WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 11, 2022 — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $18 million for research and development (R&D) in accelerator science and technology for nuclear physics research.

Research will focus both on laying the R&D groundwork for next-generation accelerators and on potential upgrades to existing facilities that will advance our 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.

“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.”

This research seeks to advance the state of the art in accelerator technology toward improving cost effective operation of Nuclear Physics accelerator user facilities and to improve scientific capabilities of existing Nuclear Physics facilities.

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. The funding opportunity envisions awards both for single investigators/small groups and for large multidisciplinary teams.

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 Department’s Office of Science, can be found here.

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Source: DOE Office of Science