EXPRESS:2025 Exploratory Research for Extreme-Scale Science | DE FOA 0003545

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003545

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, through its Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program, is offering a discretionary grant opportunity titled "EXPRESS:2025 Exploratory Research for Extreme-Scale Science" (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0003545). The core purpose of this call is to support basic research that tests and develops potentially high-impact ideas in scientific computing and extreme-scale science. In practical terms, this opportunity is aimed at early-stage, exploratory work that could meaningfully advance how scientists compute, model, simulate, and analyze complex phenomena at very large scales, including approaches that may be too new, unconventional, or high-risk to fit neatly into more mature program solicitations.

This funding opportunity sits within the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category (CFDA 81.049) and uses the grant as its funding instrument. It is administered by the DOE Office of Science, reflecting its emphasis on fundamental research rather than product development or near-term deployment. The announcement specifically signals interest in "potentially high-impact approaches," which generally implies the program is looking for ideas that, if successful, could significantly change capabilities or directions in extreme-scale computing. While the short description does not list specific topical areas, the framing strongly suggests projects may involve new concepts in algorithms, software methods, programming models, performance portability, data-intensive workflows, numerical methods, scientific machine learning used for scientific discovery, resilience and correctness at scale, or other foundational elements needed to push scientific computing further into extreme-scale regimes.

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning there are no special limitations called out in the provided data on who may apply. That typically opens the door for a wide range of applicants, such as universities, national laboratories, nonprofit research organizations, and potentially for-profit entities, depending on the full FOA details and standard DOE grant rules. The unrestricted designation is important because it indicates the opportunity is broadly accessible rather than reserved for a narrow class of institutions or a particular set of awardees.

In terms of funding scale and competitiveness, the opportunity lists an award ceiling of $1,000,000 per award and anticipates making about 20 awards. The combination of a relatively high per-award cap and a sizable number of expected awards suggests the program is aiming to seed multiple exploratory efforts in parallel, spreading investment across a portfolio of promising concepts rather than betting on only a small number of large projects. The FOA was created on 2025-01-20, and the original closing date for submissions is 2025-05-06, giving applicants a defined window to assemble research plans, partnerships, and budgets aligned with ASCR's interest in exploratory, high-impact computing research.

Overall, EXPRESS:2025 is best understood as a call to propose bold, research-driven advances in scientific computing that could help the scientific community work effectively at extreme scale. The emphasis on exploratory research indicates reviewers are likely to weigh novelty, potential payoff, and scientific/technical rationale heavily, alongside a credible plan for demonstrating feasibility and learning value, even if the outcomes are uncertain.

• The Office of Science in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "EXPRESS:2025 Exploratory Research for Extreme-Scale Science" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.049.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-01-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-05-06. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for DE FOA 0003545

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