In 1995, DOE established the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI), which is now known as the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program. Its purpose is to bring together the resources of three NNSA national laboratories in a consolidated effort to achieve significant advances in computational modeling and simulation capabilities for stockpile stewardship. ASCI recognized that some of its program objectives are only achievable by the establishment of a strong research portfolio of strategic alliances with leading U.S. academic institutions. To help meet the challenge, the ASCI Academic Strategic Alliance Program (ASAP) was formed in 1997 to engage the U.S. academic community in advancing science-based modeling and simulation technologies. In 2008, the next phase of the Alliance Program, the Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program (PSAAP), continued the academic engagement, adding an emphasis on validation, verification, and uncertainty quantification. The program continued in 2014 with the establishment of PSAAP II, adding a focus on computer science in anticipation of the upcoming exascale computing era. In 2020, the program continued with PSAAP III, focusing on discipline-focused research needed to further predictive science enabled by effective exascale computing technologies, with continued emphasis on verification and validation and uncertainty quantification (V&V/UQ) for large-scale simulations.
The NNSA Academic Programs and Community Support, Office of Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) and Institutional Research and Development Programs (NA-114), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), are initiating the next phase of its academic program, called Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program IV (PSAAP IV). PSAAP IV will add an additional focus, on the development and application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies to improve quantified predictive capabilities.
PSAAP IV will create a program consisting of two types of Centers: Predictive Simulation Centers (PSCs) and Focused Investigatory Centers (FICs).
Predictive Simulation Centers (PSCs) will be required to focus their research on scalable application simulations, targeting either large-scale, integrated multidisciplinary problems or a broad single science/engineering discipline, to be carried out on ASC’s unclassified high-performance computing (HPC) systems that will be made available to the funded PSAAP IV Centers.
Focused Investigatory Centers (FICs) will be required to be tightly focused on a specific research topic either in one of the disciplines or one or more of the exascale-enabling CS, ML, or VVUQ technologies listed below.
NNSA will only accept one application for a PSC per entity. NNSA will accept multiple applications for FICs per entity. Interested applicants from within Duke should contact fundopps@duke.edu as early as possible.
Deadlines:
- Optional Pre-applications: June 27, 2024
- Full Applications: Sep. 30, 2024
Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program IV (PSAAP IV) will support leading U.S. institutions of higher education, with doctoral programs, engaging in five major focus areas:
- Discipline-focused research to further predictive science and enabled by effective exascale computing and data science technologies;
- Mathematics and computer science (CS) technologies and methodologies to support effective exascale computing in the context of science/engineering applications (development and demonstration);
- State-of-the-art machine learning (ML) and data science technologies for predictive science and engineering (utilization and advancement);
- Predictive science based on verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification (VVUQ) for large-scale simulations; and
- Workforce development of the next-generation computational scientists.
Predictive Science is applicable to a variety of fields, including nuclear weapons, efficient manufacturing, biological systems, nanoscale material science, and organic chemical processes. Success in these simulations requires both software and algorithmic frameworks for integrating multiple disciplines into a single application and adding significant disciplinary strength and depth to make that integration effective.
PSCs and FICs with interest in disciplinary research should consider advancing one or more of the following disciplines of interest to NNSA’s mission.
The following list is not considered exhaustive:
- Hydrodynamics, turbulence, and the transition to turbulence
- Hypersonics
- Radiation and particle transport
- Atomic physics
- Plasma physics, including the transition to turbulent plasma
- Molecular dynamics
- Reactive and energetic materials
- Chemical transformations, combustion, and fire science
- Solid-solid phase transitions, plastic flow
- Shock-assisted and shock-induced reactions
- Equations of state and constitutive properties
- Material damage and failure
- Material stability
- Novel material design
- Nuclear properties and data
- Physics related to nuclear reactors
- Inertial confinement fusion energy systems
- Design of experiments for validation, including surrogate materials and environments
- Magnetohydrodynamics
- Electromagnetic effects
- Engineering mechanics and design
- Predictive simulation of manufacturing and production processes (advanced and traditional manufacturing methods)
Eligible Entities
- U.S. Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) with professional doctorate degrees
For this NOFO, an applicant must be an institution of higher education that offer programs for graduate students to earn professional doctorate degrees. It must be an IHE in any State, Federal District, or United States (U.S.) territory that:
- Admits as regular students only persons having a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate;
- Is legally authorized within such State to provide a program of education beyond secondary education;
- Provides an educational program for which the institution awards a professional doctorate degree (e.g., Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)); and
- Is accredited by a nationally or regionally recognized accrediting agency or association or is an institution that has been granted reaccreditation status by such an agency or association that has been recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education for the granting of reaccreditation status, and the U.S. Secretary of Education has determined that there is satisfactory assurance that the institution will meet the accreditation standards of such an agency or association within a reasonable time.
- Maximum and Minimum Award Size
- Ceiling (i.e., the maximum amount for an individual award made under this NOFO):
$3,500,000 per year for PSCs; $1,000,000 per year for FICs. - Floor (i.e., the minimum amount for an individual award made under this NOFO): $1,500,000 per year for PSCs; $500,000 for FICs.
- Ceiling (i.e., the maximum amount for an individual award made under this NOFO):