DOE Traineeship in Accelerator Science & Technology | DE FOA 0003025

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003025

The DOE Traineeship in Accelerator Science and Technology (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0003025) is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, High Energy Physics (HEP) grant program designed to strengthen graduate education and workforce training in accelerator science and engineering. Its central purpose is to help universities produce the next generation of accelerator scientists and engineers by directly supporting students enrolled in defined accelerator-focused degree programs, while also allowing limited funds to improve and administer the training program itself. The broader goal is workforce development for the basic sciences, with an emphasis on sustaining U.S. leadership and ensuring a well-prepared and diverse pipeline of talent.

Funding is offered as a discretionary grant under CFDA 81.049 within the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category. DOE anticipates making a small number of sizable awards: the announcement indicates up to four awards may be made, while the source data lists an expectation of two awards. The maximum award amount (ceiling) is $5,000,000. Projects are expected to run for up to five years, and DOE notes that programs may have the possibility of renewal for a second term, indicating an interest in longer-term, stable traineeship structures rather than short, one-off efforts.

The money is primarily intended to cover trainee costs and the practical elements that make a structured graduate traineeship work. Allowable support highlighted in the announcement includes tuition, student stipends, and travel for trainees, which typically helps students participate in hands-on learning experiences, workshops, summer schools, collaboration meetings, and potentially training periods at national laboratories or other accelerator facilities. In addition, the program permits modest funding for topic-specific curriculum development and program administration, meaning universities can strengthen or build coursework, training modules, and the coordination activities needed to run a coherent accelerator training track. The emphasis is on education and training infrastructure tied to specific degree programs, not on financing major research agendas.

A key boundary of the opportunity is that it does not fund dedicated accelerator research and development (R&D). DOE explicitly separates this traineeship from accelerator R&D programs, pointing applicants toward the HEP General Accelerator R&D (GARD) program and other DOE or federal agency R&D mechanisms for research-focused work. In practice, this means proposals should be framed around training outcomes, curriculum and program structure, cohort support, and workforce preparation rather than proposing R&D deliverables as the main purpose of the budget.

Eligibility is limited to domestic institutions of higher education, including both public/state-controlled and private universities. DOE also indicates that teams of universities may apply, which is often important in accelerator science because expertise, coursework, and facility access can be distributed across institutions. Collaborative, multi-university models can allow students to benefit from complementary faculty strengths, shared curricula, and broader access to specialized facilities and mentors.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity was created on April 4, 2023, with an original closing date of June 6, 2023. While those dates reflect this specific posting, the program description clarifies DOE's intent and the types of activities it aims to support: structured graduate traineeships that build and sustain accelerator science and engineering training capacity in the United States, producing a highly trained workforce capable of contributing to cutting-edge basic science efforts and delivering public benefit through continued national scientific vitality.

• The Department of Energy - Office of Science, Office of Science in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DOE Traineeship in Accelerator Science & Technology" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.049.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 04, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 06, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $5,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

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