Storage Systems and Input/Output for Extreme Scale Science | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): DOE Office of Science FOA DE-FOA-0001338 (SSIO for Extreme-Scale Science)

1) What is this funding opportunity about?

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) from the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (DE-FOA-0001338) supports research and development in storage systems and input/output (SSIO) for extreme-scale science. It targets data movement and storage challenges that appear at very large scales in scientific computing environments, including DOE user facilities and leadership-class computing systems, where applications generate massive datasets and rely on high-performance I/O.

2) What kinds of problems is DOE trying to solve through this FOA?

The FOA focuses on SSIO bottlenecks that limit productivity or prevent effective use of advanced computing resources. These challenges can show up as performance collapse at high concurrency, variability and contention in shared storage, metadata bottlenecks, and end-to-end workflow slowdowns where simulations, instruments, and analysis pipelines depend on fast and scalable I/O.

3) What are the main objectives of the FOA?

The FOA lists three core objectives:

• Improve understanding of real SSIO challenges faced by DOE scientists and facilities, including performance issues that limit productivity.
• Support design and prototyping of next-generation SSIO environments, including storage software and middleware.
• Encourage exploratory research into new SSIO design alternatives that may depart from current architectures to meet extreme-scale demands.

4) What research themes can proposals address?

DOE ASCR invites proposals under three research themes:

• Measurement and understanding of storage systems and I/O challenges
• Scalable storage software infrastructure
• New paradigms in storage systems and I/O

5) What does the “measurement and understanding” theme include?

This theme emphasizes developing an evidence-based view of real systems and workloads. Activities described include characterization, instrumentation, benchmarking, workload analysis, and modeling of I/O behavior across applications, file systems, and storage hierarchies. The FOA notes attention areas such as contention, variability, metadata bottlenecks, and end-to-end workflow effects.

6) What does the “scalable storage software infrastructure” theme include?

This theme focuses on practical software advances that can scale with extreme parallelism. Examples named in the FOA include improved file system components, object storage interfaces, middleware layers, runtime or workflow I/O support, and mechanisms to reduce overhead while maintaining reliability and usability.

7) What does the “new paradigms in storage systems and I/O” theme include?

This theme targets disruptive or forward-looking approaches. The FOA mentions alternative abstractions, novel data placement or movement strategies, rethinking consistency or durability tradeoffs for scientific use, and integrating emerging memory and storage technologies in ways that better match scientific workflows.

8) Does the FOA emphasize both understanding bottlenecks and building solutions?

Yes. The FOA explicitly supports research that explains why SSIO bottlenecks occur and also lays out practical paths toward next-generation solutions, including design and prototyping work for SSIO environments and software/middleware.

9) What is the funding mechanism?

The funding mechanism is a cooperative agreement. The FOA notes this generally implies more substantial federal involvement than a standard grant, often including collaboration, coordination, or oversight tied to milestones and deliverables.

10) How much total funding is anticipated, and how many awards?

DOE anticipated making about five awards, with an estimated total program funding level of $4,000,000.

11) What is the maximum award amount?

The FOA lists a maximum award amount (ceiling) of $1,250,000.

12) What is the minimum award amount?

The FOA lists an award floor of $1.

13) Is cost-sharing or matching required?

No. The FOA states there is no cost-sharing or matching requirement.

14) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is described as broadly open (“unrestricted”) by applicant type, with specific exclusions noted in the opportunity summary.

15) Who is not eligible to apply?

The FOA notes two main exclusions:

• Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) contractors
• Certain 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations that engaged in lobbying activities after December 31, 1995

16) How should collaborations involving DOE National Laboratories be handled?

The FOA explains that if a DOE National Laboratory is collaborating with a non-laboratory partner, the lab should apply separately through a related lab-specific announcement (LAB 15-1338) in PAMS. The non-lab lead and other non-lab collaborating institutions should submit their applications in response to this FOA (DE-FOA-0001338) under standard rules. This separates lab submissions from non-lab submissions while enabling coordinated collaborative work.

17) What is the CFDA number for this program?

The CFDA number is 81.049 (Office of Science Financial Assistance Program).

18) What is the activity category?

The activity category is science and technology and other research and development.

19) What are the key dates for this FOA?

• Posting date: May 18, 2015
• Closing date: July 13, 2015
• Archive date: August 12, 2015

20) Who is the technical/scientific contact for questions?

The FOA lists Dr. Lucy Nowell as the program contact for technical and scientific questions:

• Email: Lucy.Nowell@science.doe.gov
• Phone: 301-903-3191

21) What kinds of environments and users does the FOA emphasize?

The FOA highlights DOE user facilities and leadership-class computing environments, where scientific applications and instruments generate massive datasets and depend on high-performance I/O to keep simulations, instruments, and analysis pipelines running efficiently.

22) Does the FOA explicitly include storage software and middleware?

Yes. In its second objective, the FOA explicitly includes next-generation SSIO environments including storage software and middleware, emphasizing that these layers often sit between applications and storage hardware and can determine whether performance scales or collapses at large concurrency.

23) What specific SSIO issues are called out as examples?

The FOA mentions issues such as contention, variability, metadata bottlenecks, and end-to-end workflow effects, particularly as they appear across applications, file systems, and storage hierarchies at large scale.

24) What does DOE mean by “exploratory research into new SSIO design alternatives”?

The FOA describes this as exploring ideas that may not fit neatly into current architectures but could be necessary as data volumes, concurrency, and workflow complexity increase in extreme-scale science.

25) What is the issuing office within DOE?

The FOA is issued by the DOE Office of Science, with proposals invited under DOE ASCR (Advanced Scientific Computing Research) priorities described in the announcement.