The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory. (Photo: DOE)
The Department of Energy has announced an $18 million funding opportunity for research and development in particle accelerator science and technology for nuclear physics research. Provided through the DOE’s Office of Science, the funding is intended to support “efforts essential to developing world-leading core competencies and transformative technologies that significantly advance the state-of-the-art accelerator capabilities.”
According to the DOE, research will focus on laying the R&D groundwork for next-generation accelerators and on potential upgrades to existing facilities that will advance the understanding of the building blocks of matter, discovering the origins of nuclei, and identifying the forces that transform matter. Topics of interest include transformative superconducting radio-frequency technology, high field superconducting magnets, and the development of next-generation ion sources.
The opportunity: DOE national laboratories, universities, and nonprofits will be eligible to lead applications for the two-year awards, which will be selected based on peer review. Awards for single investigators/small groups and for large multidisciplinary teams are being made available.
Planned funding for fiscal year 2022 will be up to about $9 million, with a similar amount planned for FY 2023, contingent on congressional appropriations.
The funding opportunity announcement, sponsored by the Office of Nuclear Physics within the Office of Science, can be found here.
He said it: “Accelerator technology has been the key to unlocking the secrets of matter, and it has also found valuable applications in medicine and industry,” said Timothy Hallman, DOE associate director of science for nuclear physics. “This investment will help keep the United States in the lead in this indispensable technology.”
