US Department of Energy announces Early Career Research Program for FY 2025

Awards will support outstanding early career scientists at universities, national laboratories, and office of science user facilities

2025-01-17

(Press-News.org) WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced it is accepting applications for the 2025 DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program to support the research of outstanding scientists early in their careers. The program will support over 80 early career researchers for five years at U.S. academic institutions, DOE national laboratories, and Office of Science user facilities.

“The vision, creativity, and effort of early career faculty drive innovation in the basic science enterprise. The Department of Energy’s Office of Science is dedicated to supporting these promising investigators, and the Early Career Research Program provides an incredible opportunity,” said Harriet Kung, DOE’s Deputy Director of Science Programs for the Office of Science. “These awards allow them to pursue new ideas and harness the resources of the user facilities to increase the potential for breakthrough new discoveries.”

To be eligible for the program, a researcher must be an untenured, tenure-track assistant or associate professor at a U.S. academic institution or a full-time employee at a DOE national laboratory or Office of Science user facility who is within 10 years of having earned their doctorate degree. Awards to an institution of higher education will be approximately $875,000 over five years and awards to a DOE national laboratory or Office of Science user facility will be approximately $2,750,000 over five years.

DOE’s Office of Science is the nation’s largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. Early career researchers may apply to one of eight Office of Science program offices: Advanced Scientific Computing Research; Biological and Environmental Research; Basic Energy Sciences; Fusion Energy Sciences; High Energy Physics; Nuclear Physics; Accelerator R&D and Production; and Isotope R&D and Production. Proposed research topics must fall within the programmatic priorities of DOE’s Office of Science, which are provided in the program announcement. Funding will be competitively awarded on the basis of peer review.

Pre-applications are mandatory and are due on February 18, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. ET. Applications will be due on April 22, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Only those applicants that receive notification from DOE encouraging a formal application may submit full applications.

A webinar on this opportunity will be held on January 31, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. ET. Please register on the webinar page.

Further information can be found on the Office of Science funding opportunities page.

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