The Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) is seeking applications for the Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program (MSIPP) for 2023.
Donor Name: Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/30/2023
Size of the Grant: $5,000,000
Grant Duration: 36 months
Details:
The mission of the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) is to complete the safe cleanup of the environmental legacy brought about from decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research. The DOE-EM’s mission and priority areas are to:
- Achieve Significant Construction Milestones
- Execute Key Cleanup Projects
- Reduce the EM Footprint
- Award Contracts that Enable Accelerated Progress
- Drive Innovation and Sustainability and Improve Performance
The DOE-EM is focused on enhancing and fostering a sustainable and diverse DOE-EM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce pipeline. Through the technology Curriculum and Professional Development Program (CPDP) and the EM Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) Shared Interest Research Program (SIRP), DOE-EM will promote the development of a nationally engaged scientific and engineering workforce that will lead to future career pathways in the DOE-EM complex for underrepresented groups.
Goals and Objectives
- Specifically, CPDP and SIRP will create and foster a sustainable and diverse DOEEM workforce STEM pipeline by accepting Concept Papers and Applications for grants addressing the following areas:
- Curriculum enhancement through instrumentation/computing assistance
- Development of high-quality courses embedded in majors and minors aligned with the DOE-EM missions and/or the development of majors and minors aligned with the DOE-EM missions that are sustainable beyond the period of the funding.
- Modification of existing courses and curricula to deepen and/or better integrate learning and teaching activities in STEM-related fields as related to the DOE mission through the engagement of the national laboratory’s community by:
- Embedding facilities and personnel in their courses and curricula.
- Use of state-of-the-art instrumentation available within the DOE-EM complex (national labs and user facilities) to further drive critical scientific and technological advances.
- University Faculty Professional Development Training.
- Travel to DOE Field Sites and National Laboratories
- DOE Field Sites and National laboratory visits and tours will offer unprecedented training and educational opportunities to collegiate students and faculty members. National laboratory experts will provide onsite presentations and professional development training to MSI collegiate students. Throughout the project’s lifetime MSI collegiate students may present research findings at national, regional, and local symposiums/conferences, MSI Monthly Seminars, and national laboratories’ events that focus on the DOE-EM technology needs.
These initiatives will:
- Develop creativity and skills needed in their future careers: being able to collaborate, write well-organized information, find solutions to problems, and research effectively.
- Assist and teach students on how to present a successful project in a formal technical symposium from conception, experimental design, data collection and analysis, reporting and writing, and developing conclusions, etc.
- Provide unique educational opportunities to the students to learn about the broad research areas conducted by other students and researchers in the DOE-EM complex.
- Students will interact with national laboratory researchers by conducting laboratory and site visits.
- Research studies completed by students at their universities and within the DOE complex through internships and fellowships will be disseminated within DOEEM’s symposiums, conferences, poster sessions and meetings which will provide unique educational opportunities to the students to learn about the broad research areas conducted by other MSIPP students. National laboratory scientists will also serve as ambassadors/mentors and/or advisers on student’s thesis dissertations to create a pathway to enhancing student’s professional development while advocating and promoting DOE-EM missions.
- Serve as a continued effort toward community engagement, minority student recruitment and research involvement.
Topic Areas
The following program descriptions are offered to provide more in‐depth information on STEM areas of interest that will aid in a future, sustainable and diverse DOE-EM workforce. Specific areas of interest are identified in each of the Sub‐Program Priority Areas.
- Soil and Groundwater Remediation
- Basic scientific research through experiential learning can include characterization and monitoring; stabilization, remediation and processing; and modeling, visualization, and analysis. The goal of the research and technology development activities is to deliver approaches and technologies from highly leveraged and strategic investments that maximize the reduction of risk and life‐cycle cleanup costs.
- Radioactive Tank Waste Stabilization, Treatment, and Disposal
- The Department has approximately 88 million gallons of liquid waste stored in underground tanks and approximately 4,000 cubic meters of solid waste derived from the liquids stored in bins. Efforts currently focus on improving pre‐treatment to reduce the amount of waste that must be disposed, retrieval technologies, vitrification performance, and breakthrough immobilization technologies.
- Cybersecurity, Robotics, and Computer Science
- Across all DOE EM sites, EM would like to enhance operations such as cybersecurity, robotics, and computer science as applicable. Because of this, DOE is advancing mitigation and resilience measures to protect infrastructure, looking towards remote operation for safety and efficiency, and the digital supply chain to optimize performance. EM is supporting these efforts by working closely with MSIs to develop and enhance robotics, computer science, and cybersecurity programs including artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Funding Information
- EM expects to make a total of approximately $24,500,000 of federal funding available for new awards under this FOA, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. These estimates are not a promise for funding, as all funding is subject to change due to Government discretion and availability. EM anticipates making approximately 12-15 awards under this FOA. EM may issue one, multiple, or no awards. Individual awards may vary between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000.
- Project Period: EM anticipates making awards that will run from 12 months up to 36 months in length comprised of one to three budget periods/years. Project continuation will be contingent upon several elements, including satisfactory performance and availability of funding.
Eligibility Criteria
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Private institutions of higher education
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
