[Federal Register: October 27, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 207)]
[Notices]
[Page 61198-61203]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27oc03-49]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial
Assistance Program--Notice DE-FG01-04ER04-01
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Annual notice of continuation of availability of grants and
cooperative agreements.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of Science (SC) of the Department of Energy (DOE)
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 Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, Biological and
Environmental Research, and Energy Research Analyses. On September 3,
1992, 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: Formal applications referencing Program Notice DE-FG01-
04ER04-01 must be sent electronically by an authorized institutional
business official through DOE's Industry Interactive Procurement System
(IIPS) at: http://e-center.doe.gov (see also http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html
). IIPS provides for the posting of
posting of
via the Internet. In order to submit applications through IIPS your
business official will need to register at the IIPS Web site. IIPS
offers the option of using multiple files; please limit submissions to
one volume and one file if possible, with a maximum of no more than
four files. Color images should be submitted in IIPS as a separate file
in PDF format and identified as such. These images should be kept to a
minimum due to the limitations of reproducing them. They should be
numbered and referred to in the body of the technical scientific
application as Color image 1, Color image 2, etc. 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).
If you are unable to submit the application through IIPS, please
contact the Grants and Contracts Division, Office of Science at: (301)
903-5212 or (301) 903-3604, in order to gain assistance for submission
through IIPS or to receive special approval and instruction on how to
submit printed applications.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Notice is published annually and
remains in effect until it is succeeded by another issuance by the
Office of Science. This annual Notice DE-FG01-04ER04-01 succeeds Notice
03-01, which was published October 17, 2002.
It is anticipated that approximately $400 million will be available
for grant and cooperative agreement awards in Fiscal Year 2004. 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 four long-term
measures of the program are:
[sbull] Design, model, fabricate, characterize, analyze, assemble,
and use a variety of new materials and structures, including metals,
alloys, ceramics, polymers, biomaterials and more--particularly at the
nanoscale--for energy-related applications.
[sbull] Understand, model, and control chemical reactivity and
energy transfer processes in the gas phase, in solutions, at
interfaces, and on surfaces for energy-related applications, employing
lessons from inorganic, organic, self-assembling, and biological
systems.
[sbull] Develop new concepts and improve existing methods for solar
energy conversion and other major energy research needs identified in
the 2003 Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee workshop report,
Basic Research Needs to Assure a Secure Energy Future.
[sbull] Conceive, design, fabricate, and use new instruments to
characterize and ultimately control materials.
The science areas and their objectives are as follows:
(a) Materials Sciences and Engineering
The objective of this program is to increase the fundamental
understanding of phenomena, properties, and behavior important to
materials that will contribute to improving current energy technologies
and developing new energy technologies. Disciplinary areas where basic
research is supported include materials physics, condensed matter
physics, materials chemistry, engineering physics, and related
disciplines where the emphasis is on the science of materials. Product
development, demonstration, and surveys and process optimization
studies for existing commercial materials are not within the scope of
this solicitation.
Program Contact: Phone--(301) 903-3427; Web site: http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/dms/index.htm
.
(b) Chemical Sciences
The objective of this program is to develop and enhance fundamental
understanding in the chemical sciences that contributes to the overall
goal of developing new sources of energy and
[[Page 61199]]
improving processes for using existing energy resources in an efficient
and environmentally sound manner. Disciplinary areas where basic
research is supported include atomic, molecular, and optical sciences;
physical, inorganic, and organic chemistry; chemical physics;
photochemistry; radiation chemistry; analytical chemistry; separations
science; actinide chemistry; and chemical engineering sciences.
Program Contact: Phone--(301) 903-5804; Web site: http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/chm/chmhome.html
.
(c) Geosciences
The objective 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 carbon dioxide, or 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: Phone--(301) 903-4061; Web site: http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/geo/geohome.html
.
(d) Energy Biosciences
The objective of this program is to generate an understanding of
fundamental biological mechanisms in plants and microorganisms. The
emphasis is on understanding biological processes that will be the
foundation for technology developments related to DOE's mission to
achieve environmentally responsible production and conversion of
renewable resources for fuels, chemicals, and other energy-enriched
products. 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
http://www.science.doe.gov/bes/eb/ebhome.html.
2. High Energy Physics
The primary objectives of this program are to explore the
fundamental interactions of matter and energy, including the unseen
forms of matter and energy that dominate the universe; to understand
the ultimate unification of fundamental forces and particles; to search
for possible new dimensions of space; and to investigate the nature of
time itself. The research falls into three broad categories:
experimental research, theoretical research, and a program of advanced
R&D in accelerator and particle detector science and technology. The
goal of the R&D program is to enable the design and fabrication of the
instrumentation needed for the physics research.
In support of these broad scientific objectives, the High-Energy
Physics program has established specific long-term goals that
correspond very roughly to current research priorities, and are
representative of the program:
[sbull] Measure the properties and interactions of the heaviest
known particle (the top quark) in order to understand its particular
role in the Standard Model.
[sbull] Measure the matter-antimatter asymmetry in many particle
decay modes with high precision.
[sbull] Discover or rule out the Standard Model Higgs particle,
thought to be responsible for generating mass of elementary particles.
[sbull] Determine the pattern of the neutrino masses and the
details of their mixing parameters.
[sbull] Confirm the existence of new supersymmetric (SUSY)
particles, or rule out the minimal SUSY ``Standard Model'' of new
physics.
[sbull] Directly discover, or rule out, new particles which could
explain the cosmological ``dark matter''.
All grant proposals should address one or more of these goals, or
else explain how the proposed research supports the broad scientific
objectives outlined above. More information on the program and the
scientific research it supports can be found at our Web site: http://doe-hep.hep.net/
.
Program Contact: (301) 903-3624.
3. Nuclear Physics
The Nuclear Physics program supports basic research, technical
developments and world-class accelerator facilities to expand our
fundamental understanding of the interactions and structures of atomic
nuclei and nuclear matter, and an understanding of the forces of nature
as manifested in nuclear matter. Today, the reach of nuclear physics
extends from the quarks and gluons that form the substructure of the
once-elementary protons and neutrons, to the most dramatic of cosmic
events--supernovae. These and many other diverse activities are driven
by five broad questions articulated recently by the Nuclear Science
Advisory Committee (NSAC) in the Opportunities in Nuclear Science: A
Long-Range Plan for the Next Decade. The four subprogram areas and
their objectives are organized around answering these five key
questions. Research activities supported by the Office of Nuclear
Physics are aligned with and contribute to the overall progress of the
following long term performance measures:
[sbull] Make precision measurements of fundamental properties of
the proton, neutron and simple nuclei for comparison with theoretical
calculations to provide a quantitative understanding of their quark
substructure.
[sbull] Recreate brief, tiny samples of hot, dense nuclear matter
to search for the quark-gluon plasma and characterize its properties.
[sbull] Investigate new regions of nuclear structure, study
interactions in nuclear matter like those occurring in neutron stars,
and determine the reactions that created the nuclei of atomic elements
inside stars and supernovae.
[sbull] Measure fundamental properties of neutrinos and fundamental
symmetries by using neutrinos from the sun and nuclear reactors and by
using radioactive decay measurements.
The program is organized into the following four subprograms:
(a) Medium Energy Nuclear Physics
This subprogram supports experimental research primarily at the
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and with the polarized
proton collision program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC-
Spin), directed at answering the first key question: What is the
structure of the nucleon? Detailed investigations of the structure of
the nucleon are aimed at understanding how these basic building blocks
of matter are constructed from the elementary quarks and gluons of
Quantum Chromo-Dynamics (QCD) and how complex interactions among them
generate all the properties of the nucleon, including its
electromagnetic and spin properties. New knowledge in this area would
also allow the nuclear binding force to be described in terms of QCD,
thus providing a path for
[[Page 61200]]
understanding the structure of atomic nuclei from first principles.
Program Contact: (301) 903-3904.
(b) Heavy Ion Nuclear Physics
This subprogram supports experimental research primarily at the
Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) directed at answering the second
question: What are the properties of hot nuclear matter? At extremely
high temperatures, such as those that existed in the early universe
immediately after the ``Big Bang,'' normal nuclear matter is believed
to revert to its primeval state called the quark-gluon plasma. This
research program aims to recreate extremely small and brief samples of
this high energy density phase of matter in the laboratory by colliding
heavy nuclei at relativistic energies. At much lower temperatures,
nuclear matter passes through another phase transition from a Fermi
liquid to a Fermi gas of free roaming nucleons; understanding this
phase transition is also a goal of the subprogram.
Program Contact: (301) 903-4702.
(c) Low Energy Nuclear Physics
This subprogram supports experimental research directed at
understanding the remaining three questions: What is the structure of
nucleonic matter? Forefront nuclear structure research lies in studies
of nuclei at the limits of excitation energy, deformation, angular
momentum, and isotopic stability. The properties of nuclei at these
extremes are not known and such knowledge is needed to test and drive
improvement in nuclear models and theories about the nuclear many-body
system. What is the nuclear microphysics of the universe? Knowledge of
the detailed nuclear structure, nuclear reaction rates, half-lives of
specific nuclei, and the limits of nuclear existence at both the proton
and neutron drip lines is crucial for understanding the nuclear
astrophysics processes responsible for the production of the chemical
elements in the universe, and the explosive dynamics of supernovae. Is
there new physics beyond the Standard Model? Studies of fundamental
interactions and symmetries, including those of neutrino oscillations,
are indicating that our current ``Standard Model'' theory which
explains what the universe is and what holds it together is incomplete,
opening up possibilities for new discoveries by precision experiments.
Program Contact: (301) 903-6093.
(d) Nuclear Theory (Including the Nuclear Data Subprogram)
Progress in nuclear physics, as in any science, depends critically
on improvements in the theoretical techniques and on new insights that
will lead to new models and theories that can be applied to interpret
experimental data and predict new behavior. The Nuclear Theory program
supports theoretical research directed at understanding all five of the
central questions identified in the NSAC 2002 Long Range Plan.
Included in the theory program are the activities that are aimed at
providing information services on critical nuclear data and have as a
goal the compilation and dissemination of an accurate and complete
nuclear data information base that is readily accessible and user
oriented.
Program Contact: (301) 903-7878.
4. Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)
The mission of the Advanced Scientific Computing Research Program
is to deliver forefront computational and networking capabilities to
scientists nationwide that enable them to extend the frontiers of
science, answering critical questions that range from the function of
living cells to the power of fusion energy.
In order to accomplish this mission, 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.
The following long-term goals will be indicators of ASCR's success
in meeting its mission.
[sbull] Develop mathematics, algorithms, and software that enable
effective models of complex systems, including highly nonlinear or
uncertain phenomena, or processes that interact on vastly different
scales or contain both discrete and continuous elements.
[sbull] Develop, through the GTL partnership with BER, the
computational science capability to model a complete microbe and a
simple microbial community.
Mathematical, Information, and Computational Sciences Subprogram
This subprogram is responsible for carrying out the primary mission
of the ASCR program: discovering, developing, and deploying advanced
scientific computing and communications tools and operating the high
performance computing and network facilities that researchers need to
analyze, model, simulate, and--most importantly--predict the behavior
of complex natural and engineered systems of importance to the Office
of Science and to the Department of Energy.
The computing, networking middleware required to meet Office of
Science needs exceed the state-of-the-art by a wide margin.
Furthermore, the algorithms, software tools, the software libraries and
the distributed software environments needed to accelerate scientific
discovery through modeling and simulation are beyond the realm of
commercial interest. To establish and maintain DOE's modeling and
simulation leadership in scientific areas that are important to its
mission, the MICS subprogram employs a broad, but integrated research
strategy. The basic research portfolio in applied mathematics and
computer science provides the foundation for enabling research
activities, which includes efforts to advance high-performance
networking, to develop software tools, software libraries and software
environments. Results from enabling research supported by the MICS
subprogram are used by computational scientists supported by other
Office of Science and other DOE programs. Research areas include:
(a) 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.
(b) Computer Science
Research in computer science to enable large scientific
applications through advances in massively parallel computing such as
scalable and fault tolerant operating systems for parallel computers,
programming models such as development of the Message Passing Interface
(MPI) model that has become an industry standard, performance modeling
and assessment tools, interoperability and infrastructure
[[Page 61201]]
methodology, 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 with each new
generation of high performance architectures.
(c) Network Environment Research
Research to develop and deploy high-performance network and
collaborative technologies to support distributed high-end science
applications and large-scale scientific collaborations. The current
focus areas include but are not limited to ultra high-speed transport
protocols, dynamic bandwidth allocation services, network measurement
and analysis, cyber security systems, and advanced application layer
services that make easy for scientists to effectively and efficiently
access and use distributed resources, such as advanced services for
group collaboration, secure services for remote access of distributed
resources, and innovative technologies for sharing, controlling, and
managing distributed computing resources. Program Contact: (301) 903-
5800.
5. Fusion Energy Sciences
The Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program supports the Department's
Energy Security and World-Class Scientific Research Capacity goals. The
FES program goal is to advance plasma science, fusion science, and
fusion technology--the knowledge base needed for an economically and
environmentally attractive fusion energy source. FES supports basic and
applied research, encourages technical cross-fertilization with the
broader U.S. science community, and uses international collaboration to
accomplish this goal.
The FES program contributes to the Energy Security goal through
participation in ITER, an experiment to study and demonstrate the
sustained burning of fusion fuel. This proposed international
collaboration will provide an unparalleled scientific research
opportunity and will test the scientific and technical feasibility of
fusion power; ITER is also the penultimate step before a demonstration
fusion power plant. Assuming a successful outcome of ongoing ITER
negotiations, in Fiscal Year 2005, FES scientists and engineers will be
supporting the technical R&D and preparations to start project
construction in Fiscal Year 2006.
The FES program contributes to the World-Class Scientific Research
Capacity goal by managing a program of fundamental research into the
nature of fusion plasmas and the means for confining plasma to yield
energy. This includes: (1) Exploring basic issues in plasma science;
(2) developing the scientific basis and computational tools to predict
the behavior of magnetically confined plasmas; (3) using the advances
in tokamak research to enable the initiation of the burning plasma
physics phase of the FES program; (4) exploring innovative confinement
options that offer the potential of more attractive fusion energy
sources in the long term; (5) developing the cutting edge technologies
that enable fusion facilities to achieve their scientific goals; and
(6) advancing the science base for innovative materials to establish
the economic feasibility and environmental quality of fusion energy.
The overall effort requires operation of a set of unique and
diversified experimental facilities, ranging from smaller-scale
university programs to large national facilities that require extensive
collaboration. These facilities provide scientists with the means to
test and extend theoretical understanding and computer models--leading
ultimately to an improved predictive capability for fusion science.
In Fiscal Year 2005, operation of fusion facilities will be
increased to create greater opportunity for scientists to address the
large backlog of proposed experiments, many of them relevant to ITER
design and operation. Fabrication of the National Compact Stellarator
will also continue with a target of Fiscal Year 2007, for the initial
operation of this innovative new confinement system which is the
product of advances in physics understanding and computer modeling. In
addition, work will be initiated on the Fusion Simulation Project--a
joint effort with the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing
Research--to provide an integrated simulation and modeling capability
for magnetic fusion energy confinement systems over a 15-year
development period.
There will be three performance measures, for 10 years out, that
will demonstrate that progress is being made towards meeting the
overall program goal. These measures are:
1. Predictive Capability for Burning Plasmas: Develop a predictive
capability for key aspects of burning plasmas using advances in theory
and simulation benchmarked against a comprehensive experimental
database of stability, transport, wave-particle interaction, and edge
effects.
2. Configuration Optimization: Demonstrate enhanced fundamental
understanding of magnetic confinement and improved basis for future
burning plasma experiments through research on magnetic confinement
configuration optimization.
3. Inertial Fusion Energy and High Energy Density Physics: Develop
the fundamental understanding and predictability of high energy density
plasmas for potential energy applications.
Research Division
This Division is responsible for overseeing the Science and
Technology subprograms as well as most of the facility operations
subprogram (not including ITER) within the FES. The Science subprogram
seeks to develop the physics knowledge base needed to advance the FES
program. Research is conducted on medium to large-scale confinement
devices to study physics issues relevant to fusion and plasma physics
and to the production of fusion energy. Experiments on these 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 stability of high pressure plasmas; (3) investigating plasma
wave interactions; (4) studying and controlling impurity particle
transport and exhaust in plasmas; and (5) understanding the interaction
and coupling among these four issues in a fusion experiment.
Research is also carried out in the following areas: (1) Basic
plasma science directed at furthering the understanding of fundamental
processes in plasmas; (2) theory and modeling to provide the
understanding of fusion plasmas necessary for interpreting results from
present experiments, planning future experiments, and designing future
confinement devices; (3) atomic physics and the development of new
diagnostic techniques for support of confinement experiments; (4)
innovative confinement concepts; and (5) high energy density physics
and issues that support the development of Inertial Fusion Energy
(IFE). The high energy density physics necessary for IFE target
development is carried out by the Office of Defense Programs in the
Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Agency.
The Technology subprogram 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
[[Page 61202]]
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 Technology subprogram 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) 903-4095 N. Anne Davies.
6. Biological and Environmental Research Program
For more than 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.
The following indicators establish specific long term goals in
Scientific Advancement that the BER program is committed to, and
progress can be measured against.
[sbull] Life Sciences: Characterize the multi protein complexes (or
the lack thereof) involving a scientifically significant fraction of a
microbe's proteins. Develop computational models to direct the use and
design of microbial communities to clean up waste, sequester carbon, or
produce hydrogen.
[sbull] Climate Change Research: Deliver improved climate data &
models for policy makers to determine safe levels of greenhouse gases
for the Earth system. By 2013, substantially reduce differences between
observed temperature and model simulations at subcontinental scales
using several decades of recent data.
[sbull] Environmental Remediation: Develop science-based solutions
for cleanup and long-term monitoring of DOE contaminated sites. By
2013, a significant fraction of DOE's long-term stewardship sites will
employ advanced biology-based clean up solutions and science-based
monitors.
[sbull] Medical Applications and Measurement Science: Develop
intelligent biomimetic electronics that can both sense and correctly
stimulate the nervous system and new radiopharmaceuticals for disease
diagnosis.
All grant proposals should address one or more of these measures
and/or explain how the proposed research supports the broad scientific
objectives outlined above. More information on the program and the
scientific research it supports can be found at our Web site: http://www.sc.doe.gov/ober/
.
(a) Life Sciences Research
Research is focused on using DOE's unique resources and facilities
to develop fundamental knowledge of biological systems that can be used
to address DOE needs in clean energy, carbon sequestration, and
environmental cleanup and that will underpin biotechnology based
solutions to energy challenges. The objectives are: (1) To develop the
experimental and, together with the Advanced Scientific Computing
Research program, the computational resources, tools, and technologies
needed to understand and predict the complex behavior of complete
biological systems, principally microbes and microbial communities; (2)
to take advantage of the remarkable high throughput and cost-effective
DNA sequencing capacity at the Joint Genome Institute to meet the DNA
sequencing needs of the scientific community through competitive, peer-
reviewed nominations for DNA sequencing; (3) to develop and support DOE
national user facilities for structural biology at synchrotron and
neutron sources; (4) to develop novel research and computational tools
that provide the basis for understanding and predicting the responses
of complex biological systems, information needed to develop
biotechnology solutions for energy and environmental challenges; (5) to
use model organisms to understand human genome organization, human gene
function and control, and the functional relationships between human
genes and proteins at a genomic scale; (6) to understand and
characterize the risks to human health from exposures to low levels of
radiation; and (7) to anticipate and address ethical, legal, and social
implications arising from BER-supported biological research.
Program Contact: (301) 903-5468.
(b) Medical Applications and Measurement Sciences
The research is designed to develop the beneficial applications of
nuclear and other energy-related technologies for bio-medical research,
medical diagnosis and treatment. The objectives are: (1) To utilize
innovative radiochemistry to develop new radiotracers for medical
research, clinical diagnosis and treatment; (2) to develop the next
generation of non-invasive nuclear medicine instrumentation
technologies, such as positron emission tomography; (3) to develop
advanced imaging detection instrumentation capable of high resolution
from the sub-cellular to the clinical level; and (4) to utilize the
unique resources of the DOE in engineering, physics, chemistry and
computer sciences to develop the basic tools to be used in biology and
medicine, particularly in imaging sciences, photo-optics and
biosensors.
Program Contact: (301) 903-3213.
(c) Environmental Remediation
This research delivers the scientific knowledge, tools, and
enabling discoveries in biological and environmental research to reduce
the costs, risks, and schedules associated with the cleanup of the DOE
nuclear weapons complex; to extend the frontiers of biological and
chemical methods for remediation; to discover the fundamental
mechanisms of contaminant transport in the environment; to develop
cutting edge molecular tools for investigating environmental processes;
and to develop an understanding of the ecological impacts of
remediation activities. Research priorities include bioremediation,
contaminant fate and transport, nuclear waste chemistry and advanced
treatment options, and the operation of the William R. Wiley
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) and the Savannah
River Ecology Laboratory (SREL). The research performed for this
program will provide fundamental knowledge on a broad range of
remediation problems. Program Contact: (301) 903-4902.
(d) Climate Change Research
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 and
models to enable assessments of mitigation options to prevent such a
change. The program is comprehensive with an emphasis on: (1)
Understanding and simulating the radiation balance
[[Page 61203]]
from the surface of the Earth to the top of the atmosphere (including
the effect of clouds, water vapor, trace gases, and aerosols); (2)
enhancing and evaluating the quantitative models necessary to predict
natural climatic variability and possible human-caused climate change
at global and regional scales; (3) understanding and simulating both
the net exchange of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere, terrestrial
and ocean systems, and the effects of climate change on the global
carbon cycle; (4) understanding ecological effects of climate change;
(5) improving approaches to integrated assessments of effects of, and
options to mitigate, climatic change; and (6) basic research directed
at understanding options for sequestering excess atmospheric carbon
dioxide in terrestrial ecosystems and the ocean, including potential
environmental implications of such sequestration.
Program Contact: (301) 903-3281.
7. 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 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.
8. 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 21 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: Phone (301) 903-3427; Web site: http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/EPSCoR/index.htm
.
Issued in Washington, DC on October 21, 2003.
Ralph H. DeLorenzo,
Acting Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 03-27021 Filed 10-24-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P