FY 2024 Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW)

Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) aims to build foundations for Office of Science (SC) research through traineeships at academic institutions that have been historically underrepresented in the SC portfolio. RENEW leverages SC's unique national laboratories, user facilities, and other research infrastructure to provide training opportunities for students and postdoctoral researchers from these institutions. The hands-on experiences gained through RENEW will open new career avenues for trainees, forming a nucleus for a future pool of talented young scientists, engineers, and technicians with the critical skills and expertise needed for the full breadth of SC research activities.

RENEW supports traineeships for students and postdoctoral researchers from non-R1 Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs)[1] and non-R1 Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)[2],[3] in areas relevant to SC programs. SC seeks applications to develop traineeships for participants from these institutions that involve conducting research in partnership with a DOE-affiliated institution, including DOE National Laboratories, SC user facilities, Bioenergy Research Centers, or DOE Isotope Program Production Sites. Traineeships may include partnerships with multiple DOE-affiliated partner institutions to learn about the diversity and breadth of science conducted by the Office of Science.

Undergraduate traineeships should include hands-on research experience to foster greater understanding of the research process, such as how to identify knowledge gaps and develop effective hypotheses, how to test hypotheses, and how to work within a team structure to accomplish an objective. The proposal should describe how the traineeship will accommodate differences in preparation among trainees. Traineeships for graduate students or postdoctoral researchers should be appropriately scaled for the development of future leaders in their research field. Trainees should have the opportunity to actively engage in meaningful and diverse research tasks, maximizing their involvement and learning experience. Trainee involvement should not be limited to routine, simple tasks in the laboratory or literature research. Traineeships should engage the trainee on a regular basis (e.g., weekly).

Traineeships should also include complementary activities for trainees' professional development and career advancement, including efforts to build or reinforce STEM identity and sense of belonging. This could include research presentations, participation in scientific research meetings, lectures, mentoring (discussed further below), or developing new content to connect research to academic curriculum.

Trainees are participants in and beneficiaries of a structured, substantive STEM training program with measurable expectations and a duration and intensity substantial enough to achieve both short-term and long-term training outcomes. Research has shown that long-term, year-round experiences build students' commitment to their fields and increase their confidence that they can succeed.[4],[5] Preference will be given to applications that provide compensation comparable to the cost of living or provide support for students such as guaranteed housing. To achieve this objective, a significant portion of the proposed budget must be allocated for trainee support.

[1] Emerging research institution was defined in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. Federal research expenditures are based on the National Science Foundation's Higher Education Research and Development Survey: Fiscal Year 2021 (https://ncses.nsf.gov/surveys/higher-education-research-development/2021).

[2] The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education can be found at https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu. A list of institutions with very high research activity (R1 institutions) is available at https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/institutions/?basic2021__du%5B%5D=15.

[3] MSI designations are based on the Department of Education eligibility matrix (https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/eligibility.html). Eligible MSIs are listed as Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions (AANHs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institutions (NASNTI), Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs). For the purposes of this FOA, institutions marked in the eligibility matrix as either being eligible to receive funding or as receiving funding will be considered an MSI.

[4] https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.11-11-0098

[5] https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21341