Research Basic Plasma Science and Engineering | DE FOA 0002889

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): DOE Office of Science (FES) "Research Basic Plasma Science and Engineering" (DE-FOA-0002889)

1) What is the name of this grant opportunity and who is offering it?

This opportunity is titled "Research Basic Plasma Science and Engineering" and is offered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, through its Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program.

2) What is the Funding Opportunity Number (FOA number)?

The Funding Opportunity Number is DE-FOA-0002889.

3) What program area within DOE does this fall under?

The solicitation sits within the FES Discovery Plasma Science portfolio, specifically the Plasma Science and Technology - General Plasma Science (GPS) program.

4) What is the main goal of this funding opportunity?

The goal is to support frontier-level research in basic plasma science and engineering, with an emphasis on advancing fundamental understanding and enabling science rather than near-term product development.

5) What types of research teams does DOE intend to support?

The focus is on new or renewal projects led by a single principal investigator or a small research group.

6) Is this opportunity aimed at building near-term commercial products?

No. The opportunity emphasizes fundamental understanding and enabling science, not near-term product development.

7) How broad is the technical scope?

The scope is broad and includes both basic plasma physics and low temperature plasma science, spanning fundamental dynamical plasma processes, specialized plasma regimes, and plasma chemistry/materials-interaction topics.

8) What basic plasma physics topics are explicitly highlighted?

Examples explicitly highlighted include:

• Magnetic reconnection (how magnetic field lines break and reconnect, rapidly converting magnetic energy into particle energy)
• Dynamo processes (mechanisms that generate and sustain magnetic fields)
• Shocks
• Turbulence and turbulence cascades
• Formation and evolution of plasma structures
• Waves and flows and their interactions, including how energy and momentum move through plasmas and how instabilities arise and saturate

9) Does the FOA include research relevant to space and astrophysical plasmas?

Yes. DOE expresses interest in fundamental dynamical processes that occur in laboratory plasmas as well as in space and astrophysical environments.

10) What specialized plasma regimes or systems are called out?

The FOA calls out several specialized regimes and systems, including:

• Dusty plasmas (plasmas containing charged micro- or nanoparticles that strongly affect transport and collective behavior)
• Non-neutral plasmas (plasmas with a net charge, often used in precision traps and beam-like configurations)
• Single-component matter or antimatter plasmas (relevant to fundamental physics and advanced confinement studies)
• Ultra-cold neutral plasmas (extremely low-temperature plasmas where strong coupling and unusual collective effects can be explored)

11) What low temperature plasma topics are included?

The opportunity includes plasma chemistry and plasma-enabled processes, particularly where partially ionized plasmas drive chemical reactions, produce reactive species, or alter material surfaces. The emphasis is on the underlying science and predictive understanding.

12) Does this FOA cover plasma interactions with materials and interfaces?

Yes. The scope explicitly includes:

• Interfacial plasma (plasma interactions at boundaries such as gas-liquid or plasma-solid interfaces)
• Plasma-surface/material/biomaterial interactions
• Plasma-based synthesis of nanomaterials

13) Are application-relevant plasma processes mentioned, and how are they framed?

Yes. The FOA references topics commonly tied to surface modification and processing pathways (for example, thin film growth, etching, functionalization, sterilization, and related plasma-material interaction routes). The framing here is fundamental science and predictive understanding, not near-term productization.

14) Does the portfolio include connections to microelectronics?

Yes. The FOA notes the portfolio supports research opportunities connected to microelectronics, signaling interest in plasma science relevant to areas like advanced semiconductor processing, precision fabrication, and plasma-based materials engineering, provided the proposed work remains anchored in fundamental plasma science and engineering questions.

15) Does the FOA mention Quantum Information Science (QIS)?

Yes. The FOA notes research opportunities connected to Quantum Information Science (QIS). This signals openness to plasma science proposals that can contribute to QIS-relevant materials, devices, or measurement/control methods, as long as the work remains fundamentally focused.

16) What is the funding category and grant type as described?

The listing describes this as a discretionary grant opportunity in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category.

17) What CFDA number is associated with this opportunity?

The associated CFDA number is 81.049.

18) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning the solicitation is broadly open to applicant types permitted under DOE assistance rules (rather than being limited to a narrow class of institutions).

19) What is the maximum award amount (award ceiling)?

The award ceiling is $1,500,000 per award.

20) How many awards does DOE expect to make?

The expected number of awards is not specified in the provided listing.

21) When was this opportunity created?

The opportunity was created on 2022-12-08.

22) What was the application closing date listed for this FOA?

The original closing date for applications was 2023-03-06.

23) Is this FOA limited to either basic plasma physics or low temperature plasma science?

No. The FOA is written to cover both basic plasma physics topics (including laboratory, space, and astrophysical plasma dynamics) and low temperature plasma science topics (including plasma chemistry, interfaces, and plasma-material interactions).

24) What kinds of scientific questions appear most aligned with the FOA?

Based on the description, the most aligned questions are those that push frontier-level, fundamental understanding of plasma dynamics, collective behavior, instabilities, energy and momentum transport, and plasma-chemistry/materials interactions, including in specialized regimes (dusty, non-neutral, antimatter, ultracold) and at interfaces, while maintaining a focus on enabling science rather than immediate products.