ChemCatBio Directed Funding Assistance

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Proposal Submission Deadline: 5 p.m. MDT on Friday, August 11, 2017 (send to [email protected])

To accelerate the development of catalysts and related technologies for the commercialization of biomass-derived fuels and chemicals, the ChemCatBio consortium is offering directed funding assistance for interested industry partners to leverage unique capabilities (facilities and expertise) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories.

Directed Funding Assistance will allow industry partners to request R&D assistance from the DOE national labs for developing and evaluating catalysts for biofuel and bioproduct applications. Please consult the ChemCatBio website for specific capabilities housed at the national laboratories that can enable catalyst and process development. Interested organizations are encouraged to prioritize and submit proposals addressing only their most pressing catalyst development needs.

Submission Instructions

To apply, teams composed of both industry partners and ChemCatBio researchers will submit a short proposal that identifies the technical challenge and describes how leveraging existing ChemCatBio capabilities or developing new ChemCatBio capabilities will help overcome this challenge and accelerate the catalyst and process development cycle.

Please contact us at [email protected] if you need help identifying capabilities and/or ChemCatBio personnel to address your technical challenge. All submissions should be no less than three and no more than six pages in length. The proposal should be single spaced with 12 point Calibri font. Proprietary and sensitive information should not be included in the proposal.

Required criteria for proposal submissions include:

  1. Project Overview
  2. Challenges Addressed and Research Approach (30% of total score)
  3. Impact of Proposed Research on Biofuels and Bioproducts Industry (25% of total score)
  4. Accelerated Catalyst and Process Development Cycle (20% of total score)
  5. Key Personnel, Resources, and ChemCatBio Capabilities (10% of total score)
  6. Budget, Milestones, and Appropriateness of Government Funding (15% of total score)

Proposals will be reviewed and scored by the ChemCatBio leadership team and steering committee with final project approval and funds authorized to the national laboratories by DOE. ChemCatBio anticipates five to 10 funded projects as part of this initial call. Project terms are limited to no more than three years with up to $1,000,000 of federal funding per project. Federal funds are allocated to DOE national laboratories for providing ChemCatBio resources only and are subject to available ChemCatBio budget. Industry cost share (in-kind or cash) is required to be 30% or greater of the requested federal funds. All projects will be subject to DOE reviews and reporting requests.

Requirements

To be considered, submitting organizations must certify that they will adhere to the following:

  • Unique Lab Capabilities: Request assistance that is not reasonably available in the private sector. Projects are intended to make available the specialized expertise and equipment at the national labs, not compete with the private sector.
  • Cost Share: Commit to at least a 30% cost share, which can be in-kind. Examples: labor, travel, materials, equipment, data, or cash. Federal funds may not be used as cost share.
  • Agreements: Sign a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) that governs intellectual property and other terms. This agreement will be negotiated with the lead laboratory.
  • Reporting: Commit to providing results during the project and for up to ~5 years after the project start date.
  • Release of Information: Agree to allow non-proprietary information about your business and the success of the assistance to be featured in publicly available stories by DOE and the labs.

Download the proposal template and detailed criteria for this opportunity. Each section of this template is aligned with specific review criteria for ChemCatBio directed funding assistance projects.

Important Dates

  • Proposal Submission Deadline: 5 p.m. MDT Friday, August 11, 2017 (send to [email protected])
  • Selection Decision: Monday, September 11, 2017
  • Project Kickoff: October 2017