The Visiting Faculty Program (VFP), formerly called Faculty and Student Teams (FaST), is designed to provide an opportunity for faculty members from institutions historically marginalized in STEM to enhance research capabilities and strengthen STEM education and learning practices to develop talent to contribute to the Department of Energy (DOE) research areas. VFP accomplishes this mission in two tracks: (1) VFP Research Collaboration Track and (2) VFP Teaching Initiative Track.

As a component of VFP’s Research Collaboration and Teaching Initiative tracks, selected university/college faculty members collaborate with DOE laboratory research staff on a research project of mutual interest. Additionally, faculty member participants may invite up to two students (one of which may be a graduate student) to join the project in the summer terms.

The Visiting Faculty Program (VFP) is now open for applications for the 2023 Summer Term. Applications are due January 10, 2023 at 5:00 PM ET.

As a participant in the Marine Energy Graduate Student Research Program, students will conduct research at both their academic institution and at an external hosting facility carrying out research in marine energy (ME) and supporting the research plan you submit at the time of application. Hosting facility may be a government research facility, industry site (including but not limited to technology developers), or other facility approved by WPTO as a host facility. Fellows will spend a minimum of six months at the host facility.

Apply with a research plan and letter of support from a proposed mentor by December 2, 2022.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law consists of nearly 400 distinct funding opportunities across a range of issues—from roads and bridges, to broadband internet, to clean water, to resilience, and beyond.

The Local Infrastructure Hub databases aims to provide all communities with a robust sorting and search function. Use their search feature to locate funding and zero in on the opportunities that align with your community priorities.

The Future Climate Venture Studio brings together UConn, a national and global leader in interdisciplinary climate research; R/GA Ventures, a venture studio operator and early-stage investor; CT Next, Connecticut’s innovation agency; and additional partners from energy finance, venture capital, and technology.

The Studio’s mission is to identify, support, and collaborate with the startups addressing the most critical dimensions of the climate challenge, including decarbonization, alternative energy, planetary resilience, social impact, and more.

In 2023, the program will focus on three global net-zero challenges and will award the Pioneers prize to innovators with scalable, impactful and equitable solutions to these challenges: accelerating the deployment of clean hydrogen; sustainable metals and materials for an electrified future; building a net-zero food production system.

BNEF will also select one or more wildcard winners, unrelated to the chosen challenges. These wildcard applicants can address any issue that helps the world address climate change and we encourage submissions for all climate-tech solutions that lie outside of the three challenges outlined below.

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed The American Rescue Plan Act, which reauthorized and funded the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). The new version of the SSBCI program provides a combined $10 billion to states, the District of Columbia, territories, and Tribal governments to empower small businesses to access capital needed to invest in job-creating opportunities as the country emerges from the pandemic. The funds will also support recipient jurisdictions in promoting American entrepreneurship and democratizing access to startup capital across the country, including in underserved communities. Interested small businesses should contact their state government to find out how to apply for funding.

Patents protect inventions so that inventors can focus on their work and be compensated for it. But many people don’t know how to navigate the patenting process, or even where to start. That’s why The Inventor’s Patent Academy was created. This free, one-of-a-kind, e-learning course aims to help people understand the patenting process and get them ready to apply for their own patent. It also explores challenges inventors may face along the way—particularly those that typically affect women, people of color, veterans, low-income individuals, people with disabilities, and other underrepresented inventors—and provides advice to overcome them.

The Regional Energy Accelerator for Commercializing Hardtech (REACH) is now accepting applications from energy hardtech startups, entrepreneurs, university faculty, and founders to join the 2023 cohort! Application deadline is November 18th, 2022 and teams will be notified by December 16th.

The Business Accelerator Fund (BAF) is available to participating business accelerators in Michigan’s statewide SmartZone network. These funds are used toward the delivery of specialized services that are not otherwise available from these business accelerators to assist advanced technology companies regardless of the company’s geography. A participating business accelerator will engage a third-party specialist to help advance the client’s path to commercialization, company success, and economic impact for the state of Michigan.

BAF requests are reviewed and awarded through a competitive process. A company may not receive more than $50,000 in BAF services, though most engagements are in the $7,000 to $15,000 range.

This FOA focuses on innovation of wave energy converters (WECs) for nearshore environments across diverse coastal conditions through long duration at-sea testing and operations (i.e., two weeks to six months) and component/sub-system technology development and testing. It will additionally support commercialization opportunities for novel technologies and a feasibility assessment of an ocean current test facility off the coast of the United States.

WPTO encourages underserved communities and underrepresented groups to participate in this funding opportunity. Applicants are highly encouraged to include individuals from groups historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math on their project teams. Further, minority-serving institutions, minority business enterprises, minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses, or entities located in an underserved community that meet the eligibility requirements described in the funding opportunity are encouraged to apply as the prime applicant or participate on an application as a proposed partner to the prime applicant.

WPTO estimates making up to 14 awards under the Marine Energy Systems Innovation at Sea funding opportunity, ranging between $300,000 and $2,125,000.

Note that a concept paper is due November 4, 2022.

Project Enginuity, a National SBIR Accelerator, was designed to accelerate and empower Black, Hispanic, Latino and women innovators led by the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce’s Minority Business Partnership (DACC MBP) in collaboration with the Entrepreneurs’ Center (EC) and support from Chase.

Program participants receive expert training, which supports their application for necessary funding via Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards. Businesses that receive non-dilutive capital from SBIR are able to explore their technological potential, profit from commercialization and build long-term wealth.