The Design Challenge is an annual collegiate competition where interdisciplinary teams create sustainable, high-performance building designs that address real-world issues such as existing building retrofits, community impacts, affordability, and resilience. Teams collaborate on a residential or commercial design project for one or two academic semesters, with the competition culminating each April at the Solar Decathlon Competition Event.
With a focus on two-year Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs), the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program supports the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive our nation’s economy. The program involves partnerships between academic institutions (grades 7-12, IHEs), industry, and economic development agencies to promote improvement in the education of science and engineering technicians. It is strongly recommended that projects be faculty-led and required that courses and programs are credit-bearing, although materials developed may also be used for incumbent worker education. Materials may also be adapted and implemented as credit-bearing courses. The ATE program supports curriculum development; professional development of college faculty and secondary school teachers; career pathway development for both students and incumbent workers; and other activities including applied research projects that advance the knowledge base related to technician education.
The MSI Contract Readiness Prize is a one-phase capacity building prize that aims to boost equity across the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) contracting for small, medium, and large Historically Black Colleges (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Asian American, Native American, Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs). This prize builds on the successes of the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative that is working toward environmental justice for all Americans by involving MSIs as key strategic partners.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office launched the Collegiate Wind Competition (CWC) in 2014. The CWC helps multidisciplinary teams of undergraduate students prepare for jobs in wind and renewable energy through the following activities:
As new renewable energy technologies are developed and integrated into the electric grid, there continues to be new areas of opportunity and challenges that must be addressed. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Electricity (OE) invites graduate students, researchers, industry partners, and key stakeholders to apply for the American-Made Science Synthesis Prize: Identifying Key Barriers to Renewable Integration. Through this $125,000 prize, applicants are tasked with thoroughly analyzing the landscape of the renewable energy integration theory and practice and challenged to highlight pivotal opportunities, solutions, and areas of investment for addressing integration complications.
Buildings play a significant role in reaching the White House’s goal of a net-zero emissions economy by 2050, so it is critical that building professionals are prepared to design and construct high-efficiency, low-carbon buildings powered by renewables. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Design Designation recognizes post-secondary academic programs that prepare students for 21st century building careers. Schools interested in being recognized by DOE must demonstrate a commitment to preparing students for a zero-carbon future by offering a building science education curriculum within their programs of study that showcases best practices in zero energy design, and requiring a zero energy design practicum.
The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program seeks proposals that explore ways for graduate students in research-based master’s and doctoral degree programs to develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to pursue a range of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. This solicitation describes a pilot for a potential new track for the existing NRT Program that will support research and education projects that will result in a new master’s degree, certificate, or a track within an existing master’s or Ph.D. program with high industry relevance in at least one focus area identified in this pilot. This will be accomplished through an effective partnership among: (a) a non-R1 Institution of Higher Education (IHE) (lead institution), (b) an non-lead IHE (an R1 or non-R1) that has either an ongoing or completed NRT program in at least one of the focus areas defined for this pilot (see below), and (c) two to three industry partners in the same focus area(s). The overall purpose is to train the STEM workforce in focus areas specified in this solicitation by stimulating collaborations among non-R1 institutions, institutions with existing or completed NRT projects, and industry partners,
The Clean Energy Innovator Fellowship (CEIF) program funds recent graduates and energy professionals to support critical energy organizations to advance clean energy solutions that will help decarbonize the power system, electrify transportation and industry, and make the U.S. power system more resilient, equitable and inclusive. The goal of the program is to increase access to clean energy career opportunities across the country and accelerate the national transition to resilient and affordable clean energy. The CEIF program is supported by the Grid Deployment Office (GDO), Office of Indian Policy and Programs (IE), and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) aims to build foundations for Office of Science (SC) research through traineeships at academic institutions that have been historically underrepresented in the SC portfolio. RENEW leverages SC’s unique national laboratories, user facilities, and other research infrastructure to provide training opportunities for students and postdoctoral researchers from these institutions. The hands-on experiences gained through RENEW will open new career avenues for trainees, forming a nucleus for a future pool of talented young scientists, engineers, and technicians with the critical skills and expertise needed for the full breadth of SC research activities.
Focus On Recruiting Emerging Climate and Adaptation Scientists and Transformers (FORECAST) seeks to facilitate the transition from status quo graduate career preparation to a student-centered model with a particular emphasis on building entrepreneurial and innovation capacity at emerging research institutions (ERIs). Transformers are scientists ready to tackle the challenges the nation and world are facing due to climate change. This opportunity will adopt the spirit of multiple directives for the research community; for example, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report on Earth System Scienceand the Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education report on Engaged Research. These directives call on the research enterprise to support the building of a robust scientific workforce ready to work with communities in addressing societal challenges. Through convergence research approaches to address societal challenges, the transdisciplinary researchers engaged in FORECAST will foster community resilience and the translation of research outcomes for societal benefits. A new generation of scientists trained in “engaged research” will be expected to have a national impact in communities that may be disproportionately affected by climate change impacts.
The mini-grants are available to students looking for financial support for their personal education, school and community projects, internships, networking events, etc. connected to addressing the plastic crisis. Applicants must between the ages of 11-25 on the application deadline.
Example areas of focus include, but are not limited to:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory will host the second US QIS Summer School facilitated by the US Department of Energy National Quantum Information Science Research Centers from July 15 to 26, 2024.
The summer school is an in-residence learning experience for outstanding graduate and undergraduate students and early-career scientists seeking hands-on experience with quantum science and technology in a laboratory setting. The curriculum will be taught at a graduate level.
Curriculum Topics:
• Topological approaches to quantum computing
• Cold atoms and ion traps
• Error mitigation and error correction
• The current state of the quantum information science field
• Applications of quantum technologies, quantum materials, and quantum sensing
