Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program III (PSAAP III) | DE FOA 0002068

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002068

The Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program III (PSAAP III) is a Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) funding opportunity designed to strengthen university-led research that pushes the frontier of large-scale, high-fidelity simulation. The central idea is that "predictive science" is not limited to one discipline; it underpins major problem areas such as nuclear weapons stewardship, advanced and efficient manufacturing, complex biological systems, nanoscale materials, organic and reactive chemical processes, and climate modeling. PSAAP III is focused on the kind of integrated, physics-based modeling where the goal is not just to run big simulations, but to produce results that are credible, validated, and meaningfully predictive for real-world decision-making.

A key emphasis of the program is the tight coupling of application science with computer science. PSAAP III recognizes that modern predictive simulation succeeds only when multiple disciplines are brought together within a single, coherent computational framework. That means applicants are expected to propose software and algorithmic approaches that can integrate different scientific models (for example, multiple physics packages, multi-scale or multi-phenomena couplings, uncertainty quantification, and data workflows) while still maintaining strong depth in the underlying disciplines. In other words, the program is not simply asking for a domain science project that happens to use a supercomputer; it is asking for research that advances the computational methods and software ecosystems that make next-generation predictive simulation possible.

The opportunity is explicitly tied to the national push toward Exascale computing. Proposed work should include computer science research that contributes to Exascale-relevant technologies and should demonstrate those advances within the context of the applicant's chosen predictive science application. This typically implies that successful projects would address challenges that become acute at Exascale, such as extreme parallelism, performance portability across diverse architectures, scalable algorithms, resilient execution, efficient memory and data movement, workflow automation, and improved developer productivity for large scientific codes. The funding announcement notes that the FOA includes specific topics of particular interest to NNSA National Laboratories as they transition toward Exascale platforms, while also encouraging other forward-looking topics that could enable Exascale advances even if they are not explicitly listed.

PSAAP III is offered as a discretionary funding opportunity under a cooperative agreement mechanism, which generally signals a more involved partnership style where the sponsor may expect ongoing interaction, coordination, and alignment with program goals compared to a standard grant. The funding activity area is categorized as science and technology and other research and development, and it is associated with CFDA number 81.124. Eligible applicants are limited to higher education institutions, including both public/state-controlled universities and private universities, reflecting the program's academic alliance model.

In terms of scale and competitiveness, the FOA (DE-FOA-0002068) anticipated making about four awards, with an award ceiling of $5,000,000 per award. The opportunity was originally posted on April 23, 2019, with an original closing date of May 31, 2019. Taken together, these details suggest a relatively selective competition intended to fund a small number of substantial, multi-year, high-impact academic efforts capable of delivering both foundational computer science advances and convincing demonstrations in complex predictive simulation applications relevant to NNSA and the broader Exascale computing ecosystem.

• The Department of Energy, NNSA in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program III (PSAAP III)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.124.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 23, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 31, 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 $5,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for DE FOA 0002068

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