Funding Opportunities

Search opportunities funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Isotope Program (DOE IP) that supports the production, and the development of production techniques, of radioactive and stable isotopes in short supply for research and applications.

If you are interested in applying for a funding opportunity listed below, click on the link and follow the instructions listed. For questions regarding funding opportunities, please contact contact@istopes.com.


The DOE Office of GraduateStudent Research Program SCGSR)

Students Will Perform Graduate Thesis Research at National Laboratories

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science is pleased to announce that the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is now accepting applications for the 2024 solicitation 1 cycle. Applications are due on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. ET. 

The SCGSR program provides supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students to conduct part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE national laboratory or facility in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist. This includes opportunities for students to collaborate with the Department of Energy Isotope Program (DOE IP) staff on relevant research areas. Through this program, graduate students will become more prepared for scientific and technical careers critically important to the mission of DOE’s Office of Science. 

SCGSR application assistance workshops will be held on March 7, 2024, 2:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m. ET and April 18, 2024, 2:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. ET. The first workshop will provide a general overview of the program and the application requirements. It will also include a time for attendees to discuss their potential research topics and their alignment with the SCGSR priority areas with managers of each participating program office; register here. The second workshop will guide attendees through the application process, answer general questions, provide guidance on proposal writing, and feature discussions with scientists and former awardees; register here.

SCGSR is open to U.S. Ph.D. students in qualified graduate programs at accredited U.S. academic institutions, who are conducting their graduate thesis research in targeted areas relevant to DOE’s Office of Science. Since its inception in 2014, the SCGSR program has provided support to over 1,066 graduate awardees from 161 U.S. universities to conduct thesis research at all 17 DOE national laboratories across the nation.

The SCGSR program is sponsored and managed by the Office of Science’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists, in collaboration with the Office of Science’s six research programs offices and two research and development and production offices, and with DOE national laboratories/facilities. Program administration support is provided by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. 

More information on the SCGSR program can be found by visiting the SCGSR program website, attending the program’s virtual office hours which are held every Tuesday between 4:00–5:00 p.m. ET via this Zoom link, or by emailing the SCGSR team.

Graduate Student Research Award Information


Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)

 

The SBIR and STTR programs are U.S. Government programs, intended to help certain small businesses conduct R&D. At DOE, funding takes the form of grants. Projects must have the potential for commercialization and meet specific DOE mission-specific R&D needs.

DOE offers more than sixty technical topics and 250 subtopics, spanning research areas that support the DOE mission in:

  • Energy Production
  • Energy Use
  • Fundamental Energy Sciences
  • Environmental Management, and
  • Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation

*Select the Office of Isotope R&D and Production, then select Ethan Balkin as program manager. If the Office of Isotope R&D and Production is not available, select the Office of Nuclear Physics, then Ethan Balkin as the program manager.

SBIR and STTR Information