The High-Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) program is seeking qualified industry partners to participate in high-impact collaborative projects with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) national laboratories. The HPC4EI program works with a variety of DOE offices to bring national lab computing expertise to industry. The program is highly aligned with DOE’s priorities on true technological breakthroughs including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and High-Performance Computing (HPC [1]).

The objective of Inspiring Generations of New Innovators to Impact Technologies in Energy (IGNIITE) 2026 is to support early career scientists and engineers pursuing disruptive, unconventional ideas across America’s most critical energy technology priorities. To unleash innovation and strengthen American energy dominance, IGNIITE 2026 will fund projects across five priority technical areas: energy supply chain security, including critical minerals; advanced nuclear energy, including both fusion and fission; geothermal energy; grid reliability and security; and American manufacturing competitiveness. 

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) supports critical minerals and materials. Critical minerals and materials (CMM) are the building blocks for technologies foundational to U.S. energy dominance, national security, and industrial competitiveness. To build a secure domestic supply of CMMs, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) aims to support collaborative industry partnerships to prototype and pilot innovative processing technologies that are currently only proven at the bench scale to address CMM challenges in high impact areas. The CMM Accelerator program will advance these mid-stage innovations through validation, benchmarking, access to national lab test beds, testing in industry relevant environments, technoeconomic analysis, and life-cycle assessment. The program establishes a pipeline to support technology maturation to ultimately unlock private capital investments. It also will leverage other DOE lab-based activities, such as the Critical Materials Innovation Hub (CMI Hub) and the Minerals to Materials Supply Chain Research Facility (METALLIC).

The Manufacturing Deployment Office (MDO) is issuing this NOFO to request applications for projects which will develop domestic facilities toward battery materials processing, manufacturing, and recycling. The goals of this program are to strengthen critical domestic manufacturing and supply chains while increasing critical minerals production by up to 15% by 2030 for key critical materials used in batteries and other applications.

DOE announced a request for applications from interdisciplinary teams addressing the Genesis Mission National Science and Technology Challenges to accelerate R&D workflows using novel AI models. DOE is soliciting new FY26 Phase I small team and Phase II large team applications in the following topic areas: advanced manufacturing, nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, biotechnology, critical materials, quantum information science, semiconductors and microelectronics, discovery science, and energy.

The DOE SC program in Basic Energy Sciences (BES) announces a re-competition of the Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) program. The purpose of this program is to bring together world-class teams of scientists from universities, DOE national laboratories, and other institutions to perform energy-relevant basic research with a scope and complexity beyond what is possible in single-investigator or small-group awards.

The Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) is issuing this NOFO to request applications for projects to design, construct, commission and operate a Rare Earth Element (REE) Demonstration Facility that demonstrates the separation of REEs from feedstock derived from acid mine drainage, mine waste, or other deleterious materials to rare earth oxides and refining into rare earth metals at a single site.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM)—in collaboration with its Partnership Intermediary, ENERGYWERX — has released Technology for Recovery and Advanced Critical-material Extraction – Gallium (TRACE – Ga). TRACE – Ga is a funding opportunity focused on establishing a secure and independent domestic supply chain for gallium, a critical material for the energy, defense, and semiconductor sectors. TRACE – Ga seeks innovative and economically viable technologies for gallium recovery from U.S. metal processing feedstocks.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) intends to issue a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) on behalf of the FECM. The goal of this work is to de-risk the adoption of new mining technologies for commercialization and widespread industry adoption. This will be achieved through:Development of Mine Technology Proving Grounds, Accelerated R&D Projects, and  Collaborative Partnerships.

The NOFO is anticipated to be issued in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2025.

CriticalMass, MassCEC’s latest growth-stage Tech-to-Market program provides up to $1,000,000 in grant funding, specialized services, and partner matchmaking to startup applicants with strong track records of early-stage commercialization and successful demonstration projects. Successful applicants will propose commercial deployment projects that address important decarbonization challenges within MassCEC’s four focus areas, help to grow the state’s clean energy economy, and contribute to Massachusetts’ continued clean energy leadership.

The ROCKS program seeks technologies that improve the characterization of critical mineral resources, with an emphasis on REEs. Technologies of interest are grouped into three main categories: (1) drilling technology to increase penetration rates and core recovery; (2) sensing and analysis technologies to provide higher-resolution mineralogical and geochemical information, in situ or at a distance; and (3) other unique concepts that disrupt the current state of resource characterization for hard rock settings as well as REE-enriched clays, placer deposits, and seafloor resources. Apply by September 25th.