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FAQs: SciDAC Earth System Model Development (DE-FOA-0000452)

What is the SciDAC Earth System Model Development grant?

It is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science funding opportunity under the SciDAC program (Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing) to support collaborative research that tightly connects advanced computational science and high performance computing (HPC) with Earth system model (ESM) development, aiming for major improvements in climate simulation and prediction.

What is the Funding Opportunity Number (FON) for this program?

The Funding Opportunity Number is DE-FOA-0000452.

Which DOE offices are involved in this opportunity?

The opportunity is led by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER), in partnership with the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), under the SciDAC program.

What is the core purpose of the funding opportunity?

The core purpose is to fund collaborative teams that directly link computational science and HPC advances to ESM development so that the resulting modeling improvements translate into better climate simulation and prediction.

What time horizons are the climate simulations expected to address?

The work is expected to target climate-relevant time horizons spanning decades to centuries.

How does this opportunity relate to BER program goals?

The work is expected to align with BER's Climate and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD) Earth System Modeling program goals.

What kinds of improvements is DOE looking for in Earth system models?

DOE describes a multi-pillar push to strengthen state-of-the-science climate models, including increasing spatial resolution, upgrading representations of key physical and biogeochemical processes, strengthening validation against appropriate observations, and improving the quantification of uncertainty.

Is this funding opportunity focused only on adding model complexity?

No. The emphasis is on improving model skill and credibility, not simply adding complexity. Model development is expected to be tied to comparisons against scale-appropriate measurements and benchmarks.

What does "scale-appropriate" validation mean in this FOA?

It means model development should be evaluated against observations or experimental benchmarks that match the scales being simulated, so the comparisons are appropriate for the model resolution and the processes being represented.

What kinds of scientific topics and processes are highlighted as priorities?

Examples highlighted include improved representations of clouds, aerosols, and atmospheric chemistry; stronger and more realistic carbon cycle modeling; improved land surface processes; and better treatment of sea ice and land ice.

Why does the FOA emphasize collaboration between computational scientists and climate model developers?

DOE is explicitly looking for proposals where these groups work together in a way that produces breakthroughs that neither group could easily achieve alone, combining scientific process improvements with computational methods that enable those improvements in large coupled simulations.

How important is high performance computing and scalability to this program?

HPC is central. A major theme is taking advantage of leadership-class computing and modern computational methods so that next-generation model components run efficiently on current petascale systems and are positioned for future supercomputing architectures.

What does DOE mean by "leadership-class computing" in the context of this FOA?

In this FOA, it refers to large-scale DOE computing platforms intended for advanced scientific workloads, where proposals are expected to demonstrate performance and scalability for large, coupled climate simulations.

Does the FOA encourage innovative or higher-risk approaches?

Yes. DOE signals strong interest in high-risk, high-payoff approaches that push into innovative directions, as long as applicants explain why the idea could plausibly yield major advances in Earth system modeling.

What outcomes does DOE indicate will define success for funded projects?

Success is framed as both scientific advances (improved process representation, model skill, and credibility) and computational advances (methods and implementations that scale and perform effectively on DOE computing platforms for large coupled simulations), leading to improved predictive capability and reduced uncertainty.

What broader climate science goals are emphasized beyond component development?

The program emphasizes understanding the drivers and consequences of climate change, including the possibility of abrupt climate shifts, and prioritizes mechanistic insight and robust predictive capability rather than purely descriptive modeling.

What type of funding mechanism is this?

This is a discretionary grant opportunity in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category.

How many awards did DOE anticipate making?

DOE anticipated making around 10 awards.

What was the estimated total funding level for the opportunity?

The estimated total funding level was about $3,000,000.

What was the expected funding range per award?

Individual awards were expected to range from $250,000 (floor) to $800,000 (ceiling).

Was cost sharing required?

No. The FOA stated that cost sharing was not required.

When was the FOA posted?

The posting date was December 22, 2010.

What were the application due dates?

The original and final closing date was March 21, 2011.

When was the opportunity archived?

The opportunity was archived on June 30, 2011.

Who was eligible to apply?

Eligibility was described as broadly open to most entity types (unrestricted), with specific exclusions listed in the FOA.

Which entities were explicitly excluded from applying?

Notable exclusions included other federal agencies, Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) contractors, and certain nonprofit 501(c)(4) organizations that engaged in lobbying after December 31, 1995.

Are FFRDC contractors allowed to participate in projects at all?

FFRDC contractors were excluded as applicants, but the FOA encouraged synergistic collaborations with federal laboratories and FFRDCs (including DOE national laboratories) when they fill critical expertise gaps and remain a modest portion of the overall effort.

How should collaborations with national labs or FFRDCs be structured under this FOA?

The FOA indicates collaborations should be modest in scope relative to the overall effort and used to fill critical expertise gaps, with primary responsibility and the main budget residing with the applicant organization.

What is the relationship between scientific advances and computational advances in this FOA?

The FOA ties them together: improved physical and biogeochemical representations, stronger validation, and uncertainty quantification are expected to be paired with computational strategies that allow these advances to run efficiently and at high resolution in large, coupled ESM simulations on DOE platforms.

Who were the listed contacts for questions or access issues?

The announcement listed a grants analyst (Kimberlie J. Laing) and program managers (Dorothy M. Koch and Renu R. Joseph).

Why are both administrative and programmatic contacts provided?

The contact list suggests proposals could require both administrative coordination (grant and submission issues) and programmatic alignment with scientific priorities (fit to BER/CESD Earth system modeling goals and SciDAC computing expectations).

In plain terms, what is this FOA trying to accelerate?

It is a targeted push to accelerate the next leap in Earth system modeling by combining advanced computing, improved process realism, stronger validation practices, and improved uncertainty quantification, anchored to DOE mission needs and large-scale computational resources.