NSF and DOE are federal partners in the National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC's) Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Subcommittee on the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), whose vision is to enable discovery, development, manufacturing, and deployment of advanced materials at least twice as fast at a fraction of the cost as is possible through use of traditional methods.
DMREF (Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future) is the principal NSF program responsive to the MGI. Over its inaugural decade, the MGI has driven a transformational paradigm shift in the philosophy of how materials research is performed. DMREF is supportive of the 2021 MGI Strategic Plan and its three primary goals, i.e., unifying the materials innovation infrastructure; harnessing the power of materials data; and educating, training, and connecting a world-class materials R&D workforce. Find Program Solicitation 23-530 here.
The DMREF solicitation is open to Institutions of Higher Education. See the solicitation for more eligibility information.
This solicitation provides an opportunity for DMREF teams to collaborate with MGI-related efforts supported by DMREF's federal partners in order to: 1) bolster the scientific/enginering aspects of the critical iterative feedback loop to accelerate materials research consistent with MGI principles, 2) facilitate the translation of fundamental materials research toward application, and 3) provide education, training, and workforce development opportunities.
Federal partners must not be listed on the Cover Page. Letters of Collaboration are not required from DMREF's federal partners, but the collaborating PI must be identified in the Project Description which must thoroughly explain how this collaboration would benefit both the DMREF team and federal partner in advancing the goals of the project.
For proposals involving collaboration with personnel from DMREF's federal partners such as EERE, the Budget may include funds, such as student support or travel, to enable these activities. No funds may be budgeted, or sub-awarded, to the federal partners: these personnel will participate as unfunded collaborators. Proposals that wish to exercise the option to partner with EERE may budget funds for travel to technical review meetings.
EERE share many common interests with those of the DMREF program. EERE, through the Energy Materials Network (EMN), develops materials, processes, and advanced manufacturing technologies for the energy sector. Specific topics of interest to both EERE and DMREF include:
1. Catalysis
2. Materials for extreme environments
3. Accelerated materials design and discovery by artificial intelligence and autonomous experimentation
4. Multiscale modeling
5. Photovoltaic materials
6. Lightweight and durable materials
The purpose of this placeholder FOA is to allow creation of a Teaming Partner List in Exchange for EERE partners including the EMN to network with prospective DMREF applicants.