended for award, the project summary will be used in preparing a

public abstract about the award. Award abstracts and titles form a Government document that

describes the project and justifies the expenditure of Federal funds in light of the DOE and SC

mission statements at https://energy.gov/mission and https://science.osti.gov/about/.

• Do not include any proprietary or sensitive business information.

• DOE may use the abstract to prepare public reports about supported research.

IV.C.3. Budget and Justification

The budget must be submitted into PAMS using the PAMS budget form.

Budgets are required for the entire project period. A budget form should be completed for each

budget period of the award, and a cumulative budget form for the entire project period will be

populated by PAMS. PAMS will calculate the cumulative budget totals for you.

A written justification of each budget item is to follow the budget pages. The budget justification

should be placed in a separate, single pdf document and attached on the appropriate screen in

PAMS. Further instructions regarding the budget and justification are given below and in the

PAMS software.

While subawards are listed in PAMS as “optional,” that is because the presence of a subaward is

optional. If a subaward exists, its budgetary information is required. The standard subaward

budget form allows for a maximum of 10 subawards. If a proposal contains more than 10

subawards, please present the budgets for the eleventh and subsequent subawards in a tabular

format, followed by the appropriate budget justification, as a part of the lead applicant’s budget

justification.

IV.C.4. Proposal

DOE TITLE PAGE

(PART OF PROJECT NARRATIVE)

The following proposal title page information may be placed on a plain page. No form is

required. This cover page will not count in the project narrative page limitation.

• The project title:

• Applicant/Institution:

• Street Address/City/State/Zip:

• Postal Address:

• Administrative Point of Contact name, telephone number, email:

• Lead PI name, telephone number, email:

• DOE National Laboratory Announcement Number:

• DOE/SC Program Office:

• DOE/SC Program Office Technical Contact:

• PAMS Letter of Intent tracking number:

TITLE PAGE SUPPLEMENT FOR COLLABORATIVE PROPOSALS

(PART OF PROJECT NARRATIVE)

If a multi-institutional team is submitting collaborative proposals, provide the following

information on a separate page as a supplement to the title page.

• List all collaborating institutions by name with each institution’s principal investigator on the

same line.

• Indicate the lead PI who will be the point of contact and coordinator for the combined

research activity.

• Provide a statement explaining the leadership structure of the collaboration.

• Include a description of each institution’s facilities, equipment, and resources that will be

made available to the team.

• Include a table modeled on the following chart providing summary budget information from

all institutions. Provide the total costs of the budget request in each year for each institution

and totals for all rows and columns.

Names

Institution

Year 1

Budget

Year 2

Budget

Year 3

Budget

Total

Budget

Lead

Co-PI

Example budget table ($ in thousands)

* Note that collaborating proposals must be submitted separately.

The material listed here defines the minimum acceptable information on a title page. Additional

information may be provided at the applicant’s discretion.

PROJECT NARRATIVE

The project narrative must not exceed a page limit of 18 pages of technical information,

including charts, graphs, maps, photographs, and other pictorial presentations, when printed

using standard letter-size (8.5-inch x 11-inch) paper with 1-inch margins (top, bottom, left, and

right). The body text font of all main text must not be smaller than 11-point. Merit reviewers will

only consider the number of pages specified in the first sentence of this paragraph. This page

limit does not apply to the Title Page, Budget Page(s), Budget Justification, biographical

material, publications and references, and appendices, each of which may have its own page

limit defined later in this Announcement.

Do not include any Internet addresses (URLs) that provide supplementary or additional

information that constitutes a part of the proposal. Merit reviewers are not required to access

Internet sites; however, Internet publications in a list of references will be treated identically to

print publications. See Section VIII for instructions on how to mark proprietary proposal

information.

The Project Narrative comprises the research plan for the project. It should contain enough

background material in the Introduction, including a brief review of the relevant literature and

any prior research in this area, to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the state of the science.

The major part of the narrative should be devoted to a description and justification of the

proposed project, including details of the methods to be used. It should also include a timeline

for the major activities of the proposed project and should indicate which project personnel will

be responsible for which activities. There should be no ambiguity about which personnel will

perform particular parts of the project, and the time at which these activities will take place.

The following organization of the Project Narrative is suggested:

• Background/Introduction: Explanation of the importance and relevance of the proposed

work as well as a review of the relevant literature.

• Project Objectives: This section should provide a clear, concise statement of the specific

objectives/aims of the proposed project.

• Proposed Research and Methods: Identify the hypotheses to be tested (if any) and details

of the methods to be used including the integration of experiments with theoretical and

computational research efforts.

For Collaborative Proposals Only: Each institution in a multi-institutional team

submitting collaborative proposals must submit an identical common narrative.

The common narrative must identify which tasks and activities will be performed

by which of the institutions in every budget period of the proposed project. The

budget and the budget justification—which are unique to each institution—may

refer to parts of the common narrative to further identify each institution’s

activities in the joint project. There should be no ambiguity about each

institution’s role and participation in the collaborative group.

SC will use the multiple proposals associated with a multi-institutional team to

create one consolidated document for merit review that consists of the common,

identical proposal materials combined with a set of detailed budgets from the

partner institutions. It is very important that every proposal in the team be

identical (including the title) with the exception of the budget and budget

justification pages.

The Project Narrative is considered the intellectual work of the proposed researchers. Concurrent

submission of the same or substantially similar narratives attributed to different researchers may

constitute academic dishonesty or research misconduct. Submission of a research narrative that is

not the work of the proposed researchers, including machine-generated research narratives, may

constitute academic dishonesty or research misconduct.

APPENDIX 1: BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Provide a biographical sketch for the PI and each senior/key person as an appendix to your

technical narrative.

• Provide the biographical sketch information as an appendix to your project narrative.

• Do not attach a separate file.

• The biographical sketch appendix will not count in the project narrative page limitation.

Detailed instructions may be found in Section VIII of this Announcement.

WARNING: These instructions have been significantly revised to require

disclosure of a variety of potential conflicts of interest or commitment, including

participation in foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment programs.

The PI and each senior/key person at the prime applicant and any proposed

subaward must provide a list of all sponsored activities, awards, and

appointments, whether paid or unpaid; provided as a gift with terms or conditions

or provided as a gift without terms or conditions; full-time, part-time, or

voluntary; faculty, visiting, adjunct, or honorary; cash or in-kind; foreign or

domestic; governmental or private-sector; directly supporting the individual’s

research or indirectly supporting the individual by supporting students, research

staff, space, equipment, or other research expenses. All foreign government-

sponsored talent recruitment programs must be identified in current and pending

support.

APPENDIX 2: CURRENT AND PENDING SUPPORT

Provide a list of all current and pending support for the PI and senior/key personnel, including

subawardees. Provide the Current and Pending Support as an appendix to your project narrative.

Concurrent submission of a proposal to other organizations for simultaneous consideration will

not prejudice its review.

• Do not attach a separate file.

• This appendix will not count in the project narrative page limitation.

Detailed instructions may be found in Section VIII of this Announcement.

APPENDIX 3: BIBLIOGRAPHY & REFERENCES CITED

Provide a bibliography of any references cited in the Project Narrative. Each reference must

include the names of all authors (in the same sequence in which they appear in the publication),

the article and journal title, book title, volume number, page numbers, and year of publication.

For research areas where there are routinely more than ten coauthors of archival publications,

you may use an abbreviated style such as the Physical Review Letters (PRL) convention for

citations (listing only the first author). For example, your paper may be listed as, “A Really

Important New Result,” A. Aardvark et. al. (MONGO Collaboration), PRL 999. Include only

bibliographic citations. Applicants should be especially careful to follow scholarly practices in

providing citations for source materials relied upon when preparing any section of the proposal.

Provide the Bibliography and References Cited information as an appendix to your project

narrative.

• Do not attach a separate file.

• This appendix will not count in the project narrative page limitation.

APPENDIX 4: FACILITIES & OTHER RESOURCES

This information is used to assess the capability of the organizational resources, including

subawardee resources, available to perform the effort proposed. Identify the facilities to be used

(Laboratory, Animal, Computer, Office, Clinical and Other). If appropriate, indicate their

capacities, pertinent capabilities, relative proximity, and extent of availability to the project.

Describe only those resources that are directly applicable to the proposed work. Describe other

resources available to the project (e.g., machine shop, electronic shop) and the extent to which

they would be available to the project. For proposed investigations requiring access to

experimental user facilities maintained by institutions other than the applicant, please provide a

document from the facility manager confirming that the researchers will have access to the

facility. Please provide the Facility and Other Resource information as an appendix to your

project narrative.

• Do not attach a separate file.

• This appendix will not count in the project narrative page limitation.

APPENDIX 5: EQUIPMENT

List major items of equipment already available for this project and, if appropriate identify

location and pertinent capabilities. Provide the Equipment information as an appendix to your

project narrative.

• Do not attach a separate file.

• This appendix will not count in the project narrative page limitation.

APPENDIX 6: DATA MANAGEMENT PLAN

Provide a Data Management Plan (DMP) as an appendix to the research narrative.

• This appendix should not exceed a page limit of 5 pages including charts, graphs, maps,

photographs, and other pictorial presentations, when printed using standard letter-size

(8.5-inch x 11-inch) paper with 1-inch margins (top, bottom, left, and right)

• Do not attach a separate file.

• This appendix will not count in the project narrative page limitation.

The standard requirements for a DMP may be found in Section VIII of this Announcement. The

DMP is an integral component of the pilot program and is expected to cover quality control, data

processing, data flow, data archiving, and data distribution.

In addition, the DMP must specifically address:

• Additional BER requirements and guidance for digital data management

(https://science.osti.gov/ber/Funding-Opportunities/Digital-Data-Management).

• How FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable)

principles will apply to the

anticipated data sets, software

, and models

to be developed.

• What developed software, data sets, and models will be made available using an

“opensource” licensing arrangement, noting the Software Package Data Exchange (SPDX)

identifier(s) (https://spdx.org/licenses/) when possible, and where deviation in this

arrangement is expected from The Open Source Initiative’s “Open Source Definition”

(https://opensource.org/osd), a specific justification must be provided.

• How best practices in scientific software development will be applied to any development

activities. For more information on best practices, see Better Scientific Software

(https://bssw.io/).

APPENDIX 7: PROMOTING INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE RESEARCH (PIER) PLAN

All new and renewal proposals that are not for conference support must provide a Promoting

Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan as an appendix to the research narrative. The

PIER plan should describe the activities and strategies of the applicant to promote equity and

inclusion as an intrinsic element to advancing scientific excellence in the research project within

the context of the proposing institution and any associated research group(s). Plans may include,

but are not limited to: strategies of your institution (and collaborating institutions, if applicable)

for enhanced recruitment of undergraduate students, graduate students, and early-stage

investigators (postdoctoral researchers, and others), including individuals from diverse

backgrounds and groups historically underrepresented in the research community; strategies for

creating and sustaining a positive, inclusive, safe, and professional research and training

environment that fosters a sense of belonging among all research personnel; and/or training,

mentoring, and professional development opportunities.

Plans may incorporate or build upon

existing diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion efforts of the project key personnel or

applicant institution(s), but should not be a re-statement of standard institutional policies or

broad principles. The complexity and detail of a PIER is expected to increase with the size of the

research team and the number of personnel to be supported.

Wilkinson, M. D. et al. The FAIR Guiding Principles for Scientific Data Management and Stewardship. Sci. Data

3:160018, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.18

Chue Hong, N. P., Katz, D. S., Barker, M., Lamprecht, A-L, Martinez, C., Psomopoulos, F. E., Harrow, J., Castro,

L. J., Gruenpeter, M., Martinez, P. A., Honeyman, T., et al. (2022). FAIR Principles for Research Software version

1.0. (FAIR4RS Principles v1.0). Research Data Alliance. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15497/RDA00068

Ravi, N., Chaturvedi, P., Huerta, E.A. et al. FAIR principles for AI models with a practical application for

accelerated high energy diffraction microscopy. Sci Data 9, 657 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01712-9

Please see additional information at https://science.osti.gov/SW-DEI/DOE-Diversity-Equity-and-Inclusion-

Policies/Q-and-As#definitions.

• Do not attach a separate file.

• This appendix should not exceed a page limit of 3 pages when printed using standard

letter-size (8.5 -inch x 11-inch) paper with 1-inch margins (top, bottom, left, and right)

This appendix will not count in the project narrative page limitation

APPENDIX 8: OTHER ATTACHMENT

If you need to elaborate on your responses to the PAMS Cover Page, please provide the Other

Attachment information as an appendix to your project narrative. Information not easily

accessible to a reviewer may be included in this appendix, but do not use this appendix to

circumvent the page limitations of the proposal. Reviewers are not required to consider

information in this appendix.

• Do not attach a separate file.

• This appendix will not count in the project narrative page limitation.

IV.C.5. Collaborator Information

Provide a listing of senior/key personnel at the applicant institution and any proposed subawards

and a listing of individuals who should not serve as merit reviewers. You may also indicate

suggested merit reviewers. Detailed instructions for these listings may be found in Section VIII

of this Announcement.

IV.D. SUBMISSIONS FROM SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS

If selected for award, DOE reserves the right to request additional or clarifying information.

IV.E. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES

IV.E.1. Letter of Intent Due Date

The LOI due date is printed on the cover of this Announcement.

You are encouraged to submit your Letter of Intent well before the deadline. LOIs may be

submitted at any time between the publication of this Announcement and the stated deadline.

IV.E.2. Pre-proposal Due Date

The pre-proposal due date is printed on the cover of this Announcement.

You are encouraged to submit your pre-proposal well before the deadline. Pre-proposals may be

submitted at any time between the publication of this Announcement and the stated deadline.

IV.E.3. Proposal Due Date

The proposal due date is printed on the cover of this Announcement.

You are encouraged to transmit your proposal well before the deadline. Proposals may be

submitted at any time between the publication of this Announcement and the stated deadline.

IV.E.4. Late Submissions

Delays in submitting letters of intent and proposals may be unavoidable. DOE has accepted late

submissions when applicants have been unable to make timely submissions because of

widespread technological disruptions or significant natural disasters. DOE has made

accommodations for incapacitating or life-threatening illnesses and for deaths of immediate

family members. Other circumstances may or may not justify late submissions. Unacceptable

justifications include the following:

• Failure to begin submission process early enough.

• Failure to provide sufficient time to complete the process.

• Failure to understand the submission process.

• Failure to understand the deadlines for submissions.

• Failure to satisfy prerequisite registrations.

• Unavailability of administrative personnel.

You are responsible for beginning the submission process in sufficient time to accommodate

reasonably foreseeable incidents, contingencies, and disruptions.

Applicants must contact the Program Office/Manager listed in this Announcement to discuss

the option of a late submission. Contacting the Program Office/Manager after the deadline

may reduce the likelihood that a request will be granted.

DOE notes that not all requests for late submission will be approved.

Section V - PROPOSAL REVIEW INFORMATION

V.A. CRITERIA

V.A.1. Initial Review Criteria

Prior to a comprehensive merit evaluation, DOE will perform an initial review to determine that

(1) the applicant is eligible for the award; (2) the information required by the Program

Announcement has been submitted; (3) all mandatory requirements are satisfied; (4) the

proposed project is responsive to the objectives of the Program Announcement, and (5) the

proposed project is not duplicative of programmatic work. Proposals that fail to pass the initial

review will not be forwarded for merit review and will be eliminated from further consideration.

V.A.2. Merit Review Criteria

Proposals will be subjected to scientific merit review (peer review) and will be evaluated against

the following criteria, listed in descending order of importance.

• Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project;

• Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach;

• Competency of Applicant’s Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed Resources; and

• Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget.

• Quality and Efficacy of the Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan.

The evaluation process will also include program policy factors such as the relevance of the

proposed research to the terms of the DOE National Laboratory Announcement and the agency’s

programmatic needs, the balance of activities within the program, and the utility of the proposed

activities to the broader scientific community. Note that external peer reviewers are selected with

regard to both their scientific expertise and the absence of conflict-of-interest issues. Both

Federal and non-Federal reviewers may be used, and submission of a proposal constitutes

agreement that this is acceptable to the investigator(s) and the submitting institution.

The questions below are provided to the merit reviewers to elaborate the criteria:

SCIENTIFIC AND/OR TECHNICAL MERIT OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH

• What is the scientific innovation of the proposed research?

• What is the likelihood of achieving valuable results?

• How might the results of the proposed work impact the direction, progress, and thinking in

relevant scientific fields of research?

• How does the proposed work compare with other efforts in its field, both in terms of

scientific and/or technical merit and originality?

• Is the Data Management Plan suitable for the proposed research? To what extent does it

support the validation of research results? To what extent will research products, including

data, be made available and reusable to advance the field of research?

• Is the Data Management Plan comprehensive? How effectively does it span quality control,

data processing, data flow, data archiving, and data distribution?

APPROPRIATENESS OF THE PROPOSED METHOD OR APPROACH

• Does the proposed effort employ innovative concepts or methods?

• How logical and feasible are the approaches?

• Are the conceptual framework, methods, and analyses well justified, adequately developed,

and likely to lead to scientifically valid conclusions?

• Does the applicant recognize significant potential problems and consider alternative

strategies?

• Is the timeline of activities reasonable and suitable for meeting the goals of the pilot project?

COMPETENCY OF APPLICANT’S PERSONNEL AND ADEQUACY OF PROPOSED RESOURCES

• Does the proposed work take advantage of unique facilities and capabilities?

• What is the past performance of the team?

• Is the lead institution proposing to perform a greater portion of the scientific and technical

work than any other team member?

• How well qualified is the team to carry out the proposed work?

• Are the environment and facilities adequate for performing the proposed effort?

• To what extent does the proposed work effectively leverage or coordinate with existing

activities?

REASONABLENESS AND APPROPRIATENESS OF THE PROPOSED BUDGET

• Are the proposed budget and staffing levels adequate to carry out the proposed work?

• Is the budget reasonable and appropriate for the scope?

QUALITY AND EFFICACY OF THE PROMOTING INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE RESEARCH PLAN

• Is the proposed Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan suitable for the size

and complexity of the proposed project and an integral component of the proposed project?

• To what extent is the PIER plan likely to lead to participation of individuals from diverse

backgrounds, including individuals historically underrepresented in the research community?

• What aspects of the PIER plan are likely to contribute to the goal of creating and maintaining

an equitable, inclusive, encouraging, and professional training and research environment and

supporting a sense of belonging among project personnel?

• How does the proposed plan include intentional mentorship and are the associated mentoring

resources reasonable and appropriate?

V.B. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

V.B.1. Merit Review

Proposals that pass the initial review will be subjected to a formal merit review and will be

evaluated based on the criteria above.

V.B.2. Program Policy Factors

The Selection Official may consider any of the following program policy factors in making the

selection, listed in no order of significance:

• Availability of funds

• Relevance of the proposed activity to SC priorities

• Ensuring an appropriate balance of activities within SC programs

• Performance under current awards

• Quality of international or interagency collaboration

• Participation with multi-institutional teams

• Commitment to sharing the results of research

• Promoting principal investigators with a commitment to improving diversity, equity, and

inclusion in the STEM community

V.B.3. Selection

The Selection Official will consider the findings of the merit review and may consider any of the

Program Policy Factors described above.

V.B.4. Discussions and Award

The Government may enter into discussions with a selected applicant for any reason deemed

necessary. Failure to resolve satisfactorily the issues identified by the Government will preclude

award to the applicant.

V.C. ANTICIPATED NOTICE OF SELECTION AND AWARD DATES

It is anticipated that the award selection will be completed by September 30, 2024. It is expected

that awards will be made in Fiscal Year 2024.

Section VI - AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

VI.A. AWARD NOTICES

VI.A.1. Notice of Selection

Selected Applicants Notification: DOE will notify applicants selected for award. This notice of

selection is not an authorization to begin performance.

Non-selected Notification: Organizations whose proposals have not been selected will be

advised as promptly as possible. This notice will explain why the proposal was not selected.

VI.A.2. Notice of Award

A work authorization/contract modification issued by the contracting officer is the authorizing

award document.

VI.B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND POLICY REQUIREMENTS

The following additional policy provisions are applicable to this Announcement. The full text of

each provision is in Section VIII of this Announcement and may be accessed by navigating to the

hyperlinks below:

1. Availability of Funds

2. Commitment of Public Funds

3. Environmental, Safety and Health (ES&H) Performance of Work at DOE Facilities

4. Evaluation and Administration by Non-Federal Personnel

5. Federal, State, and Local Requirements

6. Funding Restrictions

7. Government Right to Reject or Negotiate

8. Modification

9. Proprietary Proposal Information

10. Publications

VI.C. REPORTING

Annual progress reports from the award investigator will be required and will be due 90 days

before the end of each budget year.

Section VII - QUESTIONS/AGENCY CONTACTS

VII.A. QUESTIONS

For help with PAMS, click the “PAMS Help” link on the PAMS website,

https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/. You may also contact the PAMS Help Desk, which can

be reached Monday through Friday, 9AM – 5:30 PM Eastern Time. Telephone: (855) 818-1846

(toll free) or (301) 903-9610, Email: sc.pams[email protected]. All submission and

inquiries about this DOE National Laboratory Program Announcement should reference the

Announcement number printed on the cover.

Please contact the PAMS help desk for technological issues with the PAMS system.

Questions regarding the specific program areas and technical requirements may be directed to

the technical contacts listed for each program within the DOE National Laboratory Program

Announcement or below.

Please contact the program staff with all questions not directly related to the PAMS

system.

VII.B. AGENCY CONTACTS

PAMS

Customer Support

855-818-1846 (toll-free)

301-903-9610

sc.pams[email protected]

Program Manager

Scientific Contact

Dr. Shaima L. Nasiri

[email protected]

Dr. Sally McFarlane

Sally.McFarlane@science.doe.gov

VI.C. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL HOTLINE:

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) maintains a Hotline to facilitate the reporting of

allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement in DOE programs or operations. If you

wish to report such allegations, you may call, send a letter, or email the OIG Hotline

[email protected]. Allegations may be reported by DOE employees, DOE contractors, or the

general public. OIG contact information is available at https://energy.gov/ig/services.

Section VIII – SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

VIII.A. HOW-TO GUIDES

VIII.A.1. How Consortia May be Used

INCORPORATED CONSORTIA

Incorporated consortia are eligible to apply for funding as a prime recipient (lead organization)

or subrecipient (team member).

Each incorporated consortium must have an internal governance structure and a written set of

internal rules. Upon request, the consortium must provide a written description of its internal

governance structure and its internal rules to the DOE contracting officer. There is no

requirement that subawards be formalized into incorporated consortia.

UNINCORPORATED CONSORTIA

Unincorporated consortia (team arrangements) must designate one member of the consortium to

serve as the prime recipient/consortium representative (lead organization). There is no

requirement that subawards be formalized into unincorporated consortia.

Upon request, unincorporated consortia must provide the DOE contracting officer with a

collaboration agreement, commonly referred to as the articles of collaboration, which sets out the

rights and responsibilities of each consortium member. This agreement binds the individual

consortium members together and should discuss, among other things, the consortium’s:

• Management structure;

• Method of making payments to consortium members;

• Means of ensuring and overseeing members’ efforts on the project;

• Provisions for members’ cost sharing contributions; and

• Provisions for ownership and rights in intellectual property developed previously or under

the agreement.

Note that a consortium is applied for in one proposal and results in one award with subawards to

consortia members. Multi-institutional teams may, if permitted under this Announcement, submit

collaborative proposals with each institution submitting its own proposal with an identical

research narrative, resulting in multiple awards to the collaborating institutions.

VIII.A.2. How to Submit Letters of Intent

It is important that the LOI be a single file with extension .pdf, .docx, or .doc. The filename must

not exceed 50 characters. The PI and anyone submitting on behalf of the PI must register for an

account in PAMS before it will be possible to submit a letter of intent. All PIs and those

submitting LOIs on behalf of PIs are encouraged to establish PAMS accounts as soon as

possible to avoid submission delays.

Submit Your Letter of Intent:

• Create your letter of intent outside the system and save it as a file with extension .docx, .doc,

or .pdf. Make a note of the location of the file on your computer so you can browse for it

later from within PAMS.

• Log into PAMS and click the Proposals tab. click the “View DOE National Laboratory

Announcements” link and find the current announcement in the list. Click the

“Actions/Views” link in the Options column next to this Announcement to obtain a

dropdown menu. Select “Submit Letter of Intent” from the dropdown.

• On the Submit Letter of Intent page, select the institution from which you are submitting this

LOI from the Institution dropdown. If you are associated with only one institution in the

system, there will only be one institution in the dropdown.

• Note that you must select one and only one PI per LOI; to do so, click the “Select PI” button

on the far right side of the screen. Find the appropriate PI from the list of all registered users

from your institution returned by PAMS. (Hint: You may have to sort, filter, or search

through the list if it has multiple pages.) Click the “Actions” link in the Options column next

to the appropriate PI to obtain a dropdown menu. From the dropdown, choose “Select PI.”

• If the PI for whom you are submitting does not appear on the list, it means he or she has not

yet registered in PAMS. For your convenience, you may have PAMS send an email

invitation to the PI to register in PAMS. To do so, click the “Invite PI” link at the top left of

the “Select PI” screen. You can enter an optional personal message to the PI in the

“Comments” box, and it will be included in the email sent by PAMS to the PI. You must wait

until the PI registers before you can submit the LOI. Save the LOI for later work by clicking

the “Save” button at the bottom of the screen. It will be stored in “My Letters of Intent” for

later editing.

• Enter a title for your letter of intent.

• Select the appropriate technical contact from the Program Manager dropdown.

• To upload the LOI file into PAMS, click the “Attach File” button at the far right side of the

screen. Click the “Browse” (or “Choose File” depending on your browser) button to search

for your file. You may enter an optional description of the file you are attaching. Click the

“Upload” button to upload the file.

• At the bottom of the screen, click the “Submit to DOE” button to save and submit the LOI to

DOE.

• Upon submission, the PI will receive an email from the PAMS system

<[email protected]> acknowledging receipt of the LOI.

You are encouraged to register for an account in PAMS at least a week in advance of the LOI

submission deadline so that there will be no delays with your submission.

WARNING: The PAMS website at https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/ will permit

you to edit a previously submitted LOI in the time between your submission and the

deadline. If you choose to edit, doing so will remove your previously submitted version

from consideration. If you are still editing at the time of the deadline, you will not have a

valid submission. Please pay attention to the deadline.

VIII.A.3. How to Submit a Pre-Proposal

It is important that the pre-proposal be a single file with extension .pdf, .docx, or .doc. The

filename must not exceed 50 characters. The PI and anyone submitting on behalf of the PI must

those submitting pre-proposals on behalf of PIs are encouraged to establish PAMS accounts as

soon as possible to avoid submission delays.

Submit Your Pre-Proposals:

• Create your pre-proposal (called a preproposal in PAMS) outside the system and save it as a

file with extension .docx, .doc, or .pdf. Make a note of the location of the file on your

computer so you can browse for it later from within PAMS.

• Log into PAMS and click the Proposals tab. click the “View DOE National Laboratory

Announcements” link and find the current announcement in the list. Click the

“Actions/Views” link in the Options column next to this Announcement to obtain a

dropdown menu. Select “Submit Preproposal” from the dropdown.

• On the Submit Preproposal page, select the institution from which you are submitting this

preproposal from the Institution dropdown. If you are associated with only one institution in

the system, there will only be one institution in the dropdown.

• Note that you must select one and only one PI per preproposal; to do so, click the “Select PI”

button on the far right side of the screen. Find the appropriate PI from the list of all registered

users from your institution returned by PAMS. (Hint: You may have to sort, filter, or search

through the list if it has multiple pages.) Click the “Actions” link in the Options column next

to the appropriate PI to obtain a dropdown menu. From the dropdown, choose “Select PI.”

• If the PI for whom you are submitting does not appear on the list, it means he or she has not

yet registered in PAMS. For your convenience, you may have PAMS send an email

invitation to the PI to register in PAMS. To do so, click the “Invite PI” link at the top left of

the “Select PI” screen. You can enter an optional personal message to the PI in the

“Comments” box, and it will be included in the email sent by PAMS to the PI. You must wait

until the PI registers before you can submit the preproposal. Save the preproposal for later

work by clicking the “Save” button at the bottom of the screen. It will be stored in “My

Preproposals” for later editing.

• Enter a title for your preproposal.

• Select the appropriate technical contact from the Program Manager dropdown.

• To upload the preproposal file into PAMS, click the “Attach File” button at the far right side

of the screen. Click the “Browse” (or “Choose File” depending on your browser) button to

search for your file. You may enter an optional description of the file you are attaching. Click

the “Upload” button to upload the file.

• At the bottom of the screen, click the “Submit to DOE” button to save and submit the

preproposal to DOE.

• Upon submission, the PI will receive an email from the PAMS system

<[email protected]> acknowledging receipt of the preproposal.

You are encouraged to register for an account in PAMS at least a week in advance of the

preproposal submission deadline so that there will be no delays with your submission.

WARNING: The PAMS website at https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov will permit

you to edit a previously submitted pre-proposal in the time between your submission and

the deadline. If you choose to edit, doing so will remove your previously submitted

version from consideration. If you are still editing at the time of the deadline, you will not

have a valid submission. Please pay attention to the deadline.

VIII.A.4. How to Prepare and Submit a Proposal

SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL

The following information is provided to help with proposal submission. Detailed instructions

and screen shots can be found in the PAMS Help materials, accessible by clicking the “PAMS

Help” link on the PAMS home page. Onscreen instructions are available within PAMS.

• Log into PAMS. From the proposals tab, click the “View DOE National Laboratory

Announcements” link and find the current announcement in the list. Click the

“Actions/Views” link in the Options column next to this Announcement to obtain a

dropdown menu. Select “Submit Proposal” from the dropdown.

• Note that you must select one and only one Principal Investigator (PI) per proposal; to do so,

click the “Select PI” button on the far right side of the screen. Find the appropriate PI from

the list of all registered users from your institution returned by PAMS. (Hint: You may have

to sort, filter, or search through the list if it has multiple pages.) Click the “Actions” link in

the Options column next to the appropriate PI to obtain a dropdown menu. From the

dropdown, choose “Select PI.”

• If the PI for whom you are submitting does not appear on the list, it means he or she has not

yet registered in PAMS. For your convenience, you may have PAMS send an email

invitation to the PI to register in PAMS. To do so, click the “Invite PI” link at the top left of

the “Select PI” screen. You can enter an optional personal message to the PI in the

“Comments” box, and it will be included in the email sent by PAMS to the PI. You must wait

until the PI registers before you can submit the proposal. Save the proposal for later work by

selecting “Save” from the dropdown at the bottom of the screen and then clicking the “Go”

button. It will be stored in “My Proposals” for later editing. As a minimum, you must

complete all the required fields on the PAMS cover page before you can save the proposal

for the first time.

• The cover page, budget, and attachments sections of the lab proposal are required by PAMS

before it can be submitted to DOE.

• Complete the sections in PAMS one at a time, starting with the cover page and following the

instructions for each section.

• Click the “+View More” link at the top of each section to expand the onscreen instructions.

On the budget section, click the “Budget Tab Instructions” link to obtain detailed guidance

on completing the budget form.

• Save each section by selecting either “Save” (to stay in the same section) or “Save… and

Continue to the Next Section” (to move to the next section) from the dropdown menu at the

bottom of the screen, followed by clicking the “Go” button.

• If you save the proposal and navigate away from it, you may return later to edit the proposal

by clicking the “View My Existing Proposals” or “My Proposals” links within PAMS.

• You must enter a budget for each annual budget period.

• You must also enter a budget for each proposed sub-award. The sub-award section can be

completed using the same steps used for the budget section.

• In the attachments section of the lab proposal, the abstract, the budget justification, and the

proposal narrative are required and must be submitted as separate files.

• You must bundle everything other than the budget, abstract, and budget justification into one

single PDF file to be attached under “Proposal Attachment.”

• Do not attach anything under “Other Attachments.”

• To upload a file into PAMS, click the “Attach File” button at the far right side of the screen.

Click the “Browse” (or "Choose File" depending on your browser) button to search for your

file. You may enter an optional description of the file you are attaching. Click the “Upload”

button to upload the file.

• Once you have saved all of the sections, the “Submit to DOE” option will appear in the

dropdown menu at the bottom of the screen.

• To submit the proposal, select “Submit to DOE” from the dropdown menu and then click the

“Go” button.

• Upon submission, the PI will receive an email from the PAMS system

<[email protected]> acknowledging receipt of the proposal.

• The proposal will also appear under My Proposals with a Proposal Status of “Submitted to

DOE.”

Please only submit a PAMS lab technical proposal in response to this Announcement; do not

submit a DOE Field Work Proposal (FWP) at this time. SC will request FWPs later from those

selected for funding consideration under this Announcement.

PROPOSAL PREPARATION

All files submitted a part of a proposal must be PDF files unless otherwise specified in this

Announcement. Attached PDF files must be plain files consisting of text, numbers, and images

without editable fields, signatures, passwords, redactions, or other advanced features available in

some PDF-compatible software. Do not use PDF portfolios or binders.

Please note the following restrictions that apply to the names of all files attached to your

proposal:

• Please limit file names to 50 or fewer characters

• Do not attach any documents with the same name. All attachments must have a unique name.

• Please use only the following characters when naming your attachments: A-Z, a-z, 0-9,

underscore, hyphen, space, period, parenthesis, curly braces, square brackets, ampersand,

tilde, exclamation point, comma, semi colon, apostrophe, at sign, number sign, dollar sign,

percent sign, plus sign, and equal sign. Attachments that do not follow this rule may cause

the entire proposal to be rejected or cause issues during processing.

RESUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Proposals submitted under this announcement may be withdrawn from consideration by using

the PAMS website at https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov. Proposals may be withdrawn at any

time between when the applicant submits the proposal and when DOE makes the proposal

available to merit reviewers. Such withdrawals take effect immediately and cannot be reversed.

Please exercise due caution. After the proposal is made available to merit reviewers, the

applicant may contact the DOE program office identified in this Announcement to request that it

be withdrawn.

After a proposal is withdrawn, it may be resubmitted, if this Announcement is still open

for the submission of proposals. Such resubmissions will only count as one submission if this

Announcement restricts the number of proposals from an applicant.

IMPROPER CONTENTS OF PROPOSALS

Proposals submitted under this Announcement will be stored in controlled-access systems, but

they may be made publicly available if an award is made. As such, it is critical that applicants

follow these guidelines:

• Do not include information subject to any legal restriction on its open distribution, whether

classified, export control, or unclassified controlled nuclear information.

• Do not include sensitive and protected personally identifiable information, including social

security numbers, birthdates, citizenship, marital status, or home addresses. Pay particular

attention to the content of biographical sketches and curriculum vitae.

• Do not include letters of support from Federal officials.

• Do not include letters of support on Federal letterhead. Letters that are not letters of support

(such as letters confirming access to sites, facilities, equipment, or data; or letters from

cognizant contracting officers) may be on Federal letterhead.

• Clearly mark all proprietary or trade-secret information.

VIII.A.5. How to Prepare a Biographical Sketch

A biographical sketch is to provide information that can be used by reviewers to evaluate the PI’s

potential for leadership within the scientific community. Examples of information of interest are

invited and/or public lectures, awards received, scientific program committees, conference or

workshop organization, professional society activities, special international or industrial

partnerships, reviewing or editorship activities, or other scientific leadership experiences.

SC requires the use of the format approved by the National Science Foundation (NSF), which

may be generated by the Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv), a cooperative

venture maintained at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/. The fillable PDFs provided by the

National Science Foundation are no longer available. When interagency common formats and

instructions are promulgated, their use will be accepted. See https://new.nsf.gov/funding/senior-

personnel-documents for more information. The use of a format required by another agency is

intended to reduce the administrative burden to researchers by promoting the use of common

formats.

Requested information may be appended to a biographical sketch, whether produced from a

fillable PDF or in SciENcv.

SC strongly recommends the use of SciENcv to reduce administrative burden by allowing the

use of digital persistent identifiers, including the Open Researcher and Contributer ID (ORCiD).

Do not attach a listing of individuals who should not be used as merit reviewers: This

information is no longer collected as part of a biographical sketch.

VIII.A.6. How to Prepare a List of Individuals Who Should Not Serve as Reviewers

To assist in identifying individuals who should not serve as merit reviews, provide the following

information for each and every senior/key person who is planned to be or is identified in Section

A of the proposal budget for the applicant and any proposed subrecipients:

• Advisees (graduate students or postdocs) of the senior/key person

• Advisors of the senior/key person while a graduate student or a postdoc

• Close associates of the senior/key person over the past 48 months

• Co-authors of the senior/key person over the past 48 months

• Co-editors of the senior/key person over the past 48 months

• Co-investigators of the senior/key person over the past 48 months

• Collaborators of the senior/key person over the past 48 months

Do not identify any personnel at the applicant institution or any proposed subrecipient or team

institution: Those personnel are prohibited from serving as merit reviewers.

Large collaborations of 10 or more researchers do not require that all collaborators be identified:

rather, only list the researchers with whom the senior/key person actually collaborated.

For all identified individuals, provide the following information:

• The senior/key person to whom the individual was an advisee, advisor, close associate, co-

author, co-editor, co-investigator, or collaborator, identified by first name and last name

• The individual’s first (given) name

• The individual’s last (family) name

• The individual’s Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCiD), if known

• The individual’s institutional affiliation spelling out acronyms (For joint appointments,

separate each institution with a slash (“/”). Do not list departmental affiliations.)

• The reason for listing the individual (advisee, advisor, close associate, co-author, co-editor,

co-investigator, collaborator)

• The year when the individual last was a close associate, co-author, co-editor, co-investigator,

or collaborator

You may also provide a list of all senior/key personnel who are planned to be or are identified in

Section A of the proposal budget for the applicant and any proposed subrecipients.

The lists do not need to be sorted in any method.

The lists must be submitted in tabular format, preferably as Microsoft Excel (.xls or .xlsx) files.

For your convenience, a template is available at https://science.osti.gov/grants/Policy-and-

Guidance/Agreement-Forms. If using the template:

• Do not add tabs to the spreadsheet

• Do not merge the existing tabs

• Do not remove headers

• Fill out the requested headers on both tabs with the same information

• Ensure that given and family names are presented in the correct columns

VIII.A.7. How to Prepare Current and Pending Support

WARNING: These instructions have been significantly revised to require

disclosure of a variety of potential conflicts of interest or commitment, including

participation in foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment programs.

Current and Pending support is intended to allow the identification of potential duplication,

overcommitment, potential conflicts of interest or commitment, and all other sources of support.

The PI and each senior/key person at the prime applicant and any proposed subaward must

provide a list of all sponsored activities, awards, and appointments, whether paid or unpaid;

provided as a gift with terms or conditions or provided as a gift without terms or conditions; full-

time, part-time, or voluntary; faculty, visiting, adjunct, or honorary; cash or in-kind; foreign or

domestic; governmental or private-sector; directly supporting the individual’s research or

indirectly supporting the individual by supporting students, research staff, space, equipment, or

other research expenses. All foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment programs must be

identified in current and pending support.

SC requires the use of the format approved by the National Science Foundation (NSF), which

may be generated by the Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv), a cooperative

venture maintained at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/. The fillable PDFs provided by the

National Science Foundation are no longer available. When interagency common formats and

instructions are promulgated, their use will be accepted. See https://new.nsf.gov/funding/senior-

personnel-documents for more information. The use of a format required by another agency is

intended to reduce the administrative burden to researchers by promoting the use of common

formats.

For every activity, list the following items:

• The sponsor of the activity or the source of funding.

• The award or other identifying number.

• The title of the award or activity. If the title of the award or activity is not descriptive, add

a brief description of the research being performed that would identify any overlaps or

synergies with the proposed research.

• The total cost or value of the award or activity, including direct and indirect costs. For

pending proposals, provide the total amount of requested funding.

• The award period (start date – end date).

• The person-months of effort per year being dedicated to the award or activity.

If required to identify overlap, duplication of effort, or synergistic efforts, append a description

of the other award or activity to the current and pending support.

Requested information may be appended to current and pending support, whether produced from

a fillable PDF or in SciENcv.

SC strongly recommends the use of SciENcv to reduce administrative burden by allowing the

use of digital persistent identifiers, including the Open Researcher and Contributer ID (ORCiD).

Details of any obligations, contractual or otherwise, to any program, entity, or organization

sponsored by a foreign government must be provided on request to either the applicant institution

or DOE.

VIII.A.8. How to Prepare a Data Management Plan

In general, a DMP should address the following requirements:

1. DMPs should describe whether and how data generated in the course of the proposed

research will be shared and preserved. If the plan is not to share and/or preserve certain data,

then the plan must explain the basis of the decision (for example, cost/benefit considerations,

other parameters of feasibility, scientific appropriateness, or limitations discussed in #4). At a

minimum, DMPs must describe how data sharing and preservation will enable validation of

results, or how results could be validated if data are not shared or preserved.

2. DMPs should provide a plan for making all research data displayed in publications resulting

from the proposed research open, machine-readable, and digitally accessible to the public at

the time of publication. This includes data that are displayed in charts, figures, images, etc. In

addition, the underlying digital research data used to generate the displayed data should be

made as accessible as possible to the public in accordance with the principles stated in the

Office of Science Statement on Digital Data Management (https://science.osti.gov/funding-

opportunities/digital-data-management. This requirement could be met by including the data

as supplementary information to the published article, or through other means. The published

article should indicate how these data can be accessed.

3. DMPs should consult and reference available information about data management resources

to be used in the course of the proposed research. In particular, DMPs that explicitly or

implicitly commit data management resources at a facility beyond what is conventionally

made available to approved users should be accompanied by written approval from that

facility. In determining the resources available for data management at Office of Science

User Facilities, researchers should consult the published description of data management

resources and practices at that facility and reference it in the DMP. Information about other

Office of Science facilities can be found at https://science.osti.gov/user-facilities/.

4. DMPs must protect confidentiality, personal privacy, Personally Identifiable Information,

and U.S. national, homeland, and economic security; recognize proprietary interests, business

confidential information, and intellectual property rights; avoid significant negative impact

on innovation, and U.S. competitiveness; and otherwise be consistent with all applicable

laws, and regulations. There is no requirement to share proprietary data.

DMPs will be reviewed as part of the overall SC research proposal merit review process.

Applicants are encouraged to consult the SC website for further information and suggestions for

how to structure a DMP: https://science.osti.gov/funding-opportunities/digital-data-management

VIII.A.9. How to Prepare a Budget and Justification

The following advice will improve the accuracy of your budget request:

• Funds requested for personnel (senior, key, and other) must be justified as the product of

their effort on the project and their institutional base salary.

• Funds requested for fringe benefits must be calculated as the product of the requested salary

and, if present, the negotiated fringe benefit rate contained in an institution’s negotiated

indirect cost rate agreement.

• Funds requested for indirect costs must be calculated using the correct indirect cost base and

the negotiated indirect cost rate.

• You are encouraged to include the rate agreement used in preparing a budget as a part of the

budget justification.

• Do not prepare a budget justification using the expired DOE form F4260.1.

Budget Fields

Section A

Senior/Key Person

For each Senior/Key Person, enter the requested information. List

personnel, base salary, the number of months that person will be

allocated to the project, requested salary, fringe benefits, and the total

funds requested for each person. The requested salary must be the

product of the base salary and the effort.

Include a written narrative in the budget justification that justifies the

need for requested personnel. Within the justification, explain the

fringe benefit rate used if it is not the standard faculty rate.

Section B

Other Personnel

List personnel, the number of months that person will be allocated to

the project, requested salary fringe benefits, and the total funds

requested for each person.

Include a written narrative in the budget justification that fully justifies

the need for requested personnel. Within the justification, provide the

number of positions being filled in each category of other personnel.

Section C

Equipment

For the purpose of this budget, equipment is designated as an item of

property that has an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more and an expected

service life of more than one year, unless a different threshold is

specified in a negotiated Facilities and Administrative Cost Rate. (Note

that this designation applies for proposal budgeting only and differs

from the DOE definition of capital equipment.) List each item of

equipment separately and justify each in the budget justification

section. Do not aggregate items of equipment. Allowable items

ordinarily will be limited to research equipment and apparatus not

already available for the conduct of the work. General-purpose office

equipment is not eligible for support unless primarily or exclusively

used in the actual conduct of scientific research.

Section D

Travel

For purposes of this section only, travel to Canada or to Mexico is

considered domestic travel. In the budget justification, list each trip’s

destination, dates, estimated costs including transportation and

subsistence, number of staff traveling, the purpose of the travel, and

how it relates to the project. Indicate the basis for the cost estimate

(quotes from vendors or suppliers, past experience of similar items, or

some other basis). To qualify for support, attendance at meetings or

conferences must enhance the investigator’s capability to perform the

research, plan extensions of it, or disseminate its results. Domestic

travel is to be justified separately from foreign travel. Within the

budget justification, detail the number of personnel planning to travel

and the estimated per-traveler cost for each trip.

Section E

Participant/Trainee

Support Costs

If applicable, submit training support costs. Educational projects that

intend to support trainees (precollege, college, graduate and post

graduate) must list each trainee cost that includes stipend levels and

amounts, cost of tuition for each trainee, cost of any travel (provide the

same information as needed under the regular travel category), and

costs for any related training expenses. Participant costs are those costs

associated with conferences, workshops, symposia or institutes and

breakout items should indicate the number of participants, cost for each

participant, purpose of the conference, dates and places of meetings and

any related administrative expenses.

Indicate the basis for the cost estimate (quotes from vendors or

suppliers, past experience of similar items, or some other basis).

Section F

Other Direct Costs

• Materials and Supplies: Enter total funds requested for

materials and supplies in the appropriate fields. In the budget

justification, indicate general categories such as glassware, and

chemicals, including an amount for each category (items not

identified under “Equipment”). Categories less than $1,000 are

not required to be itemized. Indicate the basis for the cost

estimate (quotes from vendors or suppliers, past experience of