[Federal Register: August 15, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 158)]
[Notices]
[Page 48896-48898]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15au03-54]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Notice DE-FG01-
03ER03-26; Fusion Science Centers
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice inviting grant applications.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES) of the Office of
Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), announces its interest
in receiving grant applications for Fusion Science Centers with a
research focus in fusion plasma science. The duration of the Center
grant will be five years, with the possibility of a one time renewal
for five more years. All institutions or groups planning to submit
applications for funding a new center in Fiscal Year 2004 should submit
in response to this Notice. Applicants are not being asked, in any way,
to fund or establish a Federally Funded Research and Development Center
(FFRDC).
DATES: To permit timely consideration for awards in Fiscal Year 2004,
applicants are required to submit a Preliminary Application by November
14, 2003. Following a review of the Preliminary Application, applicants
may be invited to submit a Full Application in response to this notice
which must be received by DOE no later than 4:30 p.m., March 1, 2004.
Electronic submission of formal applications in PDF format is required.
Applicants are requested to submit a letter-of-intent by October
15, 2003. Letters-of-Intent should be sent by e-mail to the following
e-mail address: john.sauter@science.doe.gov and the subject line should
state: Letter-of-Intent regarding Program Notice DE-FG01-03ER03-26.
ADDRESSES: A copy of the Preliminary Application should be sent by e-
mail to: john.sauter@science.doe.gov with a subject line titled
Preliminary Application Regarding Program Notice DE-FG01-03ER03-26. In
addition, you must provide two CDs, with one PDF file copy of the
Preliminary Application on each, to be sent Federal Express to: John
Sauter, SC-55, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, Germantown Building,
U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-
1290. Full Applications in response to this solicitation Number DE-
FG01-03ER03-26 are to be electronically submitted by an authorized
institutional business official through DOE's Industry Interactive
Procurement System (IIPS) at: http://e-center.doe.gov/. IIPS provides
for the posting of solicitations and receipt of applications in a
paperless environment via the Internet. In order to submit applications
through IIPS, your business official will need to register at the IIPS
Web site. It is suggested that this registration be completed several
days prior to the date on which you plan to submit the formal
application. The Office of Science will include attachments as part of
this notice that provide the appropriate forms in PDF fillable format
that are to be submitted through IIPS. IIPS offers the option of
submitting multiple files--please limit submissions to only one file
within the volume if possible, with a maximum of no more than four
files. Questions regarding the operation of IIPS may be e-mailed to the
IIPS Help Desk at: helpdesk@pr.doe.gov, or you may call the help desk
at: (800) 683-0751. Further information on the use of IIPS by the
Office of Science is available at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html
.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Michael D. Crisp, Research
Division, SC-55, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, Germantown Building,
U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington,
DC 20585-1290. Telephone: (301) 903-4883, or by e-mail address:
michael.crisp@science.doe.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: General information about development and
submission of applications, eligibility, limitations, evaluations and
selection processes, and other policies and procedures may be found in
the Application Guide for the Office of Science Financial Assistance
Program and 10 CFR part 605. Electronic access to SC's Financial
Assistance Guide and required forms is possible via the Internet using
the following Web site address: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html.
DOE is under no obligation to pay for any costs
associated with the preparation or submission of an application if an
award is not made.
Program Objectives
The development of new investigative techniques and research tools
presents a window of opportunity for fundamental advances in the
understanding of fusion plasma science. Many of the issues in plasma
science are sufficiently complex that significant progress requires
closely interacting, critical-mass groups of scientists with a broad
mix of skills and backgrounds. There is also a need to strengthen the
connection between the fusion research community and the broader
scientific community. The objective of this initiative is to establish
one or two university-based Fusion Science Centers (FSC), which will
focus on fundamental issues in plasma science. The FSC will be
supported to perform fusion plasma science research in areas of such
wide scope and complexity that it would not be feasible for individual
investigators or small groups to make progress. For example,
understanding the dynamics of plasma turbulence and transport requires
the development of appropriate physical models, computational
algorithms for treating disparate space and times scales, as well as
complex magnetic geometries, efficient programming on massively
parallel computing platforms, and an understanding of nonlinear
physics. A well coordinated collaboration of a team of scientists is
more likely to have the breadth of knowledge and skills required to
tackle such large and complex problems successfully. The research team
that will be assembled for the FSC should also promote connectivity
with the broader scientific community.
Areas of Focus
The FSC will be a university-based center of excellence that will
emphasize scientific issues that are of fundamental importance to
fusion plasma science. Examples of topics that could serve as a focus
of a FSC include, but are not limited to: turbulence and transport,
chaos and self-organization, energetic particle dynamics, and high
energy density plasma physics.
Educational Component
Since future manpower requirements of the fusion energy sciences
program are an important concern, proposals should discuss effective
ways in which education and training are integrated within their
research programs. Centers should be expected to sponsor
multidisciplinary workshops and summer schools that will bring together
students and researchers from various fields and institutions to focus
on basic plasma science. The workshops should also serve to communicate
the advances and challenges of fusion science to the broader scientific
community.
Eligibility Information
Applications are sought from academic institutions and groups,
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within the United States, which have research and educational programs
in plasma science. The Center is expected, and encouraged, to
participate in collaborations with other research institutions. The FSC
is envisioned to combine the expertise and approaches of national
laboratories and universities. However, since the thrust of this
initiative is for university-based institutions, any participation of a
(FFRDC), including a Department of Energy National Laboratory, should
be limited to no more than 20 percent of the Center funding.
Cost Sharing
The host institution is required to provide at least 15 percent
matching funds for the Center.
Application Process
Applicants are requested to submit a letter-of-intent as stated
above. Applicants will be required to submit a detailed Preliminary
Application that will be reviewed by a panel of experts. Following the
review of the Preliminary Application, applicants may be invited to
submit a Full Application. The Full Application will receive an
extensive review which may include oral presentations by the Principal
Investigator and his collaborators.
Letter-of-Intent
Letters-of-intent must include the title of the application, the
name of the Principal Investigator(s), the requested funding and a one-
page abstract. These letters-of-intent will be used to organize and
expedite review processes. Failure to submit a letter-of-intent will
not negatively prejudice a responsive formal application submitted in a
timely fashion.
Preliminary Application
The Preliminary Application should consist of a description of the
research proposed to be undertaken by the Fusion Science Center
including a clear explanation of its importance to the advancement of
fusion plasma science. The Preliminary Application should be limited to
a maximum of 30 pages (including text and figures) of technical
information. It should briefly describe the institutional setting of
the FSC, its proposed scope and organization, activities in research
and education and their integration, development of human resources and
shared experimental facilities, links with related major research
centers, on campus or off campus, and a management plan. The
application should emphasize the synergy of collaborations that will be
facilitated by the Center. A clear case should be made that the
Center's research program will contribute more to the advancement of
fusion plasma science than would be expected from the independent
efforts of its individual investigators. Also included should be a
description of educational activities that will be an integral part of
the Center's research program and other information necessary for a
concise overview of the FSC activities. The FSC application should
describe proposed efforts to communicate concepts, methods, tools, and
results to the wider world of science in order to raise awareness of
the fusion science community's scientific accomplishments.
Full Application
The Department of Energy will accept Full Applications for a Fusion
Science Center by invitation only, based upon the results of an
evaluation of the Preliminary Application. The Full Application should
consist of a more detailed description of the material contained in the
Preliminary Application. The Full Application may be modified in
response to the reviewers' comments concerning the Preliminary
Application. The review process for the Full Application may also
include oral presentations, made to a review panel, by the proposed
Center's key people.
Program Funding
It is anticipated that about $2,000,000 of Fiscal Year 2004 funding
will be available to fund one or two new Fusion Science Centers from
applications received in response to this Notice. Because future year
funding is not anticipated to increase, applications should propose
constant effort in future years (allowing for inflation). Future year
funding will depend upon suitable progress and the availability of
funds. The cost-effectiveness of the application will be considered
when comparing applications with differing funding requirements.
Merit Review
Applications will be subjected to formal merit review and will be
evaluated against the following criteria, which are listed in
descending order of importance as set forth in 10 CFR part 605.
1. Scientific and/or technical merit of the project,
2. Appropriateness of the proposed method or approach,
3. Competency of the applicant's personnel and adequacy of the
proposed resources,
4. Reasonableness and appropriateness of the proposed budget.
The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences will also consider, as part of
the evaluation, other available advice or information as well as
program policy factors, such as ensuring an appropriate balance among
and within the program areas, ensuring support for major computational
efforts, ensuring support for experiments, and quality of previous
performance.
Additional Review Criteria
In order to encourage innovation and originality in the
application, preconceived specifications are being kept to a minimum in
this announcement. A proposal for a center should have a plan to
identify, pose, and answer scientific questions of widely recognized
importance. In all cases, however, a Center's application should
demonstrate that the whole of the Center's effort will be substantially
greater than the sum of its parts. Attention will be paid to the
management plan, which should include a description of how the FSC will
operate. The plan should also describe proposed activities that will be
undertaken to enhance connectivity between the Center and the broad
scientific community.
In addition to the information required by 10 CFR part 605 each
application should contain the following items: (1) A succinct
statement of the goal of the research, (2) a detailed research plan,
(3) the specific results expected at the end of the project period, (4)
an analysis of the adequacy of the budget, (5) a discussion of the
impact of the proposed research on other fields of science, and (6) for
projects requiring significant computational resources (e.g., at the
National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center), an estimate and
justification of the resources that will be required.
With respect to the enhanced productivity that one would expect
from the synergy of a Center, additional review criteria are:
(1) Clear evidence of collaborative work.
(2) The extent to which the group addresses difficult problems
requiring a team effort.
(3) Clear evidence of scientific leadership.
(4) The extent to which the management will evaluate the relevance
and scientific impact of the group's work.
Selection of applications for award will be based upon the findings
of the technical evaluations, the importance and relevance of the
proposed research
[[Page 48898]]
to the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences' mission, and funding
availability.
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this program
is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 CFR part
605.
Issued in Washington, DC on: August 7, 2003.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 03-20863 Filed 8-14-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P