Release Date: October 28, 2009

DOE Announces 31st Annual University Coal Research Competition
Projects Sought to Enhance Long-Term Use of American Coal

Pittsburgh — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a funding opportunity announcement calling on U.S. colleges and universities to propose new projects that will lead to the cleaner use of coal, America’s most abundant energy resource. The announcement launches the 31st year of DOE’s University Coal Research program, the Department’s longest-running student-teacher research grant program.

Since the program began in 1979, nearly 1,780 students have received hands-on research experience investigating long-term solutions to enhance the long-term use of coal. This year, the program will make available $2 million to fund projects, with a maximum of $300,000 per project. Each project will involve one or two colleges or universities and will extend over 36 months. Research proposals are being sought in three areas of interest:

• Computational Energy Sciences—Applications are being sought for projects that will develop theory and advanced computational models and complement ongoing NETL-funded modeling research.
• Material Science—Applications are being sought for projects to develop computational tools and simulations that will reliably predict properties of materials for fossil energy systems in advance of fabrication.
• Sensors And Controls—Innovative research is being sought to identify and develop nano-derived multidimensional, multifunctional sensor materials that will support the development of high temperature (500–1,500 degrees Celsius) micro and nano gas sensors.

Proposals are due by November 24, 2009. The National Energy Technology Laboratory, which implements the University Coal Research program, will name the winning projects in July 2010.

The funding opportunity announcement can be accessed from Grants.gov.