Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Implementation Grants | DE FOA 0003444

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003444

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science is soliciting new and renewal proposals for its Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Implementation Grants under Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0003444 (CFDA 81.049). This is a discretionary grant program in the science and technology research and development category, designed specifically to strengthen and expand long-term research competitiveness in EPSCoR-eligible jurisdictions by building durable research capacity rather than funding one-off projects.

At its core, the program is meant to support a coordinated team effort around a shared scientific theme. DOE EPSCoR Implementation Grants are structured to fund a group of scientists and engineers working together, and that team is expected to include meaningful participation from trainees such as undergraduate students, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows. The emphasis is on improving a jurisdiction or multi-jurisdiction effort's overall research capability, which typically implies strengthening people pipelines, research infrastructure and collaboration networks, and sustained thematic focus that can position the participating organizations to compete more successfully for future federal research funding.

A key point in the announcement is what this funding is not meant to do. These grants are explicitly described as inappropriate for supporting individual faculty research projects in science and technology. In other words, proposals that read like a standard single-investigator or loosely connected set of independent projects are not aligned with the intent. Instead, DOE is looking for integrated, collaborative work with a unifying theme and clear capacity-building outcomes, where the benefit goes beyond any one faculty member or lab.

The opportunity is open to participation from across the academic, nonprofit, and industrial research communities, and any of those sectors may lead or collaborate on an application. Regardless of who leads, a strong student education-in-research component is required in every application. That requirement signals that proposals should do more than simply include students as labor; they should provide a structured, intentional research training environment, with clear roles for trainees and a credible plan for developing their skills and experience as part of the research effort.

Financially, the FOA lists an award ceiling of $5,000,000, indicating these can be sizeable, multi-faceted efforts consistent with the program's capacity-building goals. The original application closing date is January 29, 2025. The FOA also references additional details on page 10, which likely contains key requirements or expectations for the education component, teaming structure, or jurisdiction eligibility, and should be treated as essential guidance when shaping a compliant and competitive application.

In summary, DOE EPSCoR Implementation Grants are designed for EPSCoR-eligible jurisdictions to pursue larger, coordinated research programs that build enduring capability through collaborative, theme-based work and robust student research training, rather than supporting isolated investigator-driven research projects.

• The Office of Science in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Implementation Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.049.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-09-12.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-29. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $5,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for DE FOA 0003444

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