Funding Opportunities
Government Funding Opportunities
NOAA’s Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act
Department of Commerce
Deadline: November 17th, 2023
The principal objective of this solicitation is to support transformational habitat restoration projects that restore marine, estuarine, coastal, or Great Lakes ecosystems, using approaches that enhance community and ecosystem resilience to climate hazards. Funding will prioritize habitat restoration actions that: demonstrate significant impacts; rebuild productive and sustainable fisheries; contribute to the recovery and conservation of threatened and endangered species; promote climate-resilient ecosystems, especially in tribal, indigenous, and/or underserved communities; and improve economic vitality, including local employment. This solicitation is authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) (BIL, Public Law 117-58), 135 STAT.1356 (Nov. 15, 2021) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA, Public Law 117-169).
ERDC Broad Agency Announcement
US Department of Defense, Department of the Army - Corps of Engineers
Deadline: January 1st, 2024
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is issuing this announcement for various research and development topic areas. The ERDC consists of the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL), the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL), the Environmental Laboratory (EL) and the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire, the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) in Champaign, Illinois, and the Geospatial Research Laboratory (GRL) in Alexandria, Virginia. The ERDC is responsible for conducting research in the broad fields of hydraulics, dredging, coastal engineering, instrumentation, oceanography, remote sensing, geotechnical engineering, earthquake engineering, soil effects, vehicle mobility, self-contained munitions, military engineering, geophysics, pavements, protective structures, aquatic plants, water quality, dredged material, treatment of hazardous waste, wetlands, physical/mechanical/ chemical properties of snow and other frozen precipitation, infrastructure and environmental issues for installations, computer science, telecommunications management, energy, facilities maintenance, materials and structures, engineering processes, environmental processes, land and heritage conservation, and ecological processes.
This announcement is continuously open; pre-proposals may be submitted and will be reviewed at any time throughout the year. The availability of funds may limit the ability of the U.S. Government to make awards in specific areas, nevertheless pre-proposals are sought under this announcement for all research areas identified.
University Turbine Systems Research (UTSR)
Department of Energy
Deadline: November 7th, 2023
Given its potential to help address the climate crisis, enhance energy security and resilience, and create economic value, interest in producing and using clean hydrogen is intensifying both in the United States and abroad. Zero- and low-carbon hydrogen is a key part of a comprehensive portfolio of solutions to achieve a sustainable and equitable clean energy future. The United States is stepping up to accelerate progress through historic investments in clean hydrogen production, midstream infrastructure, and strategically targeted research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) in this critical technology. See the U.S. National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap for details.
As outlined in the DOE Clean Hydrogen Commercial Liftoff report, the U.S. clean hydrogen market is poised for rapid growth, accelerated by DOE Hydrogen Hub funding, multiple tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act including the hydrogen production tax credit, DOE’s Hydrogen Shot, and decarbonization goals across the public and private sectors. Hydrogen can play a role in decarbonizing up to 25% of global energy-related CO2 emissions. Electricity generation using clean hydrogen also supports achieving the administration’s goal of 100% carbon pollution free electricity by 2035.
The University Turbine Systems Research (UTSR) Program encompasses a portfolio of gas turbine-focused university projects which address a wide variety of technical topics (including combustion, aerodynamics/heat transfer, and advanced materials topics) by conducting cutting edge R&D. Technical topics are relevant to research goals of the US DOE and the gas turbine industry and support advanced technologies that can increase energy efficiency, reduce emissions, and provide additional performance benefits.
Materials, Operation, and Recycling of Photvoltaics (MORE PV)
Department of Energy
Deadline: November 28th, 2023
Through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) will provide funding for research and development to reduce material usage, improve installation quality and resilience of photovoltaic (PV) systems, and address handling of PV systems at the end of life.
Topic Area 1 will use $12 million of non- Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding to fund collaborations of diverse stakeholders who can bring expertise from all life stages of the PV system lifecycle to reduce cost and lifecycle impacts of a PV system and its components, including co-located storage. Projects funded in this topic area will develop technology and design solutions to optimize the interconnected energy, economic, and environmental impact metrics in pursuit of rapid and sustainable scale-up of PV technologies.
Topic area 2 uses funds designated by the BIL and seeks to fund one research partnership at a maximum of $8 million dedicated to improving materials recovery efficiency and developing safe end-of-life (EOL) practices for PV system components, including modules, inverters, and other balance-of-system (BOS) components. The partnership will focus on technologies and methods to enable low-cost reuse, refurbishing, repair, and recycling of photovoltaic materials, and best practices for safe disposal of these materials, and will include data collection, analysis, and working groups to enable effective collaborations and technology transfer.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Consumer Electronics Battery Recycling, Reprocessing, and Battery Collection
Department of Energy
Deadline: November 29th, 2023
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) - Consumer Electronics Battery Recycling, Reprocessing, and Battery Collection - DE-FOA-0002897. This Funding Opportunity Announcement will provide funding to support the recycling of consumer electronics batteries and battery-containing devices to help build a robust domestic critical material supply chain for EV batteries in the United States. The program will accomplish this by: 1) Increasing participation by consumers in recycling programs; 2) Improving the economics of consumer battery recycling to create a market for recycling, including battery recycling research, development, and demonstration activities to create innovative and practical approaches to increase the reuse and recycling of batteries; and 3) Increasing the number of these programs, including state and local programs to assist in the establishment or enhancement of state consumer electronics battery collection, recycling, and reprocessing programs and to establish collection points at retailers.
Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office FY23 Multi-Topic FOA
Department of Energy
Deadline: December 1st, 2023
This Funding Opportunity (FOA), issued by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, on behalf of the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) will advance the strategies identified in the Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap and Industrial Heat Energy Earthshot and will focus on cross-sector approaches for industrial decarbonization (such as thermal processing, low-carbon fuels utilization, and exploratory cross-sector topics), along with high-GHG-emitting subsectors (such as chemicals, iron and steel, food and beverage, cement and concrete, and forest products). By accelerating the development and adoption of sustainable technologies that increase efficiency and eliminate industrial GHG emissions, the research, development, and prototype or pilot-scale technology validation and demonstration activities to be funded under this FOA will contribute to a clean and equitable energy economy, bolster the technological and economic competitiveness of domestic manufacturing, and boost the viability and competitiveness of U.S. industrial technology exports.
Solar-thermal Fuels and Thermal Energy Storage via Concentrated Solar-thermal Energy
Department of Energy
Deadline: January 12th, 2024
This FOA will implement two approaches to energy storage in concentrated solar-thermal (CST) systems: thermochemical storage via solar fuel production and local thermal energy storage (TES) for dispatchable energy. The two technologies 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.
FY24 Desalination and Water Purification Research Program: Research Projects
Department of the Interior
Deadline: November 15th, 2023
The United States Department of the Interior (Department), Bureau of Reclamation’s (Reclamation) Desalination and Water Purification Research Program (DWPR) works with Reclamation researchers and partners to develop innovative, cost-effective, and technologically efficient ways to desalinate and treat water. DWPR funding plays a critical role in iterating an idea from the lab to a real-world demonstration, yielding products that serve the water treatment community and attract commercialization interest. Reclamation is interested in research where the benefits are widespread but where private-sector entities are not able to make the full investment and assume all the risks. Reclamation is also interested in research that has a national significance—where the issues are of large-scale concern and the benefits accrue to a large sector of the public. The goal of the DWPR program is to address the need to reduce the costs, energy requirements, and environmental impacts of treating impaired and unusable water. The program also aligns with Executive Order (E.O.) 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” by investing in development and application of advanced water treatment technologies that expand access to otherwise unusable water resources, thereby increasing water supply flexibility under the risks of long-term climate change and shorter-term drought.
Fueling Aviation’s Sustainable Transition via Sustainable Aviation Fuels (FAST-SAF) and Low-Emission Aviation Technologies (FAST-Tech) Grant Program
Department of Transportation
Deadline: November 27th, 2023
The Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces the opportunity to apply for funds for the FAA Fueling Aviation’s Sustainable Transition (FAST) Grant Program, established under Section 40007 of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The grant program will have elements focused on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), to be termed FAST-SAF, and elements focused on low-emission aviation technologies, to be termed FAST-Tech. The amount of available funding for the FAST Grant Program is $244.53M and $46.53M for FAST-SAF and FAST-Tech, respectively. The purpose of the FAST Grant Program is to make grants available to eligible entities for projects that support sustainable aviation fuels and low-emission aviation technologies in line with the goals of the United States Aviation Climate Action Plan.
Exploratory Grants for Climate Change and Health Research Center Development (P20 Clinical Trial Optional)
Department of Health and Human Services – National Institutes of Health
Deadline: November 7th, 2023
The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to solicit P20 planning grant applications for Climate Change and Health Research Centers (CCHRCs). This program will support the development of a transdisciplinary research environment to sustain a program of fundamental and applied research to examine the impacts of climate change on health and to develop action-oriented solutions to protect the health of individuals, communities, and nations from the hazards posed by climate change. This opportunity will allow development of new research teams collaborating with communities and other partners to develop projects that generate data that will build or expand research capacity across a range of thematic scientific areas in support of the four core tenets of the NIHs Initiative in climate heath research: health effects research, health equity, intervention research, and training and capacity building (https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/research-training/initiatives/climate-change/nih-climate-change-framework.pdf).
Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems
National Science Foundation
Deadline: November 17th, 2023
The DISES Program supports research projects that advance basic scientific understanding of integrated socio-environmental systems and the complex interactions (dynamics, processes, and feedbacks) within and among the environmental (biological, physical and chemical) and human ("socio") (economic, social, political, or behavioral) components of such a system. The program seeks proposals that emphasize the truly integrated nature of a socio-environmental system versus two discrete systems (a natural one and a human one) that are coupled. DISES projects must explore a connected and integrated socio-environmental system that includes explicit analysis of the processes and dynamics between the environmental and human components of the system. PIs are encouraged to develop proposals that push conceptual boundaries and build new theoretical framing of the understanding of socio-environmental systems. Additionally, we encourage the exploration of multi-scalar dynamics, processes and feedbacks between and within the socio-environmental system.
Environmental Sustainability
National Science Foundation
Deadline: Ongoing
The Environmental Sustainability program is part of the Environmental Engineering and Sustainability cluster together with 1) the Environmental Engineering program and 2) the Nanoscale Interactions program.
The goal of the Environmental Sustainability program is to promote sustainable engineered systems that support human well-being and that are also compatible with sustaining natural (environmental) systems. These systems provide ecological services vital for human survival. Research efforts supported by the program typically consider long time horizons and may incorporate contributions from the social sciences and ethics. The program supports engineering research that seeks to balance society's need to provide ecological protection and maintain stable economic conditions.
There are five principal general research areas that are supported.
| • | Circular Bioeconomy Engineering: This area includes research that enables sustainable societal use of food, energy, water, nitrogen, phosphorus, and materials, with the reduction and eventual elimination of fossil fuel combustion that lacks carbon capture. The program encourages research that helps build the raw material basis for the functioning of society principally on biomass, drawing heavily on sustainable agriculture and forestry. Additionally, material flows must reduce or preferably eliminate waste, with an emphasis on closed-loop or 'circular' processing. |
| • | Industrial ecology: Topics of interest include advancements in modeling such as life cycle assessment, materials flow analysis, net energy analysis, input/output economic models, and novel metrics for measuring sustainable systems. Innovations in industrial ecology are encouraged. |
| • | Green engineering: Research is encouraged to advance the sustainability of manufacturing processes, green buildings, and infrastructure. Many programs in the Engineering Directorate support research in environmentally benign manufacturing or chemical processes. The Environmental Sustainability program supports research that would affect more than one chemical or manufacturing process or that takes a systems or holistic approach to green engineering for infrastructure or green buildings. Improvements in distribution and collection systems that will advance smart growth strategies and ameliorate effects of growth are research areas that are supported by Environmental Sustainability. Innovations in management of storm water, recycling and reuse of drinking water, and other green engineering techniques to support sustainability may also be fruitful areas for research. |
| • | Ecological engineering: Proposals should focus on the engineering aspects of restoring ecological function to natural systems. Engineering research in the enhancement of natural capital to foster sustainable development is encouraged. |
| • | Earth systems engineering: Earth systems engineering considers aspects of large-scale engineering research that involve mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation to climate change, and other global concerns. |
All proposed research should be driven by engineering principles, and be presented explicitly in an environmental sustainability context. Proposals should include involvement in engineering research of at least one graduate student, as well as undergraduates. Incorporation of aspects of social, behavioral, and economic sciences is welcomed.
NOTE: Water treatment, air pollution (both outdoor and indoor), soil remediation, and solid waste treatment proposals are to be submitted to the Environmental Engineering program (CBET 1440).
Innovative proposals outside the scope of the four core areas mentioned above may be considered. However, prior to submission, it is recommended that the Principal Investigator contact the program director to avoid the possibility of the proposal being returned without review. For proposals that call for research to be done on regions that are outside of the United States, an explanation must be presented of the potential benefit of the research for the United States.
Energy, Power, Control, and Networks
National Science Foundation
Deadline: Ongoing
The Energy, Power, Control, and Networks (EPCN) Program supports innovative research in modeling, optimization, learning, adaptation, and control of networked multi-agent systems, higher-level decision making, and dynamic resource allocation, as well as risk management in the presence of uncertainty, sub-system failures, and stochastic disturbances. EPCN also invests in novel machine learning algorithms and analysis, adaptive dynamic programming, brain-like networked architectures performing real-time learning, and neuromorphic engineering. EPCN’s goal is to encourage research on emerging technologies and applications including energy, transportation, robotics, and biomedical devices & systems. EPCN also emphasizes electric power systems, including generation, transmission, storage, and integration of renewable energy sources into the grid; power electronics and drives; battery management systems; hybrid and electric vehicles; and understanding of the interplay of power systems with associated regulatory & economic structures and with consumer behavior.
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Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems
National Science Foundation
Deadline: Ongoing
The Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems (CCSS) Program supports innovative research in circuit and system hardware and signal processing techniques. CCSS also supports system and network architectures for communications and sensing to enable the next-generation cyber-physical systems (CPS) that leverage computation, communication, and sensing integrated with physical domains. CCSS invests in micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), physical, chemical, and biological sensing systems, neurotechnologies, and communication & sensing circuits and systems. The goal is to create new complex and hybrid systems ranging from nano- to macro-scale with innovative engineering principles and solutions for a variety of applications including but not limited to healthcare, medicine, environmental and biological monitoring, communications, disaster mitigation, homeland security, intelligent transportation, manufacturing, energy, and smart buildings. CCSS encourages research proposals based on emerging technologies and applications for communications and sensing such as high-speed communications of terabits per second and beyond, sensing and imaging covering microwave to terahertz frequencies, personalized health monitoring and assistance, secured wireless connectivity and sensing for the Internet of Things, and dynamic-data-enabled autonomous systems through real-time sensing and learning.
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act promises a number of relevant funding opportunities in the coming years. The attached list outlines the federal programs established in or amended by the IIJA that will be soliciting funded partnerships, and researchers with an interest in one or more of these highlighted areas may wish to begin preparing proposal materials. For more information on any of these programs or federal opportunities, please contact the Office of Government Relations.
Foundation Funding Opportunities
Please contact the Office of Foundation Relations. for additional information about these opportunities. Our team is also available to advise and assist with proposal development.
PLEASE NOTE: Many foundations are extending application deadlines due to the COVID-19 situation. Please check the foundation’s website or email foundationrelations@northwestern.edu for more information.
Corporate Funding Opportunities
Collaboration Engagement facilitates any connections between Northwestern faculty, students, and staff seeking support from corporations for the purposes of research, scholarship, and strategic engagement. Contact Jim Bray, Director of Corporate Engagement, for more information.
CONTACT AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Fruma Yehiely, Associate Vice President for Research