Department of Energy Announces $4.7 Million for Research and Development Partnership Pilots

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $4.7 million in funding for 35 new grants to colleges and universities that are under-represented in DOE’s foundational climate, Earth, and environmental science research investments. These grants will help provide technical assistance to build capacity and achieve the goal of broadening institutional participation in DOE’s science investments.

“With enormous challenges facing the world to solve the climate crisis and promote equitable solutions and practices, these grants will diversify and expand the talent pool in climate and Earth science disciplines in order for institutions that have been historically under-represented in the office of Science funding portfolio to exert even greater impacts on society,” said Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Director of the DOE Office of Science. “These grants will position a broader pool of highly talented scientists to make significant contributions to addressing the toughest climate science challenges in support of the DOE mission.” 

Selected projects will develop partnerships that focus on a wide range of climate and environmental science topics, from the role that atmospheric aerosols play in climate change to efforts to assure that America’s most vulnerable communities will become more resilient to the pressures imposed by a warming world. Partnerships will involve collaborations with DOE-supported projects at national laboratories, universities, and/or DOE user facilities, to enhance institutional capacity with a goal to strengthen and diversify American science.

Projects were chosen by competitive merit review under the DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement, “Research Development and Partnership Pilot (RDPP),” sponsored by the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program within the Department’s Office of Science.

Funding totals $4.7 million in fiscal year 2022 dollars for projects lasting 18 to 22 months. A list of projects can be found at the BER website under “What’s New.”