DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program

DOE Early Career Research Program

Funds research teams and institutions for DOE Early Career Research in energy systems, artificial intelligence, and quantum systems.

The DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program is an annual competitive grant that funds fundamental research by early-career investigators across seven program offices: Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), Biological and Environmental Research (BER), Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), High Energy Physics (HEP), Nuclear Physics (NP), and Isotope R&D and Production. The FY2026 cycle operates under FOA DE-FOA-0003602, posted March 3, 2026. Academic institution awards are approximately $875,000 over five years (about $175,000 per year); DOE National Laboratory and User Facility awards are approximately $2,750,000 over five years (about $550,000 per year). The total FY2026 funding pool is $79 million, with up to $145 million planned over the full five-year performance period subject to congressional appropriations.

Eligibility requires the principal investigator to be an untenured, tenure-track assistant or associate professor at a U.S. academic institution, or a full-time employee at a DOE national laboratory or Office of Science User Facility, and to hold a doctorate earned within the past ten years. For-profit companies, nonprofits, and individuals cannot apply. The FY2026 submission sequence is strictly two-stage: mandatory pre-applications were due March 24, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET via PAMS; full applications are due June 2, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET via Grants.gov. Only applicants who received written encouragement from DOE after pre-application review may submit a full proposal.

The program is peer-reviewed and competitively evaluated against DOE-SC programmatic priorities. Outyear funding in years two through five is contingent on annual congressional appropriations. Each of the seven participating offices maintains distinct research priorities, so applicants should target the specific program office whose mission most closely aligns with their research agenda. The PAMS helpdesk for submission support is sc.pams-helpdesk@science.doe.gov or (855) 818-1846. Successful proposals demonstrate a focused and independently executable five-year research plan at an appropriate TRL for fundamental science, with a clear connection to the sponsoring program office's strategic goals.