Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) - Earth and Environmental Systems | DE FOA 0002757

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002757

The Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) - Earth and Environmental Systems opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0002757) is a discretionary grant program from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, specifically the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program within the Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences Division (EESSD). The main aim is to expand and strengthen the climate and environmental science workforce by helping institutions build lasting research and training capacity. A major emphasis is placed on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs), with the broader intention of diversifying the set of institutions that participate in and contribute to BER EESSD-supported research.

At its core, the program is designed to remove common barriers that keep underrepresented institutions from fully engaging with DOE-supported climate and environmental science research. BER is explicitly signaling that many strong academic scientists and programs exist outside its current funding portfolio, but they may have limited familiarity with EESSD priorities, processes, and entry points for support. This FOA tries to bridge that gap by encouraging structured partnerships between applicant institutions and BER-supported Scientific Focus Areas (SFAs) located at DOE national laboratories. The expectation is that these partnerships will not be one-off interactions, but instead will help establish a pipeline for sustained undergraduate and graduate student participation in EESSD-relevant research.

The FOA supports three closely related categories of activities. First, it funds efforts to develop new partnerships with BER-supported EESSD SFAs at DOE national labs, with a focus on creating ongoing opportunities for students to participate in climate and environmental research that aligns with EESSD mission areas. Second, it supports facilitating student participation in EESSD research program outreach as well as training and engagement opportunities connected to DOE user facilities, which can expose students to advanced tools, datasets, and scientific communities that are often difficult to access from smaller or under-resourced institutions. Third, it funds broader institutional capacity building to strengthen climate and environmental science education and research at institutions that have historically been underrepresented in the EESSD portfolio. Across these themes, the allowable use of funds explicitly includes experiential training, mentoring, and activities that increase an institution's ability to train students and compete in this research space over the long term.

Eligibility is broadly open to domestic applicants, with a specific prohibition on certain nonprofit organizations: nonprofit entities described in IRS section 501(c)(4) are not eligible if they engaged in lobbying activities after December 31, 1995. The FOA also includes special eligibility and participation rules for federally affiliated entities. DOE and NNSA national laboratories cannot apply as the prime recipient, but they can participate as subrecipients on an eligible applicant's proposal. If a national lab is included as a subrecipient and the project is selected, the lab portion is handled differently than a typical subaward: the subaward value is removed from the prime award and provided to the lab through DOE's Field-Work Proposal system, with work performed under the lab's existing DOE contract. In contrast, non-DOE/NNSA federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) are not eligible either as prime applicants or as subrecipients, and other federal agencies are also not eligible to apply or be included as subrecipients.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized under Science and Technology and other Research and Development, uses the grant funding instrument, and is associated with CFDA number 81.049. The award ceiling listed is $800,000, and the original application due date shown is August 24, 2022, with a creation date of May 25, 2022. Overall, this FOA is less about funding a standalone research project in isolation and more about using targeted training, mentoring, and partnership-building to expand who gets to participate in DOE BER EESSD science, while building durable institutional capability in climate and environmental systems research and workforce development.

• The Office of Science in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) - Earth and Environmental Systems" 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 2022-05-25.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-08-24. (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 $800,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for DE FOA 0002757

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