[Federal Register: February 7, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 26)]
[Notices]
[Page 6442-6444]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07fe03-50]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Notice 03-18;
Theoretical Research in Plasma and Fusion Science
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 theoretical research relevant to
the U.S. program in magnetic fusion energy sciences. All individuals or
groups planning to submit applications for new or renewal funding in
Fiscal Year 2004 should submit in response to this Notice.
The specific areas of interest are:
1. Magnetohydrodynamics and Stability
2. Confinement and Transport
3. Edge and Divertor Physics
4. Plasma Heating and Non-inductive Current Drive
5. Innovative/Integrating Concepts
6. Atomic and Molecular Processes in Plasmas
More specific information on each area of interest is outlined in
the general and program specific SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
below. OFES may also solicit proposals from time to time under separate
announcements of Initiatives to support coordinated, goal-directed
community efforts. The Initiatives will be funded to achieve specific
programmatic and scientific aims and will be subject to requirements
that are different from those of this notice. Such grants, if funded,
will be subject to periodic reviews of progress.
Due to the limited availability of funds, Principal Investigators
with continuing grants may not submit a new application in the same
area(s) of interest as their previous application(s), which received
funding. A Principal Investigator may submit only one application under
each area of interest as listed above.
DATES: To permit timely consideration for awards in Fiscal Year 2004,
applications submitted in response to this notice must be received by
DOE no later than 4:30 p.m., April 15, 2003. Electronic submission of
formal applications in PDF format is required.
Applicants are requested to submit a letter-of-intent by March 18,
2003, which includes 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. The 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 03-18.
ADDRESSES: Formal applications in response to this solicitation 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 website. 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. 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 grant
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 an application through IIPS, please
contact the Office of the Director, Grants and Contracts Division,
Office of Science, DOE at: (301) 903-5212 in order to gain assistance
for submission through IIPS or to receive special approval and
instructions on how to submit printed applications.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of Fusion Energy Sciences,
Germantown Building, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-1290. Specific contacts for each area
of interest, along with telephone numbers and Internet addresses, are
listed below:
1. Magnetohydrodynamics and Stability: Rostom Dagazian, Research
Division, SC-55, Telephone: (301) 903-4926, or by Internet address:
rostom.dagazian@science.doe.gov.
2. Confinement and Transport: Curt Bolton, Research Division, SC-
55, Telephone: (301) 903-4914, or by Internet address:
curt.bolton@science.doe.gov.
3. Edge and Divertor Physics: Mike Crisp, Research Division, SC-55,
Telephone: (301) 903-4883, or by Internet address:
michael.crisp@science.doe.gov.
4. Plasma Heating and Non-inductive Current Drive: Rostom Dagazian,
Research Division, SC-55, Telephone: (301) 903-4926, or by Internet
address: rostom.dagazian@science.doe.gov.
5. Innovative/Integrating Concepts: Steve Eckstrand, Research
Division, SC-55, Telephone: (301) 903-5546, or by Internet address:
steve.eckstrand@science.doe.gov.
6. Atomic and Molecular Processes in Plasmas: Mike Crisp, Research
Division, SC-55, Telephone: (301) 903-4883, or by Internet 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.science.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 Funding
It is anticipated that about $4,000,000 of Fiscal Year 2004 funding
will be available to fund new work, or renewals of existing work, from
applications received in response to this Notice. The number of awards
and range of funding will depend on the number of applications received
and selected for award. Since 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. The number of grants funded, and the
amount of funding for each grant, will depend on the number and quality
of the applications received.
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Collaborative research projects involving more than one
institution, as well as basic work in support of the Scientific
Discovery through Advanced Computing initiative, are encouraged.
Applications submitted from different institutions, which are directed
at a common research activity, should clearly indicate they are part of
a proposed collaboration and contain a brief description of the overall
research project. However, each application must have a distinct scope
of work and a qualified principal investigator, who is responsible for
the research effort being performed at his or her institution.
Synergistic collaborations with researchers in federal laboratories and
Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), including
the DOE National Laboratories are also encouraged, though no funds will
be provided to these organizations under this Notice. Further
information on preparation of collaborative applications may be
accessed via the Internet at: http://www.science.doe.gov/production/grants/Colab.html
.
Since we expect that reviewers will be asked to review several
applications, those applications from individual PIs or small groups
(1-4 people) should be limited to a maximum of twenty (20) pages
(including text and figures) of technical information, while
applications from larger theory groups should be limited to thirty (30)
pages. The PDF file may also include a few selected publications in an
Appendix as background information. In addition, in the electronic
submission, please limit biographical and publication information for
the principal investigator and senior personnel to no more than two
pages each. Each principal investigator should provide an E-mail
address.
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.
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 (http://www.science.doe.gov/production/grants/605index.html
).
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.
Scientific and technical merit also includes the importance and
relevance of the proposed research to the U.S. fusion program.
Accordingly, preference will be given to work based in the U.S.
In addition, proposals from theory groups will also be rated on the
synergy of the group and the management of the group. With respect to
synergy, the criteria are:
(1) Clear evidence of collaborative work.
(2) The extent to which the group addresses difficult problems
requiring a team effort.
With respect to management the criteria are:
(1) Clear evidence of scientific leadership.
(2) The extent to which the management evaluates the relevance and
scientific impact of the group's work.
The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences shall 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
the program areas and within the program areas, ensuring support for
major computational efforts, ensuring support for experiments, and
quality of previous performance.
Selection of applications/proposals for award will be based upon
the findings of the technical evaluations, the importance and relevance
of the proposed research to the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences'
mission, and funding availability.
Program Specific Information
1. Magnetohydrodynamics and Stability
Grant applications are solicited for new research or continuation
of past efforts in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) theory in support of work
on magnetically confined fusion plasmas. Current areas of interest
include advanced tokamak (AT), innovative confinement concepts (ICC),
burning plasma physics and steady state, high-beta plasma issues. Both
analytical and computational approaches will be considered. Additional
work is needed on nonlinear MHD codes to include new physics, such as
extended MHD (including flows and various non-ideal MHD effects),
resistive wall modes, and particularly neoclassical tearing modes.
Finally, basic work in support of the Scientific Discovery through
Advanced Computing initiative that involves the development of large-
scale MHD codes will also be considered.
2. Confinement and Transport
Applications will be considered in the area of confinement and
transport in plasmas. This area covers plasma turbulence, energy,
particle, momentum and radiation transport in the core of the plasma
and theory based transport modeling. The work of interest includes work
in support of tokamak as well as non-tokamak innovative concepts.
Topics of interest include among others, electromagnetic effects on
turbulence, shear flow generation and its impacts on transport, and
understanding of the role of collisions in turbulent plasmas. Both
analytical and computational work is of interest. Basic work in support
of the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing initiative that
involves the development of large-scale codes to explore turbulence
will also be considered.
3. Edge and Divertor Physics
Applications will be considered in the area of edge physics theory.
This area covers edge plasma turbulence, energy, particle and radiation
transport in the edge of the plasma and in the neighborhood of the
separatrix. The work of interest includes neutrals transport in
divertors and plasma edge region, atomic physics processes affecting
temperature, radiation and flame front propagation in divertors, and
pedestal and Elm theory and modeling. Both analytical and numerical
models are of interest. Techniques and algorithms for modeling fast
particles in the edge region as well as adaptive grid methods and their
application to modeling of plasma turbulence and transport in the edge
region will be considered.
4. Plasma Heating and Non-inductive Current Drive
Applications will be considered in the area of radio frequency (RF)
physics in plasmas. This includes RF propagation, heating and current
drive. Of interest are both analytical and numerical treatments of
interaction of plasmas with radio frequency waves. These include
electron cyclotron, ion cyclotron, lower hybrid, and Bernstein waves.
Topics of interest include,
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among others, physical processes involved in conversion layers, power
deposition for temperature profile control, and interaction of waves of
different frequencies to produce specific effects on the plasma.
Applications for modeling radio frequency launchers and their coupling
to the edge plasma will also be considered.
5. Innovative/Integrating Concepts
Grant applications are desired for theoretical and computational
research on innovative concepts that have the possibility of leading to
improved magnetic fusion systems. Increased theoretical and
computational research is needed to help in the analysis of
experimental data and aid in planning innovative fusion related
experiments. Topics of interest include: equilibrium and stability of
3D systems, including island formation; extension of turbulence models
to 3D systems; improvement in extended MHD modeling of RFPs; increased
understanding of turbulent transport in RFPs; and spheromak formation.
Applications are also desired for theoretical and computational
research on integrated studies that include multiple topics.
6. Atomic and Molecular Processes in Plasmas
Grant applications will be considered for theoretical research
relevant to the description of atomic processes in plasmas. In addition
to overall scientific merit, emphasis will be given to work that
promises to aid the understanding of the basic atomic processes that
are important for modeling of magnetically confined plasmas. Basic
atomic processes that are important for modeling high energy density
plasmas produced by high power lasers or ion beams may also be
considered. The program has found understanding electron-atom and
electron-ion collisions and the radiation emitted by atoms and ions to
be of importance for the modeling of plasma behavior in experiments.
Some current areas where atomic processes are considered to be
important include the effects of transport, the effects of impurities
and the understanding of diagnostics.
(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 January 31, 2003.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 03-3046 Filed 2-6-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P