Department of Energy Announces $8 Million for Plasma Science Research

Research Will Be Led by DOE National Laboratories

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a plan to provide up to $8 million to support frontier plasma science research by DOE national laboratory researchers.

“Basic and low temperature plasma science is a key area with many important scientific and technological applications,” said Dr. Chris Fall, Director of DOE’s Office of Science. “The research by DOE laboratory-led teams funded under this announcement will help ensure continued American leadership in this critical field.”

The funding opportunity is focused on the conversion of magnetic energy and turbulence; “dusty” plasmas with a suspension of electrically charged microscopic particles; and low-temperature plasma surface interactions for applications to microelectronics and plasma medicine, among other topics.

The initiative will also support research by national laboratory scientists, to be performed with the use of a range of plasma science facilities across the nation, including those at the University of California Los Angeles, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Auburn University, DOE’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, and General Atomics in San Diego.

Total planned funding is $8 million in Fiscal Year 2021 dollars, contingent on congressional appropriations, for projects of one to three years in duration.

The DOE National Laboratory Announcement can be found on the funding opportunities page of the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences within DOE’s Office of Science.