DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program Solicitation

Awards Will Support Outstanding Early Career Scientists at Universities, National Laboratories, and Office of Science User Facilities

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is now accepting pre-applications for the 2023 DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program to support the research of outstanding scientists early in their careers. Pre-applications are mandatory and are due on Thursday, January 5, 2023, at 4 p.m. CST.

The program will support more than 80 early career researchers for five years at U.S. academic institutions, DOE national laboratories, and Office of Science user facilities.

“The Department of Energy is committed to supporting rising stars in science — researchers who show great promise and a bright future,” said Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Director of the DOE Office of Science. “These individuals will be instrumental in meeting the big scientific challenges we face as a nation with innovation and passion.”

To be eligible for the program, a researcher must be an untenured, tenure-track assistant or associate professor at a U.S. academic institution or a full-time employee at a DOE national laboratory or Office of Science user facility. To address special circumstances and challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Science is extending the eligibility window for this competition from 10 to 12 years for all applicants. Awards to an institution of higher education will be approximately $875,000 over five years and awards to a DOE national laboratory average approximately $2,500,000 over five years. The funding level for institutions of higher education has been raised to encourage these institutions to increase graduate student stipends.

The DOE Office of Science is the nation’s largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. Early career researchers may apply to one of eight Office of Science program offices: Advanced Scientific Computing Research; Biological and Environmental Research; Basic Energy Sciences; Fusion Energy Sciences; High Energy Physics; Nuclear Physics; Accelerator R&D and Production; and Isotope R&D and Production. Proposed research topics must fall within the programmatic priorities of DOE’s Office of Science, which are provided in the program announcement. Funding will be competitively awarded on the basis of peer review.

Pre-applications are mandatory and are due on Thursday, January 5, 2023, at 4 p.m. CST. Applications will be due on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at 10:59 p.m. CST. Only those applicants that receive notification from DOE encouraging a formal application may submit full applications.

A webinar on this opportunity will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 2 p.m. CST. Please register here.

Further information can be found on the Office of Science funding opportunities page.

Learn more about University of South Dakota’s Bess Vlaisavljevich, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemistry, who received a grant from the Department of Energy’s Early Career Research Program to study the internal workings of heavy elements. Her study is titled “CASPT2 Geometries, Spectra, and Relativistic Electronic Structures of Actinide Species,” and is provided $750,000, supporting five years of research.