National Laser Users' Facility (NLUF) | DE FOA 0001891

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001891

The National Laser Users' Facility (NLUF) opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0001891) is a grant program run by the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA), specifically the Office of Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation under Defense Programs (NA-10). It invites new and renewal grant applications for research carried out through the NLUF Program under the Stewardship Science Grant Program (SSAAP), CFDA 81.112. In practical terms, the program funds external researchers while also providing them access to a major DOE-supported laser facility so they can run experiments that would be difficult or impossible to perform at a typical university or company lab.

At the center of the program is the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) at the University of Rochester, founded in 1970 to study how high-power lasers interact with matter. LLE hosts the OMEGA Laser Facility, which includes the OMEGA system (60 beams, up to about 30 kJ ultraviolet energy at 0.35 microns wavelength) and OMEGA EP (a four-beam system with two ultraviolet beams up to about 6.5 kJ with 10 ns duration, plus two beams that can either operate in a similar ultraviolet mode or as petawatt-class infrared beams up to about 2.6 kJ at 1.054 microns). The grant program is essentially a pathway for university and industry scientists to propose experiments that use these laser capabilities, with the facility maintained and operated by UR/LLE for DOE/NNSA.

NLUF sits within the broader Joint Program in High Energy Density Laboratory Plasmas, jointly sponsored by NNSA (NA-10) and the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences in DOE's Office of Science. While the experiments happen at the University of Rochester, the financial assistance awards are processed through the NNSA Albuquerque Complex in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A key feature of the opportunity is that it is not just money for a lab at the applicant's home institution; it is funding tied to doing work as a user at OMEGA/OMEGA EP, with facility time allocated specifically for NLUF projects. The announcement notes that roughly 17 percent of OMEGA and OMEGA EP operating time was expected to be available for NLUF users in Fiscal Years 2017 and 2018, highlighting that access to shot time is a limited, competitively managed resource.

From a research standpoint, the program targets high energy density (HED) physics and inertial confinement fusion (ICF), along with closely related laser-matter interaction topics. Examples explicitly called out include laboratory astrophysics, studying material properties under extreme pressure and temperature, and investigating laser-plasma instabilities. The solicitation also points applicants to the National Research Council report "Frontiers in High Energy Density Physics: The X-Games of Contemporary Science" as a broad scientific framing document, emphasizing that many of the regimes discussed there are reachable with the OMEGA Laser Facility. Another practical aspect is the expectation of collaboration: UR/LLE researchers are available to help users design and execute experiments, and principal investigators are encouraged to work directly with LLE staff, which can be important for aligning diagnostics, target designs, and shot plans with facility constraints.

Eligibility is relatively broad for an R&D facility user program. Eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (other than universities), and for-profit organizations other than small businesses, plus other entities as clarified in the full announcement. The funding instrument is a grant, categorized under science and technology and other research and development. The listing shows an award ceiling of $500,000. Key dates in the posted opportunity were a creation date of January 30, 2019 and an original closing date of March 15, 2019. For operational details such as facility capabilities, user processes, and experiment planning expectations, applicants are directed to LLE's website and the NLUF User's Guide (http://www.lle.rochester.edu/).

• The Department of Energy, NNSA in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "National Laser Users' Facility (NLUF)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.112.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 30, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 15, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for DE FOA 0001891

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