The Distinguished Early Career Program (DECP) is the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy’s (NE) most prestigious award for the most innovative distinguished faculty members beginning their independent careers. The intent of the program is to provide stable support to those faculty to form the impactful research groups, innovative lines of inquiry, educational approaches, and critical new research directions that will drive the next generation of nuclear energy innovation. NE encourages all eligible applicants to apply, especially women, members of underrepresented minority groups, and persons with disabilities.
This FOA is soliciting distinguished early career applications that provide a clear research and education plan that highlights the applicant’s research and educational strengths; the research and education vision to support the development of the faculty member; and research infrastructure, curriculum, and outcomes that will advance the applicant’s research focus while training the next generation of nuclear energy professionals. Applications are required to focus on the NE mission areas.
The extraordinary characteristic that places the NE Early Career Award into a Distinguished category is the truly integrated nature of excellence in research, education, and leadership. The applicant must demonstrate excellence in all three categories, including an integrated plan over the course of a career.
Application Due Date: August 6, 2024
MAJOR NE FUNDED RESEARCH PROGRAMS
B.1 Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FC R&D)
- Interim Storage for Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel
B.2 Reactor Concepts Research, Development, and Demonstration (RC RD&D)
B.3 Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET)
- Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (AMMT)
- Advanced Sensors and Instrumentation (ASI)
- Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS)
- Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF)
In accordance with 2 CFR 910.126 - Competition, eligibility for award is restricted to eligible individuals from U.S. Institutions of Higher Education (IHE), in accordance with information described in Part III C of this FOA.
Applications must be submitted through a U.S. academic institution. An employee with a joint appointment between a university and a DOE national laboratory can apply through the IHE if the IHE pays the applicant’s salary and provides their benefits.
PIs must adhere to the respective eligibility standards below:
• The PI must be an untenured assistant professor at a U.S. academic institution on the tenure track and no more than seven years beyond the date their doctorate was awarded as of the last day of January 2025.
• The PI must be employed in the eligible position as of the last day of January 2025.
• There can be no co-PIs and funding cannot be used to directly support “peer collaborators” or mentors.*
• The PI cannot have received a similar type of a federally funded early career award. Similar awards could include, but are not limited to, Office of Science Early Career Program and U.S. National Science Foundation Faculty Career Development Program (CAREER). If you have received another federally funded early career award and are not sure whether or not it is similar, please send your questions to neup@inl.gov.
Only one application on behalf of a PI may be submitted to this FY 2025 FOA. A PI may not submit an application to more than three NE DECP FOAs as described in the eligibility criteria of Part III Section C.
The total number of awards will depend on the number of meritorious applications and the availability of appropriated funds. The ceiling and floor for this FOA are the same. The maximum award size for a single award is $800,000 over five years.