Notice of Intent (NOI) to Issue Energy I-Corps Lab Call

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) intends to issue an Energy I-Corps (EIC) call for proposals from DOE National Laboratories, plants, and sites. The goal of EIC is to train researchers at the National Laboratories, plants, and sites to learn about market pathways for their technology. OTT anticipates releasing the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriated EIC solicitation in or around late September 2023. OTT will post the solicitation to OTT - Exchange and distribute the EIC lab call announcement to the Technology Transfer Offices at each of the eligible DOE National Laboratories, plants, or sites. OTT expects to award up to $500K across Topics 1 and 3 in this instance of the EIC lab call. However, additional funding may be available based on proposals alignment with DOE program office goals. Decisions on Topic 2 funding will be made by individual DOE program offices and partner agencies.

DOE expects to select EIC projects from DOE National Laboratories, plants, and sites in the following three topics:

Topic 1 - EIC Pipeline Development

This topic will seek proposals for projects and programming that have the potential to directly increase participation in Topic 2 – EIC Training Cohorts of future EIC lab calls (see below).

Only DOE National Laboratories, plants, and sites are eligible to apply for Topic 1 under this lab call. Topic 1 is an opportunity for DOE National Laboratory, plant, or site Technology Transfer Offices to request FY24 funding. DOE National Laboratory, plant, or site Technology Transfer Offices can also propose an adjustment or scope change for using unexpended Site Lab, Satellite, Asynchronous I-Corps, or Pipeline Development funding remaining from prior fiscal years. Any proposed adjustment, scope change or new funding request should address the goal to directly increase participation in subsequent EIC Training Cohorts. DOE strongly encourages efforts that bring together multiple labs to meet the goal of this Topic in the most effective manner possible. Individual projects under Topic 1 will be considered up to a total of $100K. Applications will also be shared with relevant program offices and partner agencies for their funding consideration. 

Topic 2 – EIC Training Cohorts (Cohort 18)

This topic seeks team applications to participate in EIC Cohort 18. It will follow a similar application structure and process to previous lab calls. Selected teams of researchers will participate in an intensive two-month, curriculum-based program to learn the principles of the business model canvas, define value proposition, and identify customer segments. Teams will develop hypotheses on these elements and interview at least 75 stakeholders as part of the customer discovery process to iterate on their business model canvas and to better understand the market’s adoption readiness of the lab technology. This NOI is being released in part to help increase the amount of time available to identify and support interested teams. Each selected team will be provided $80K to support their participation in the training. This Topic will seek applications from teams highly motivated to learn about commercialization. The anticipated lab call will identify specific technology areas of interest.

Topic 3 - Post EIC

This Topic is an opportunity for the most promising EIC graduates to continue advancing their energy-related technology toward commercialization. Only teams or individuals who have previously participated in the Topic 2-EIC Cohort Training are eligible to apply for this topic. Funding is intended to cover costs of the next actionable step in technology commercialization and facilitate the applicant(s) in reaching their next source of more substantive support to continue their commercialization journey. The ideal applicant will have identified a clear, discrete next step in commercialization and a modest amount of funding to reach that next step. Applications should represent projects that are ambitious but achievable.  Projects will be considered up to $100K in funding. Applications will also be shared with relevant program offices and partner agencies for their funding consideration.

Example Topic 3 – Post EIC projects include:

• Running a pilot technology deployment with a potential customer
• Building and testing a prototype
• Completing a technology validation with a potential licensee

This is an NOI only. DOE may issue a lab call as described here, a lab call that is significantly different than described here, or may not issue a lab call at all. The anticipated lab call will include information about how to apply.

Questions can be directed to the following email: [email protected]. DOE will not respond to questions about the solicitation except from eligible entities. Eligible entities to EIC are DOE’s National Laboratories, plants, and sites.