Newswise — WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $31 million in funding for 42 projects to 36 institutions in 24 states to build research capacity, infrastructure, and expertise at academic institutions across the country. Through the Funding for Accelerated, Inclusive Research (FAIR) initiative, the Office of Science builds strong, long-lasting relationships between lead institutions and DOE National Laboratories, Office of Science scientific user facilities, or research-intensive academic institutions to perform basic research in a broad array of areas, including physics, chemistry, and materials science, that are supported by the Office of Science. 

“Providing America’s best and brightest students with pathways to STEM fields is the key to advancing American leadership in innovation.” said U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer M. Granholm. “FAIR helps academic institutions expand their research portfolios and spur future scientific discovery, helping to broaden the impact of DOE and the Office of Science in tackling critical and pressing scientific questions and challenges.” 

Projects focus on a diverse range of topics in fundamental research from developing scientific machine learning algorithms for modeling materials to improving global snow predictions to developing additive manufacturing for tungsten-based components used in fusion reactors. Fundamental research is essential for technology development, including applications that will power our clean energy future. The projects were selected by competitive peer review under the DOE FAIR solicitation.  

Of the 36 awardee institutions, 33 are Emerging Research Institutions, 6 are Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 6 are Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), 3 are Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), and 8 are both HSIs and AANAPISIs. 

Total funding is $31 million for projects lasting up to three years in duration. The list of projects and more information can be found on the FAIR website

Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicants will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time