Stanford Research Development Office

DOE Energy Frontier Research Centers

Most recent content update: February 19, 2026

Note: The DOE released a new program NOFO on 2/18/26 which is available for download on grants.gov. 

Program Snapshot

DOE Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) are major, multi-disciplinary and multi-institution, basic research programs funded by the Department of Energy. EFRCs address big scientific questions that if solved will have a big impact on society and provide a great mechanism to support collaborative research in energy-relevant fields. The purpose of this program is to bring together world-class teams of scientists from universities, DOE national laboratories, and other institutions to perform energy-relevant basic research with a scope and complexity beyond what is possible in single-investigator or small-group awards. These multi-investigator, multi-disciplinary centers accelerate transformative scientific advances for the most challenging topics in materials sciences, chemical sciences, geosciences, and biosciences. EFRCs integrate experiments, theory, computation, and AI/ML; develop innovative experimental and theoretical tools that illuminate fundamental processes in unprecedented detail; and create an enthusiastic, interdisciplinary, workforce of energy-focused scientists.

Awards are expected to be from $3-4.5M per year for 4 years with possibility of renewal in subsequent competitions.

Information from DOE

Details, latest updates and related links are available on the DOE Basic Energy Sciences (BES) funding opportunities page and on grants.gov.

Stanford and SLAC Limited Submissions

This is a Limited Submission funding opportunity. An institution-wide internal selection process is required prior to proposal submission to DOE. Only three pre-applications may be submitted by any one organization as the lead institution. Stanford and SLAC will each perform their own internal selection, using the same deadlines and requested materials.

The internal deadline is March 13. More information on the selection and submission process is available through the Stanford Funding Opportunities portal.

For questions about the limited submissions process, please email:

Timeline

  • March 3, 2026: Informational webinar from DOE (link to register)
  • March 13, 2026: Internal proposal due to VPDoR or SLAC Limited Submissions
  • April 1, 2026: Required pre-applications from internally selected teams due to DOE*
    • For Stanford, required submission through OSR 3 business days before deadline
    • For SLAC, required submission into DOE PAMS 1 business day before deadline
  • July 1, 2026: Encouraged full applications due to DOE*
    • For Stanford, please follow all OSR proposal submission deadlines
    • For SLAC, please follow all SLAC PAO team submisison deadlines

Proposal Support and Resources

This list will be updated as new resources become available.

For proposal support, consultations, or EFRC-related questions please contact:

  • Kim Baeten, Director of Research Development, Stanford University
  • Steve Eglash, Director of the Applied Energy Division, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Created: 08/25/21

Updated: 02/20/26