Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0000257
Apply for DE FOA 0000257
- The Chicago Service Center in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "X Stack Software Research" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.049 Office of Science Financial Assistance Program.
- This funding opportunity was created on Jan 29, 2010 and posted on Jan 29, 2010.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 2, 2010. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $10,000,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 15 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.
- All types of domestic entities are eligible to apply, except other Federal agencies, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), and nonprofit organizations described in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that engaged in lobbying activities after December 31,1995. Inter institutional collaborations are strongly encouraged to enhance and strengthen research capabilities as needed. Collaboration could include institutions such as universities, industry, non profit organizations, federal laboratories and FFRDCs, including the DOE National Laboratories. Collaborations should be limited to filling critical voids in expertise and represent only a modest portion of the overall effort. Additionally, Federal agencies should not be included as participants or expect to receive funding under this Funding Opportunity Announcement.
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Opportunity Summary:
The DOE Office of Science, through its Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), issued this funding opportunity to support basic computer science research aimed at strengthening the "X Stack," meaning the full scientific software stack needed for extreme-scale computing systems. In practical terms, the X Stack covers everything from operating systems and runtime systems up through programming models, development environments, and scientific workflow tools that enable scientists to effectively use the next generation of supercomputers. The central goal is to fund transformational research that removes key software barriers on the road to exascale computing, where machines may include up to a billion cores and support around 10 billion-way concurrency. The opportunity emphasizes fundamental advances in computer science, not incremental engineering work or discipline-specific scientific application development.
A major motivation behind the call is the shift in what limits performance at exascale. Rather than raw processor speed, the FOA highlights data movement as the expected bottleneck, especially under strict power constraints. It also points to sharply declining memory per core and the persistent performance gap between compute and storage. Because future systems are expected to rely on multi-level storage hierarchies made up of different hardware technologies, the FOA signals a strong need for new runtime approaches to data management, data movement, and analysis that can operate efficiently across complex memory and storage layers. In short, ASCR is looking for research that rethinks how software manages concurrency, communication, and data locality at massive scale, where traditional assumptions about memory capacity, synchronization cost, and I/O behavior no longer hold.
The technical scope is broad but clearly centered on the software infrastructure for extreme scale computing. Proposed research may address operating and runtime systems for extreme-scale scientific computation, programming models and environments that make billion-core systems usable, and workflow systems that support complex scientific campaigns. The announcement also notes that it continues and extends earlier ASCR topics in operating and runtime systems for extreme-scale systems, indicating continuity with prior DOE investments while pushing toward exascale-specific challenges such as resilience, heterogeneity, hierarchical memory/storage, and the cost of moving data relative to performing arithmetic.
Applications that involve multiple institutions are explicitly encouraged, particularly when the collaboration is cohesive and designed to produce breakthroughs that a single team could not achieve alone. At the same time, DOE sets a boundary that collaborations should be targeted and modest in scope, used mainly to fill critical gaps in expertise rather than forming overly diffuse consortia. The emphasis is on a unified research vision with strong computer science novelty and clear relevance to exascale constraints. Importantly, the FOA states that awards will not be made for designing or developing discipline-specific science applications; projects need to focus on general-purpose software stack capabilities that enable many scientific domains rather than building a single domain application.
From an administrative standpoint, this was a discretionary DOE funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0000257) using a Cooperative Agreement mechanism, with an estimated total funding level of $10,000,000 and an expectation of about 15 awards. There was no cost-sharing requirement. The posting date was January 29, 2010, with an application deadline of April 2, 2010, and the opportunity was later archived on July 2, 2010. Eligibility was broadly open to domestic entities, with key exclusions: other Federal agencies, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), and certain lobbying-related 501(c)(4) nonprofits. While DOE National Laboratories and FFRDCs could participate as collaborators in appropriate ways, Federal agencies were not to be included as participants or expect to receive funding under this FOA. For access issues or questions, the announcement provided contacts including a DOE grants analyst (Marilyn M. Oyler) and the program manager (Daniel A. Hitchcock).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1) What is this funding opportunity trying to achieve?
This Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science opportunity, issued through the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), aims to fund basic computer science research that strengthens the "X Stack" (the full scientific software stack for extreme-scale computing). The intent is to support transformational work that removes key software barriers on the road to exascale computing.
2) What is the "X Stack" in this FOA?
The X Stack refers to the complete scientific software stack needed to use extreme-scale systems effectively. In practical terms, it spans from operating systems and runtime systems up through programming models, development environments, and scientific workflow tools.
3) What kinds of computing systems is DOE targeting here?
The FOA targets extreme-scale and exascale systems, including machines that may reach up to a billion cores and support roughly 10 billion-way concurrency.
4) Is the focus on basic research or software engineering?
The focus is on fundamental, transformational advances in computer science. The FOA emphasizes basic research rather than incremental engineering work.
5) Are discipline-specific scientific applications eligible for funding?
No. The FOA explicitly states that awards will not be made for designing or developing discipline-specific science applications. Proposed work must focus on general-purpose software stack capabilities that enable many scientific domains, rather than building a single domain application.
6) Why does the FOA emphasize data movement?
The FOA highlights a shift in expected exascale performance limits: data movement (not raw processor speed) is anticipated to be the dominant bottleneck, especially under strict power constraints.
7) What system constraints motivate this research call?
The FOA points to several exascale constraints, including sharply declining memory per core, a persistent performance gap between compute and storage, and the increasing importance and complexity of multi-level storage hierarchies made up of different hardware technologies.
8) What kinds of technical topics are within scope?
The technical scope is broad but centered on software infrastructure for extreme-scale computing. Example areas named in the FOA include operating and runtime systems for extreme-scale scientific computation, programming models and environments to make billion-core systems usable, and workflow systems that support complex scientific campaigns.
9) Does the FOA mention runtime support for complex memory and storage layers?
Yes. The FOA signals a strong need for new runtime approaches to data management, data movement, and analysis that can operate efficiently across complex, hierarchical memory and storage layers.
10) What kinds of software challenges is DOE trying to address at exascale?
The FOA emphasizes rethinking how software manages concurrency, communication, and data locality at massive scale, where traditional assumptions about memory capacity, synchronization cost, and I/O behavior may no longer hold.
11) Does this opportunity build on prior DOE/ASCR investments?
Yes. The announcement notes that it continues and extends earlier ASCR topics in operating and runtime systems for extreme-scale systems, while pushing toward exascale-specific challenges.
12) Are multi-institution applications allowed or encouraged?
Yes. Multi-institution applications are explicitly encouraged, especially when the collaboration is cohesive and designed to produce breakthroughs that a single team could not achieve alone.
13) Are there limits on how large collaborations should be?
Yes. DOE indicates collaborations should be targeted and modest in scope, used mainly to fill critical gaps in expertise rather than forming overly diffuse consortia. The expectation is a unified research vision.
14) What award mechanism is used for this FOA?
The FOA uses a Cooperative Agreement mechanism.
15) What is the Funding Opportunity Number?
The Funding Opportunity Number is DE-FOA-0000257.
16) How much total funding was DOE expecting to make available?
The FOA estimated a total funding level of $10,000,000.
17) About how many awards were anticipated?
The FOA anticipated about 15 awards.
18) Was cost sharing required?
No. The FOA stated there was no cost-sharing requirement.
19) When was the opportunity posted?
The posting date was January 29, 2010.
20) What was the application deadline?
The application deadline was April 2, 2010.
21) Is this opportunity still open?
No. The opportunity was later archived on July 2, 2010.
22) Who was eligible to apply?
Eligibility was broadly open to domestic entities, with specific exclusions described in the FOA (including other Federal agencies, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), and certain lobbying-related 501(c)(4) nonprofits).
23) Which entities were not eligible to apply directly?
The FOA excludes other Federal agencies, FFRDCs, and certain lobbying-related 501(c)(4) nonprofits from eligibility.
24) Can DOE National Laboratories or FFRDCs participate at all?
The FOA indicates DOE National Laboratories and FFRDCs could participate as collaborators in appropriate ways, but FFRDCs were not eligible as applicants for awards under this FOA.
25) Can Federal agencies participate or receive funding under this FOA?
No. The FOA states Federal agencies were not to be included as participants or expect to receive funding under this FOA.
26) Who were the listed contacts for questions or access issues?
The FOA provided contacts including a DOE grants analyst (Marilyn M. Oyler) and the program manager (Daniel A. Hitchcock).
27) What is the main boundary between in-scope and out-of-scope work?
In-scope work targets general-purpose software stack capabilities and fundamental computer science advances relevant to exascale constraints (especially data movement, concurrency, and hierarchical memory/storage). Out-of-scope work includes discipline-specific scientific application development and incremental engineering that does not rise to transformational research.
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