[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 245 (Thursday, December 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65682-65685]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-31351]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Office of Science; Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of 
Science Financial Assistance Program--Notice 02-01

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Annual notice of continuation of availability of grants and 
cooperative agreements.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of Science of the Department of Energy hereby 
announces its continuing interest in receiving grant applications for 
support of work in the following program areas: Basic Energy Sciences, 
High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Advanced Scientific Computing, 
Fusion Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, and 
Energy Research Analyses. On September 3, 1992, (57 FR 40582), DOE 
published in the Federal Register the Office of Energy Research 
Financial Assistance Program (now called the Office of Science 
Financial Assistance Program), 10 CFR part 605, Final Rule, which 
contained a solicitation for this program. Information about submission 
of applications, eligibility, limitations, evaluation and selection 
processes and other policies and procedures are specified in 10 CFR 
part 605.

DATES: Applications may be submitted at any time in response to this 
Notice of Availability.

ADDRESSES: Applications must be sent to: Director, Grants and Contracts 
Division, Office of Science, SC-64, U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 
Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290. When preparing 
applications, applicants should use the Office of Science Financial 
Assistance Program Application Guide and Forms located on the World 
Wide Web at 
http://www.science.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html. Applicants 
without Internet access may call 301-903-5212 for information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published annually and 
remains in effect until it is succeeded by another issuance by the 
Office of Science, usually published after the beginning of the fiscal 
year. This annual Notice 02-01 succeeds Notice 01-01, which was 
published December 7, 2000.
    It is anticipated that approximately $400 million will be available 
for grant and cooperative agreement awards in FY 2002. The DOE is under 
no obligation to pay for any costs associated with the preparation or 
submission of an application. DOE reserves the right to fund, in whole 
or in part, any, all, or none of the applications submitted in response 
to this Notice.
    The following program descriptions are offered to provide more in-
depth information on scientific and technical areas of interest to the 
Office of Science:

1. Basic Energy Sciences

    The Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program supports fundamental 
research in the natural sciences and engineering leading to new and 
improved energy technologies and to understanding and mitigating the 
environmental impacts of energy technologies. The science areas and 
their objectives are as follows:

(a) Materials Sciences

    The objective of this program is to increase the understanding of 
phenomena and properties important to materials behavior that will 
contribute to meeting the needs of present and future energy 
technologies. It is comprised of the subfields metallurgy, ceramics, 
condensed matter physics, materials chemistry, and related disciplines 
where the emphasis is on the science of materials.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-3427.

(b) Chemical Sciences

    The objective of this program is to expand, through support of 
basic research, knowledge of various areas of chemistry, chemical 
engineering and atomic molecular and optical physics with a goal of 
contributing to new or improved processes for developing and using 
domestic energy resources in an efficient and environmentally sound 
manner. Disciplinary areas where research is supported include atomic 
molecular and optical physics; physical, inorganic and organic 
chemistry; chemical physics; photochemistry; radiation chemistry; 
analytical chemistry; separations science; actinide chemistry; and 
chemical engineering sciences. Program Contact: (301) 903-5804.

(c) Engineering Research

    This program's objectives are: (1) To extend the body of knowledge 
underlying current engineering practice in order to open new ways for 
enhancing energy savings and production, prolonging useful equipment 
life, and reducing costs while maintaining output performance, and 
environmental quality; and (2) to broaden the technical and conceptual 
base for solving future engineering problems in the energy 
technologies. Program Contact: (301) 903-3427.

(d) Geosciences

    The goal of this program is to develop a quantitative and 
predictive understanding of geologic processes related to energy and 
environmental quality. The program emphasizes cross-cutting basic 
research that will improve understanding of reactive geochemical 
transport and other subsurface processes and properties and how to 
image them using techniques ranging from electrons, x-rays or neutrons 
to electromagnetic and seismic waves. Applications of this fundamental 
understanding might include transport of contaminant fluids, 
hydrocarbons, sequestered CO2 or

[[Page 65683]]

performance prediction for repository sites. The emphasis is on the 
disciplinary areas of geochemistry, geophysics, geomechanics, and 
hydrogeology with a focus on the upper levels of the earth's crust. 
Particular emphasis is on processes taking place at the atomic and 
molecular scale. Specific topical areas receiving emphasis include: 
high resolution geophysical imaging; rock physics, physics of fluid 
transport, and fundamental properties and interactions of rocks, 
minerals, and fluids.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-4061.

(e) Energy Biosciences

    The primary objective of this program is to generate an 
understanding of fundamental biological mechanisms in plants and 
microorganisms that will support future technological developments 
related to DOE's mission. The research serves to provide the basic 
information foundation for environmentally responsible production and 
conversion of renewable resources for fuels, chemicals, and the 
conservation of energy. This program has special requirements for the 
submission of preapplications, when to submit, and the length of the 
applications. Applicants are encouraged to contact the program 
regarding these requirements.
    Program Contact: (301)-903-2873.

2. High Energy and Nuclear Physics

    This program supports about 90% of the U.S. efforts in high energy 
and nuclear physics. The objectives of these programs are indicated 
below:

(a) High Energy Physics

    The primary objectives of this program are to understand the 
ultimate structure of matter in terms of the properties and 
interrelations of its basic constituents, and to understand the nature 
and relationships among the fundamental forces of nature. The research 
falls into three broad categories: Experimental research, theoretical 
research, and technology R&D in support of the high energy physics 
program.
    Program Contact: (301)-903-3624.

(b) Nuclear Physics (Including Nuclear Data Program)

    The primary objectives of this program are an understanding of the 
interactions and structures of atomic nuclei and nuclear matter at the 
most elementary level possible, and an understanding of the fundamental 
forces of nature as manifested in nuclear matter.
    Program Contact: (301)-903-3613.

3. Advanced Scientific Computing Research

    This program fosters and supports fundamental research in advanced 
computing research (applied mathematics, computer science and 
networking), and operates supercomputer, networking, and related 
facilities to enable the analysis, modeling, simulation, and prediction 
of complex phenomena important to the Department of Energy.

Mathematical, Information, and Computational Sciences

    This subprogram supports a spectrum of fundamental research in 
applied mathematical sciences, computer science, and networking from 
basic through prototype development. Results of these efforts are used 
to form partnerships with users in scientific disciplines to validate 
the usefulness of the ideas and to develop them into tools. Testbeds on 
important applications for DOE are supported by this subprogram. Areas 
of particular focus are:
    Applied Mathematics: Research on the underlying mathematical 
understanding and numerical algorithms to enable effective description 
and prediction of physical systems such as fluids, magnetized plasmas, 
or protein molecules. This includes, for example, methods for solving 
large systems of partial differential equations on parallel computers, 
techniques for choosing optimal values for parameters in large systems 
with hundreds to hundreds of thousands of parameters, improving our 
understanding of fluid turbulence, and developing techniques for 
reliably estimating the errors in simulations of complex physical 
phenomena.
    Computer Science: Research in computer science to enable large 
scientific applications through advances in massively parallel 
computing such as very lightweight operating systems for parallel 
computers, distributed computing such as development of the Parallel 
Virtual Machine (PVM) software package which has become an industry 
standard, and large scale data management and visualization. The 
development of new computer and computational science techniques will 
allow scientists to use the most advanced computers without being 
overwhelmed by the complexity of rewriting their codes every 18 months.
    Networking: Research in high performance networks and information 
surety required to support high performance applications--protocols for 
high performance networks, methods for measuring the performance of 
high performance networks, and software to enable high speed 
connections between high performance computers and networks. The 
development of high speed communications and collaboration technologies 
will allow scientists to view, compare, and integrate data from 
multiple sources remotely.
    Program Contact: (301)-903-5800.

4. Fusion Energy Sciences

    The mission of the Fusion Energy Sciences program is to advance 
plasma science, fusion science, and fusion technology--the knowledge 
base needed for an economically and environmentally attractive fusion 
energy source. The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES) supports 
basic and applied research, encourages technical connectivity with the 
broader U.S. science community, and uses international collaboration to 
accomplish this mission.

(a) Research Division

    This Division seeks to develop the physics knowledge base needed to 
advance the Fusion Energy Sciences program toward its goals. Research 
into physics issues associated with medium to large-scale confinement 
devices is essential to studying conditions relevant to the production 
of fusion energy. Experiments on this scale of devices are used to 
explore the limits of specific confinement concepts, as well as study 
associated physical phenomena. Specific areas of interest include: (1) 
Reducing plasma energy and particle transport at high densities and 
temperatures, (2) understanding the physical laws governing confinement 
of high pressure plasmas, (3) investigating plasma wave interactions, 
and (4) studying and controlling impurity particle transport and 
exhaust in plasmas.
    Research is also carried out in the following areas: (1) Basic 
plasma science research directed at furthering the understanding of 
fundamental processes in plasmas; (2) theoretical research to provide 
the understanding of fusion plasmas necessary for interpreting results 
from present experiments, planning future experiments, and designing 
future confinement devices; (3) critical data on plasma properties, 
atomic physics and new diagnostic techniques for support of confinement 
experiments; (4) supporting research on innovative confinement 
concepts; and (5) research on issues that support the development of 
Inertial Fusion Energy, for which target development is carried out by 
the

[[Page 65684]]

Office of Defense Programs in the Department of Energy's National 
Nuclear Security Agency.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-4095.

(b) Facilities and Enabling Technologies Division

    This Division is responsible for overseeing the facility operations 
and enabling research and development activity budgets within the OFES. 
Grant program opportunities are in the enabling research and 
development activity. (Grants for scientific use of the facilities 
operated/maintained by this Division should be addressed to the 
Research Division.) The enabling technologies program supports the 
advancement of fusion science in the nearer-term by carrying out 
research on technological topics that: (1) Enable domestic experiments 
to achieve their full performance potential and scientific research 
goals; (2) permit scientific exploitation of the performance gains 
being sought from physics concept improvements; (3) allow the U.S. to 
enter into international collaborations gaining access to experimental 
conditions not available domestically; and (4) explore the science 
underlying these technological advances.
    The enabling technologies program supports pursuit of fusion energy 
science for the longer-term by conducting research aimed at innovative 
technologies, designs and materials to point toward an attractive 
fusion energy vision and affordable pathways for optimized fusion 
development.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-3068.

5. Biological and Environmental Research Program

    For over 50 years the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) 
Program has been investing to advance environmental and biomedical 
knowledge connected to energy. The BER program provides fundamental 
science to underpin the business thrusts of the Department's strategic 
plan. Through its support of peer-reviewed research at national 
laboratories, universities, and private institutions, the program 
develops the knowledge needed (1) To identify, understand, and 
anticipate the long-term health and environmental consequences of 
energy production, development, and use, and (2) to develop biology 
based solutions that address DOE and National needs.

(a) Life Sciences Research

    Research is focused on using DOE's unique resources and facilities 
to develop fundamental biological information and advanced technologies 
to understand and mitigate potential health effects of energy 
development, energy use, and waste cleanup, and that will underpin 
biotechnology based solutions to energy challenges. The objectives are: 
(1) To create and apply new technologies and resources in DNA 
sequencing, comparative genomics, and bioinformatics to characterize 
the human genome; (2) to develop and support DOE national user 
facilities for use in fundamental structural biology; (3) to use model 
organisms to understand human genome organization, human gene function 
and control, and the functional relationships between human genes and 
proteins; (4) to characterize and exploit the genomes and diversity of 
microbes with potential relevance for energy, bioremediation, or global 
climate; (5) to understand and characterize the risks to human health 
from exposures to low levels of radiation; and (6) to anticipate and 
address ethical, legal, and social implications arising from genome 
research.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-5468.

(b) Medical Applications and Measurement Science

    The research is designed to develop beneficial applications of 
nuclear and other energy-related technologies for medical diagnosis and 
treatment. The research is directed at discovering new applications of 
radiotracer agents for medical research as well as for clinical 
diagnosis and therapy. A major emphasis is placed on application of the 
latest concepts and developments in genomics, structural biology, 
computational biology, and instrumentation. Much of the research seeks 
breakthroughs in noninvasive imaging technologies such as positron 
emission tomography.
    The measurement science activities focus on research in the basic 
science of chemistry, physics and engineering as applied to 
bioengineering.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-3213.

(c) Environmental Remediation

    The research is primarily focused on the fundamental biological, 
chemical, geological, and physical processes that must be understood 
for the development and advancement of new, effective, and efficient 
processes for the remediation and restoration of the Nation's nuclear 
weapons production sites. Priorities of this research are 
bioremediation and operation of the William R. Wiley Environmental 
Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL). Bioremediation activities are 
centered on the Natural and Accelerated Bioremediation Research (NABIR) 
program, which provides the fundamental science to serve as the basis 
for development of cost-effective bioremediation and long-term 
stewardship of radionuclides and metals in the subsurface at DOE sites.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-3281.

(d) Environmental Processes

    The program seeks to understand the basic physical, chemical, and 
biological processes of the Earth's atmosphere, land, and oceans and 
how these processes may be affected by energy production and use. The 
research is designed to provide data that will enable an objective 
assessment of the potential for and the consequences of human-induced 
climate change at global and regional scales. It also provides data to 
enable assessments of mitigation options to prevent such a change. The 
program is comprehensive with an emphasis on understanding and 
simulating the radiation balance from the surface of the Earth to the 
top of the atmosphere (including the effect of clouds, water vapor, 
trace gases, and aerosols), on enhancing the quantitative models 
necessary to predict possible climate change at global and regional 
scales, and on understanding ecological effects of climate change.
    The Climate Change Technology (CCT) research seeks the 
understanding necessary to exploit the biosphere's natural carbon 
cycling processes to enhance the sequestration of carbon dioxide in 
terrestrial systems and the ocean, and to understand its potential 
environmental implications. The CCT includes research that can lead to 
the development of approaches to reduce or overcome the environmental 
and biological factors or processes that limit the sequestration of 
carbon in these systems to enhance the net sequestration of carbon. The 
research includes studies on terrestrial and ocean carbon sequestration 
and disposal, including research to modify the carbon sequestration 
capacity and rate by marine and terrestrial organisms and to understand 
the potential environmental implications of designed enhancements of 
carbon sequestration by terrestrial systems, and impacts of purposeful 
CO<INF>2</INF> injection in oceans.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-3281.

6. Energy Research Analyses

    This program supports energy research analyses of the Department's 
basic and applied research activities. Specific objectives include 
assessments to identify any duplication or gaps in scientific research 
activities, and impartial and independent evaluations of scientific and 
technical research efforts. Consistent with these overall objectives, 
this program conducts

[[Page 65685]]

numerous research studies to assess directions in science and to 
identify and assess new and improved approaches to science management.
    Program Contact: (202) 586-9942.

7. Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR)

    The objective of the EPSCoR program is to enhance the capabilities 
of EPSCoR states to conduct nationally competitive energy-related 
research and to develop science and engineering manpower to meet 
current and future needs in energy-related fields. This program 
addresses basic research needs across all of the Department of Energy 
research interests. Research supported by the EPSCoR program is 
concerned with the same broad research areas addressed by the Office of 
Science programs that are described in this notice. The EPSCoR program 
is restricted to applications, which originate in twenty-one states 
(Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, 
Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North 
Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, 
and Wyoming) and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is anticipated 
that only a limited number of new competitive research grants will be 
awarded under this program subject to the availability of funds.
    Program Contact: (301) 903-3427.

    Issued in Washington, DC on: December 10, 2001.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 01-31351 Filed 12-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-02-U