SciDAC: Partnerships in Earth System Model Development | DE FOA 0002585

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002585

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science is offering this funding opportunity under the SciDAC (Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing) program to support partnerships that directly strengthen the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM). The program is jointly backed by two DOE Office of Science programs: Biological and Environmental Research (BER), which supports earth and environmental system science, and Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), which focuses on advanced computing, applied mathematics, and computer science. The central idea is to fund tightly integrated, multi-disciplinary teams where earth system scientists work side-by-side with applied mathematicians and computer scientists to remove long-standing barriers between the disciplines and fully leverage DOE high-performance computing (HPC), including leadership-class systems, for faster and more credible scientific progress.

This specific SciDAC-5 call is focused on earth system model development, meaning the work is expected to translate into practical improvements in E3SM rather than staying at the level of isolated theory or generic software. The objective is to accelerate and enhance E3SM development as supported by BERs Earth System Model Development (ESMD) program area within the Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling (EESM) program. In practice, this means proposals should demonstrate deep collaboration that connects scientific priorities (what needs to be simulated more accurately) with computational and mathematical advances (how to simulate it efficiently and robustly at scale). The expectation is that funded projects will help E3SM make better use of cutting-edge HPC architectures and workflows while improving the fidelity and performance of critical model components.

The technical targets called out in the announcement reflect key scientific and predictive challenges for E3SM. The FOA prioritizes advances that improve E3SMs representation and performance for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which is a major ocean circulation system with significant climate implications; the Antarctic ice sheet, a dominant contributor to long-term sea level rise uncertainty; marine biogeochemistry, which affects ocean carbon uptake, nutrient cycles, and ecosystem dynamics; and the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), a stratospheric wind pattern that influences atmospheric variability and teleconnections. Alongside these topical areas, the opportunity also emphasizes improved physics and numerics to strengthen coupling among the models components (atmosphere, ocean, land, sea ice, ice sheets, and biogeochemistry) in configurations that use high and variable spatial resolution. That coupling requirement matters because many of the hardest E3SM problems show up at the interfaces between components, especially when resolution changes across regions or when fine-scale processes must communicate consistently with coarser-scale parts of the model.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant opportunity from the DOE Office of Science, categorized under science and technology and other research and development, with CFDA number 81.049. The funding opportunity number is DE-FOA-0002585, and the original closing date listed is 2022-04-11. The award ceiling shown in the source data is $15,000,000. While the expected number of awards is not specified in the provided listing, the ceiling indicates DOE anticipated potentially large, multi-institutional efforts consistent with the SciDAC model of substantial, collaborative projects rather than small single-investigator awards.

Eligibility is broadly open to domestic applicants, with one notable statutory exclusion: nonprofit organizations described under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engaged in lobbying activities after December 31, 1995 are not eligible. The announcement also spells out how federally affiliated organizations may participate. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories are eligible to apply as lead institutions and can also participate as subrecipients; however, if a lab is funded (whether as lead or subrecipient), the support is handled through the DOE Field-Work Proposal System under the labs DOE contract rather than through the standard FOA administrative terms applied to other recipients. Non-DOE/NNSA Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) cannot apply as leads but may join as subrecipients, typically supported through an interagency agreement with their sponsoring federal agency. Other federal agencies are similarly not eligible to apply as leads but may be included as subrecipients, again generally funded via interagency agreements with appropriate statutory authorization.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a targeted push to improve both the scientific credibility and the computational performance of E3SM by funding teams that can jointly tackle model physics, numerical methods, algorithms, and software engineering in service of a few high-impact earth system challenges. The DOE is signaling that meaningful progress requires co-designed solutions where domain science needs drive the computing and math innovations, and where computing constraints and opportunities (exascale architectures, performance portability, scalable algorithms, and efficient coupling strategies) shape how the science is implemented in the model.

• The Office of Science in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "SciDAC: Partnerships in Earth System Model Development" 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 2021-11-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-04-11. (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 $15,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for DE FOA 0002585

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