Register for Workshops to Learn More About the Program and Application Process

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is now accepting applications for the 2023 Solicitation 1 cycle. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, May 3.

SCGSR application assistance workshops will be held at 2 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, March 9, and Thursday, April 20. The first workshop will provide a general overview of the program. The second workshop will provide guidance for the application and proposal process, and attendees will be able to ask questions. Register for both workshops.

Since 2014, the SCGSR program has supported awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students to conduct part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE national laboratory or host site in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist to prepare graduate students for scientific and technical careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission.

The research opportunity is expected to advance the graduate students’ overall graduate theses while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at the host DOE laboratories.

Priority research areas for SCGSR applicants include Atmospheric System Research: Aerosol and Cloud Processes, Earth System Model Development: Computational Climate Modeling, and Regional and Global Model Analysis: Diagnostics for Water and Biogeochemical Cycles.

The Solicitation 1 information provides the following descriptions of the Earth System Model Development and Regional and Global Model Analysis priority research areas:

Earth System Model Development: Computational Climate Modeling

To advance the fidelity of Earth system models, there is an ongoing need to improve physical process representation (complexity) as well as model resolution. At the same time, computing capabilities continue to advance, and computer architectures are becoming increasingly complex. These computational advances present both a challenge and an opportunity for Earth system modeling research. There is a need for the combined skill set of computational and climate/Earth system sciences to design and optimize model codes with methods that can effectively utilize the evolution and advances of computer systems. Candidates for this topic should be developing new algorithms or computational methods for Earth system model codes that will both advance Earth system science and be designed to effectively and efficiently utilize emerging generations of leadership-class computers.

Background in one area of Earth system sciences as well as in either software engineering or mathematics, is desired but not required. Please refer to the Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling website for more information on the program and funded projects.

Regional and Global Model Analysis: Diagnostics for Water and Biogeochemical Cycles

The development of Earth system modeling systems requires process-oriented diagnostics to evaluate the deficiencies in model parameterizations. The current generation of Earth system models uses parameterizations for cloud processes and biogeochemical processes, among others. Clouds significantly influence precipitation, which is the major link between the water and biogeochemical cycles of the Earth system. The coupling between the atmosphere and the land surface provides the physical drivers of the linkage. As the Earth system models’ resolution increases, the interactions between different components of the Earth system present new challenges for diagnosing relationships that connect precipitation with large-scale variables involved in the parameterization of sub-grid scale processes.

Candidates for this topic should focus on the water cycle and biogeochemical research seeking to develop new analysis frameworks that combine process-oriented diagnostics and other exploratory metrics with methods of improving parameter choice for existing parameterizations in Earth system models. The use of artificial intelligence techniques is encouraged but not compulsory.

Please refer to the Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling website for more information on the program and funded projects.

The DOE Office of Science’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists sponsors and manages the SCGSR program in collaboration with the six Office of Science research programs, two research and development and production programs, and the DOE national laboratories/facilities.

More detailed information about the program, including other topic areas, eligibility requirements, and access to the online application system, can be found on the SCGSR web page.