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News and updates

ARPA-E to Host Energy Innovation Summit in DC

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The Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) will host its first-ever energy innovation summit in March to “serve as a forum for the nation’s energy leaders to share ideas, collaborate, and begin building the next Industrial Revolution in clean energy technologies.”

The meeting, which will be held March 1-3, 2010, at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in Washington D.C., is expected to draw policymakers and government officials, as well as members of the scientific and research communities, venture capitalists, technology entrepreneurs, and representatives of corporations interested in clean energy technologies.  

The summit will showcase projects of the award winners and finalists from ARPA-E’s first $150 million solicitation, as well as other “transformational technologies.”  

Those interested in attending are encouraged to register early because space is limited.

Speakers will include:

Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy
Arun Majumdar, ARPA-E Director
Desh Deshpande, Founder, Sycamore Networks
Vinod Khosla, Founder, Khosla Ventures
James Woolsey, Partner, Vantage Point Venture Partners; former CIA Director

Register Here

DARPA Young Faculty Award Released

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Full Proposals are due by 4:00PM ET, February 5, 2010

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency often selects its research efforts through the Research Announcement (RA) process.  The RA will appear on the Grants.gov website http://www.grants.gov/.  The following information is for those wishing to respond to the RA.

The DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA) program will identify and engage rising research stars in junior faculty positions in academia and expose them to Department of Defense (DoD) needs and DARPA’s program development process.  The YFA program will provide high-impact funding to these rising stars early in their careers in order to develop their research ideas in the context of DoD issues. The long term goal is to develop the next generation of academic scientists, engineers, and mathematicians in key disciplines who will focus a significant portion of their career on DoD and National Security issues.

This RA solicits single investigator proposals for research and development in the areas of the Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Mathematics of interest to DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office (DSO) and Microsystems Technology Office (MTO), and Social Sciences of interest to DARPA’s Transformational Convergence Technology Office (TCTO) as described in the topic list below. Proposed research should focus on innovations that will enable revolutionary advances in the selected topic area. High-risk/high-payoff ideas are strongly encouraged. Thus proposals that offer only incremental advances over state of the art will be deemed nonresponsive to this RA.

This solicitation is limited to participation by young investigators as defined in the Proposer Eligibility, Section III.

This solicitation seeks proposals for a 24 month research activity consisting of a 12 month base period and a 12 month option period, with a maximum funding level of $150K per each 12 month period ($300K maximum total funding). Continue reading “DARPA Young Faculty Award Released”

This Week on Capitol Hill January 4-8

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Both the House and the Senate will meet in a pro forma session on Tuesday, January 5th.  The House will not meet for legislative business until Tuesday, January 12th.  The Senate is not expected to meet for legislative business until Wednesday, January 20th.

Department of Energy Announces Details on Hubs

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Department of Energy to Invest $366M in Energy Innovation Hubs

Funding Opportunity Announcement for Fuels from Sunlight Hub is Issued

Washington, DC – U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu today outlined the Department’s plans to invest up to $366 million to establish and operate three new Energy Innovation Hubs focused on accelerating research and development in three key energy areas.  Each Hub, to be funded at up to $122 million over five years, will bring together a multidisciplinary team of researchers in an effort to speed research and shorten the path from scientific discovery to technological development and commercial deployment of highly promising energy-related technologies. 

 “Given the urgency of our challenges in both energy and climate, we need to do everything we can to mobilize our Nation’s scientific and technological talent to accelerate the pace of innovation,” said Secretary Chu.  “The DOE Energy Innovation Hubs represent a new, more proactive approach to managing and conducting research.  We are taking a page from America’s great industrial laboratories in their heyday.  Their achievements—from the transistor to the information theory that makes modern telecommunications possible—are evidence that we can build creative, highly-integrated research teams that can accomplish more, faster, than researchers working separately.”

The Hubs are part of a broad-based clean energy research strategy by the Obama Administration that will harness America’s innovation machine to achieve the breakthroughs we need.

This strategy includes three new initiatives which are designed to complement each other: Continue reading “Department of Energy Announces Details on Hubs”

This Week on Capitol Hall December 21-25

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The Senate is scheduled to remain in session for at least part of this week as it continues consideration of HR 3590, Health Care Overhaul. 

The House will meet at 12:00 pm on Wednesday, December 23rd, and at 10:00 am Saturday, December 26 for pro formas sessions.  [During pro forma sessions, no legislative business is conducted or votes taken.  These sessions are held to meet the 3-day rule in the Constitution that requires each House to gain the permission of the other for recesses longer than 3 days.]  

The only committee action scheduled for this week is Thursday, December 24, when the Senate Judiciary will mark up legislation on a National Criminal Justice Commission, medical bankruptcy fairness, ,hate crimes against the homeless, maltreated infants, and immunization exemptions for certain adopted children.  The committee will also vote on the namination of O. Rogeriee Thomopson to be a judge for the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.

Source:  CQ Today