The Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $352 million funding opportunity for its Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) program that it hopes will one day lead to next-generation energy technologies.
DOE’s Office of Science said Tuesday that the funding aligns with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last year in May to advance science initiatives tied to national security and energy innovation, with an emphasis on cross-disciplinary collaboration and rigorous review.
The order also directed federal agencies to ensure federally funded research follows standards for transparency, reproducibility, and scientific integrity.
DOE said the $352 million for the EFRC program will bring together world-class teams of scientists from universities, DOE national laboratories, and other institutions to do fundamental research in materials science, chemistry, geosciences, and biosciences.
The department said that research will help accelerate breakthroughs in quantum computing and advanced manufacturing that will “secure America’s technological leadership.”
“For over 15 years, the EFRC program has provided a transformational research environment that has brought together the strengths of our National Laboratories and universities to accelerate discovery, develop innovative tools, and train the next generation of the American energy science workforce,” said DOE Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil.
Under the latest batch of funding, DOE said it wants to see research proposals that range from unconventional computing, artificial intelligence for materials and chemistry, and complex chemical systems to critical minerals, nuclear and subsurface science, electrical energy storage, advanced manufacturing, microelectronics, and quantum systems/quantum computing.
Since its start in 2009, the EFRC program has funded 107 centers across more than 190 institutions in 43 states and Washington, D.C., and trained over 6,200 students and postdoctoral researchers, according to DOE.
DOE’s Office of Science said it is now accepting applications for new and renewing EFRCs from accredited U.S. universities, national labs, nonprofits, and private companies. The $352 million in funding includes $88 million in fiscal year 2026 and $264 million in future-year funding contingent on appropriations.
The EFRC funding push aligns with other initiatives that the Trump administration has recently launched to accelerate energy science and emerging technologies, such as the Genesis Mission.