The mission of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development (DNN R&D) is to drive innovative research that develops technologies and expertise to detect foreign nuclear proliferation activities and produces technologies for integration into operational systems by leveraging capabilities at the national laboratories, plants, and sites, as well as at universities and within private industry. DNN R&D supports U.S. national and nuclear security objectives in reducing global nuclear security threats through the innovation of unilateral and multi-lateral technical capabilities to detect, identify, and characterize: 1) foreign nuclear weapons development activities; 2) illicit diversion of special nuclear materials; 3) nuclear explosions globally; and 4) stewarding U.S. technical capabilities in nuclear nonproliferation.
For DNN R&D, the role of Institutions of Higher Education (IHE; as defined in Section III.A. below) is to innovate, develop, and prove some of the most challenging basic aspects of new technology and methods in coordination with the DOE National Laboratories which can in turn fulfill their unique role to perform mission-specific research and development that improves on capabilities until they are either adopted by operational enterprises or transitioned into private industry for commercialization. Transparently and effectively linking the roles of these IHE and DOE National Laboratory represents the core of how DNN R&D proposes to meet its objectives.
The intent of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to award ONE five-year cooperative agreement(s) to a consortium consisting of accredited IHE’s to allow them to receive and administer funds for student and faculty research, fellowships, and scholarship funding awarded by DOE/NNSA, DNN R&D.
The consortium may include student and research fellows and must have a long-term objective of building expertise in scientific disciplines directly relevant to nuclear forensics. Research results should be incorporated readily into IHE curricula. Students, faculty, and researchers must be able to work unencumbered while moving across organizational and bureaucratic boundaries of the academic and governmental facilities engaged in the consortium, while properly protecting critical information and materials. The consortium should establish reciprocal arrangements between the lead IHE and other IHEs as well as relationships with appropriate DOE National Laboratories.
Deadline: Sep. 20, 2022
In accordance with 2 CFR 910.126(b), Competition, eligibility for award is restricted to domestic IHEs (as defined below) because the purpose of the DNN R&D University Program is to support university research and development. IHEs provide a different, more fundamental, theoretical, innovative perspective on research and development than that provided by the laboratories or industry. IHEs are also the best sources for innovative, long-term ideas because of their inherent close ties to new developments in the basic sciences, their ability to construct cross-disciplinary teams, and their ability to test new concepts and ideas with theoretical and experimental rigor. Further, the support provided to IHEs will help foster a recruitment pipeline of future nuclear non-proliferation and other nuclear security professionals who will contribute significantly to the national security of the United States.
Approximately $5 million a year is expected to be available for an award under this announcement, contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds. DOE/NNSA may fund $25 million under this FOA, contingent upon the availability of appropriate funds for all five years.
