High-Energy-Density Laboratory Plasma Science | DE FOA0001801

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA0001801

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced this funding opportunity, titled "High-Energy-Density Laboratory Plasma Science" (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0001801), to support research in high-energy-density (HED) laboratory plasmas under a joint program between two DOE organizations: the Office of Science (specifically the Fusion Energy Sciences, or FES, program) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Defense Programs (DP). The FOA is aimed at both new grant applications and renewals, and it was specifically framed for teams planning to seek funding in Fiscal Year 2018 through the SC-NNSA Joint Program in HED laboratory plasmas. In practical terms, this means the DOE was looking to fund fundamental and applied research that improves understanding of matter and plasma behavior under extreme conditions, often similar to those found in astrophysical environments or in national security-related HED experiments.

The opportunity is categorized as a discretionary grant within the broad area of science and technology and other research and development, and it is associated with CFDA number 81.049. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning applicants from any type of organization could apply (universities, national labs, nonprofits, private entities, and others), as long as they met any additional eligibility clarifications contained in the full announcement. The FOA was created on August 29, 2017, with an original application deadline of November 15, 2017. The maximum award amount (award ceiling) was stated as $500,000, and the DOE anticipated making about 48 awards, which suggests a relatively broad portfolio with multiple projects funded across the targeted research areas.

The technical scope is organized around eight specific areas of interest, reflecting major research themes in modern HED science. First, HED hydrodynamics focuses on fluid-like motion in plasmas and materials subjected to strong shocks, rapid compression, or instabilities, including processes such as mixing and turbulence that can dominate outcomes in high-energy experiments. Second, radiation-dominated dynamics and material properties covers regimes where radiation transport and radiation pressure strongly influence plasma motion and where the properties of materials can change dramatically because energy is carried and redistributed by intense photon fields. Third, magnetized HED plasma physics targets situations where magnetic fields are strong enough to alter transport, stability, and energy flow, which is increasingly important as experiments add applied fields or generate self-consistent magnetic structures in extreme plasma environments.

The fourth area, nonlinear optics of plasmas and laser-plasma interactions, is centered on how intense laser light propagates through and couples energy into plasmas, including nonlinear effects that can change laser absorption, drive waves, or seed instabilities. Fifth, relativistic HED plasmas and intense beam physics addresses the frontier where particle energies become relativistic and where powerful particle beams (or ultra-intense lasers that generate energetic particle populations) create extreme fields and dynamics, relevant to advanced accelerators and extreme radiation sources. Sixth, warm dense matter concentrates on the challenging intermediate state between condensed matter and ideal plasma, where strong coupling, partial ionization, and quantum effects complicate both theory and measurement; this area is important for planetary interiors, inertial fusion-related conditions, and materials science under extreme compression.

The seventh topic, high-Z, multiply ionized HED atomic physics, emphasizes the atomic-scale processes in heavy elements at high temperature and density, where complex ionization states and radiation emission/absorption strongly influence diagnostics and energy balance. Eighth, diagnostics for HED laboratory plasmas highlights the enabling tools of the field, including the development and improvement of measurement techniques needed to characterize extreme states of matter. In HED research, diagnostics are often as challenging as the plasma creation itself because experiments are fast, small, opaque, and highly transient, so proposals in this area typically focus on new instruments, improved temporal or spatial resolution, better spectral capabilities, or methods that can survive harsh radiation environments.

Overall, this FOA reflects a coordinated DOE effort to build and sustain a research pipeline in HED laboratory plasma science that serves both the Office of Science mission in fundamental plasma and fusion-relevant research and the NNSA mission interests in understanding HED physics. The solicitation structure, with support for both new starts and renewals, indicates an intent to maintain ongoing capabilities while also bringing in new ideas, new investigators, and emerging experimental or computational approaches across the listed topic areas.

• The Department of Energy - Office of Science, Office of Science in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "High-Energy-Density Laboratory Plasma Science" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.049.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 29, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 15, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 48 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for DE FOA0001801

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: