Slots: An entity may submit only one Concept Paper and one Full Application for each topic area of this FOA.
This FOA includes four topic areas, all involving aspects of smart manufacturing:
1 Smart Manufacturing for a Circular Economy
2 Smart Manufacturing of Tooling and Equipment for Sustainable Transportation
3 Smart Manufacturing for High Performance Materials
4 Smart Technologies for Sustainable and Competitive U.S. Mining
Deadlines
Internal Deadline: Friday, August 9th, 2024, 5pm PT Closed.
Concept Paper Deadline: August 22, 2024, 5pm ET
External Deadline: November 18, 2024, 5pm ET
Award Information
Award Type: Cooperative Agreement
Estimated Number of Awards: 16 – 36
Anticipated Award Amount: Individual awards may vary between $0.35M and $3M.
Link to Award: https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/355493
Process for Limited Submissions
PIs must submit their application as a Limited Submission through the Research Initiatives and Infrastructure (RII) Application Portal: https://rii.usc.edu/oor-portal/. Use the template provided here: RII Limited Submission Applicant Template
Materials to submit include:
- (1) Two-Page Proposal Summary (1” margins; single-spaced; standard font type, e.g. Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, or Georgia typeface; font size: 11 pt). Page limit includes references and illustrations. Pages that exceed the 2-page limit will be excluded from review. You must use the template linked above.
- (2) CV – (5 pages maximum)
Note: The portal requires information about the PIs in addition to department and contact information, including the 10-digit USC ID#. Please have this material prepared before beginning this application.
Purpose
This FOA supports administration goals by developing options for a national plan for smart manufacturing technology development and deployment as per the language set forth in The Energy Act of 2020, Sec. 6006 on pages 1113 and 1115. DOE, in partnership with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), conducted workshops to study the options for developing a national plan for smart manufacturing. The final consensus study report1 examined the technical frameworks and processes, identified possible timelines and necessary resources, and explored policies and general roles for government, industry, and academia to address near-, medium-, and long-term challenges to improve the productivity and energy efficiency of the manufacturing sector of the United States and ensure U.S. competitiveness.
Building a clean and equitable energy economy and addressing the climate crisis is a top priority of the Biden Administration. This FOA will advance the Biden Administration’s goals to achieve carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and to “deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050“2 to the benefit of all Americans by demonstrating how U.S. manufacturing can be significantly improved and aid in meeting these goals through the use of smart manufacturing. The Department of Energy is committed to pushing the frontiers of science and engineering, catalyzing clean energy jobs through research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D), and ensuring environmental justice and inclusion of underserved communities. Critical minerals and materials are a key element of the ongoing transition to an energy economy that is decarbonizing and lowering energy costs to American families and businesses, and also critical to national competitiveness–for grid storage, for the resilience of homes and businesses, and for electrification of the transportation sector.
The research and development (R&D) activities to be funded under this FOA will support the government-wide approach to the climate crisis by driving the innovation that can lead to the deployment of clean energy technologies, which are critical for climate protection.
Visit our Institutionally Limited Submission webpage for more updates and other announcements.