DOE Early Career Research Program — ASCR Track

The DOE Early Career Research Program ASCR track sits inside the DOE Office of Science and supports early-career researchers working in mission science areas tied to advanced scientific computing. ASCR is one of seven participating science offices in the FY2026 competition, so the program is both career-development capital and a way into DOE's computing portfolio. The FY2026 awards run for five years, with about $875,000 for university investigators and about $2.75 million for DOE National Lab or user-facility employees. A mandatory pre-application was due on 2026-03-24, and only encouraged pre-applicants could submit full proposals by 2026-06-02. Eligibility is limited to untenured tenure-track assistant or associate professors at U.S. universities, or full-time lab and facility staff within 10 years of the PhD. The strongest fit is work that lands squarely in ASCR's remit: HPC, applied mathematics, computer science, quantum information science, or AI and machine learning for science. Applicants need a clear research agenda, a credible early-career profile, and a topic that connects to DOE mission science rather than generic computing research.

Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.