Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC)

Energy Frontier Research Centers — 8th Class

Supports multidisciplinary research centers tackling fundamental energy science grand challenges.

The Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) program, administered by the DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences within the Office of Science, funds multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research teams to address grand scientific challenges in energy-relevant fundamental science. The program launched in 2009 and has funded 107 centers across 43 states and Washington, D.C. in its history. The 8th-class competition (DE-FOA-0003614), posted February 18, 2026, is the current open cycle. Centers receive four-year grants typically in the range of $3 million to $4 million per year per center, equating to $12 million to $16 million per center over the full performance period. The 7th class (2024) selected 10 new centers and continued 34 existing ones for a total of 44 active EFRCs nationally.

Research areas supported in recent cycles include advanced manufacturing, energy storage, environmental management, hydrogen, microelectronics, nuclear research, quantum information science, separations, solar energy, subsurface science, and polymer science. Eligible applicants are universities and research organizations forming multi-institutional teams; for-profit companies are not eligible to lead or participate as primary investigators. TRL scope runs from 1 to 4, consistent with the fundamental science mandate. Pre-applications submitted to the PAMS portal by April 1, 2026, at 5:00 PM ET were required for eligibility; only pre-applicants may submit full applications. Full applications are due July 1, 2026, at 11:59 PM ET via the PAMS portal at pamspublic.science.energy.gov.

The EFRC program operates on a biennial competition cycle, meaning the next call after the 8th class is not expected to open until approximately 2028. Organizations interested in competing should begin identifying multi-institutional team partners well in advance and orient their pre-application narratives around measurable grand challenge outcomes rather than incremental research goals. Exact FY2026 award ceilings are specified in the FOA PDF at DE-FOA-0003614 rather than in publicly indexed HTML sources.