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Publication Date
26 May 2022

DOE Announces $40 Million in Research Training Funding for Historically Underrepresented Groups

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Description

RENEW initiative will support HBCUs, minority serving institutions, and others to build a diverse STEM workforce.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $40 million across six funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) to provide research opportunities to historically underrepresented groups in STEM and diversify American leadership in the physical and climate sciences through internships, training programs, and mentor opportunities.

According to DOE’s announcement, beneficiaries will include Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), minority-serving institutions (MSIs), and other research institutions. Beneficiaries also include students from communities with environmental justice impacts.

The Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) initiative leverages the DOE Office of Science’s national laboratories, user facilities, and other research infrastructure to provide training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty at academic institutions currently underrepresented in the U.S. science and technology ecosystem.

“Leveraging the full potential of American expertise to tackle our biggest challenges will require a diverse, equitable, and broad research community that includes the brilliant voices and minds of historically unrepresented groups,” says Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “This investment will provide hands-on experience to our nation’s future scientists to unlock the climate solutions that hold the key to a safer and cleaner future for all Americans.”

RENEW will offer hands-on experiences and open new career avenues for talented young scientists, engineers, and technicians. A series of webinars will be held for potential applicants and research administrators to learn more about each FOA.

The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) FOA will support institutions in developing experiential training and mentoring opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as institutional research capacity and networking opportunities for faculty through the development of collaborations with BER-funded long-term Science Focus Area (SFA) efforts in Earth and environmental systems sciences at the DOE national laboratories. DOE anticipates that a total of $3 million in current fiscal year funds will be used to support awards under the BER FOA.

Application eligibility varies by FOA. Total combined planned funding is up to $40 million, with $22 million in Fiscal Year 2022 dollars and outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations.  

The FOAs, sponsored by the respective programs within the DOE Office of Science, as well as information about each associated webinar, can be found here.

Funding Program Area(s)