Newswise — The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science and DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have awarded eight research grants totaling $3.5 million to support work related to High-Energy Density Laboratory Plasmas (HEDLP).

“HEDLP is not only an exciting scientific frontier of plasma physics, but it also has the potential for practical applications in industry, homeland security, and defense,” said James van Dam, Associate Director of Science for Fusion Energy Sciences. “Our joint program with NNSA as an excellent example of leveraging resources within both organizations to advance science in the national interest.”

HEDLP explores the behavior of matter at extreme conditions including temperature, density, and pressure. Researchers study ionized matter in laboratory experiments, with potential applications to fields including astrophysics, the study of matter at the atomic scale, medicine, national security, and plasma science.

Eight projects were selected by competitive peer review under DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement “High-Energy-Density Laboratory Plasma Science.” Total funding will be $3.5 million in Fiscal Year 2019 dollars for projects of three years in duration. 

The grants are part of a joint program established in 2008 to better leverage federal investments in research that advances our understanding of energy and matter.

A full list of projects can be found here under the heading, “What’s New.”