(FOA)-FY
2020 Exploratory Research Proposals; August 30, 2019
Agency
Department
of Energy (DOE) – Environmental
Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL)
Description
EMSL’s
call for Exploratory Research proposals is for small-scale research projects in
the following focused topic areas that are relevant to EMSL’s Biological and
Environmental Science Areas and advanced capabilities. Successful proposals will
include well-described research plans that can be completed by September 30,
2020 and are based on discussions with our Science or Capability Leads.
EMSL is also interested in partnering with private sector scientists and
engineers in these important research areas and their applications as well as
the development of new capabilities that address these challenges. These
capabilities might include new sensors, measurement platforms, data analysis
tools and methods or development of novel databases. Proposals led by industry
scientists are eligible for a separate pool of resources.
Focus
Topics for FY 2020 Proposals:
Biological
Sciences Area
·
Characterization
of biologically produced materials focused on biomineralization, inorganic-organic interactions and
cellular processing of inorganics
·
Determine
the functions of conserved but uncharacterized genes that aid in developing and
improving predictive models of plant, fungal and microbial growth, performance,
and composition as a function of genotype and environment
·
Application
of electronic structure models to understand the reactivity of metal sites in
biological molecules and their role in charge transfer, enzyme activity,
chemical speciation, redox chemistry and, ultimately, models of metabolic
pathways involving micronutrients (e.g. Fe, Mn, Zn,
B, Cu, Mo, Ni, Cl).
Environmental
Sciences Area
·
Experimental
investigation and/or computational simulation of the unique biogeochemical
processes that control exchange of biocritical
nutrients (or contaminants) at watershed and coastal terrestrial aquatic
surface and subsurface interfaces
·
Experimental
investigation and/or computational simulation of the interplay and feedbacks
between viral and microbial (bacteria, fungi) communities resulting in microbial
community dynamics and their impacts to nutrient (C, N, P, micronutrient, etc.)
cycling
·
Experimental
characterization and/or application of computational methods to understand the
physical, chemical and optical properties and/or cloud nucleating potential of
atmospheric aerosols collected from ARM and ASR field
campaigns.
Novel
Applications of EMSL Capabilities: Projects should be aimed at stretching the
boundaries of scientific integration of EMSL capabilities while being relevant
to DOE mission areas. This work could involve radically different experimental
or computational approaches or application of expertise and/or approaches from
other research domains.
Closing
Date:
August
30, 2019
Link
to Full Announcement
https://www.emsl.pnl.gov/emslweb/call-fy-2020-exploratory-research-proposals
Contact
Information
(509)-371-6003