The Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment is pleased to announce the Fund for Energy Research with Corporate Partners. The goal of this fund is to advance research at the nexus of energy and complementary pursuits while fostering corporate collaboration and partnerships.

An individual or team led by a Princeton principal investigator (PI) is invited to submit a proposal for one of two tiers:

Energy Seed grant: This grant will provide up to $150,000 for a one-year project to seed new innovative research in an area noted below. A letter of interest from a corporate partner is required.

Energy Research grant: This grant will provide up to $250,000 per year for a duration of one to three years to advance innovative research in an area noted below. The successful proposals will have a minimum of 25% corporate contribution of the total budget. A letter of intent from at least one corporate partner is required.

Consideration will be given to proposals that are responsive to topics where energy research intersects with key areas such as decarbonization, infrastructure, materials, devices, systems, storage, or others, with clear connections to energy conversion, use, and management. Two to three awards will be offered at each tier. Proposals will be evaluated based on intellectual merit, relevance to the key topic areas, and potential for impact on industry.

Proposal Submission Guidelines

To facilitate the review process, prospective PIs are encouraged to send an email of intent by January 20, 2023 to the Andlinger Center’s assistant director for research, Charlie Sharpless, csharpless@princeton.edu. The email should briefly describe the proposal goals, list team members, if any, and name the potential corporate partner.

For full consideration, email the proposal packet to acee@princeton.edu by Monday, February 13, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. with the subject line: Energy Research Fund proposal. Consideration of submissions received after February 13 will be contingent on funding decisions.

The proposal packet should contain the following:

• Cover page: including lead PI, team members (names and affiliations, including corporate liaison), project title, total budget request, and project abstract of no more than 250 words. The abstract is to include a statement outlining the practical implications of the research and potential impact on industry and society.
• Scientific/technical narrative: no more than three pages, single-spaced, 12-point font, including tables and figures, that describe the project and address the intellectual merit and expected outcomes. References may be in addition to the stated number of pages.
• NSF-style biographies of PI and Princeton team members.
• Current and pending support from all sources: for PI and team members, along with a brief statement on any overlap between this project and existing funded research.
• Budget page with justification: allowable expenses include, but are not limited to, student stipends and tuition, postdoctoral and scholar salaries, travel, funds to execute gatherings (e.g., roundtables to bring experts together), publication costs, laboratory equipment, and materials and supplies associated with the project. No overhead will be charged to this grant.
• Letter(s) of interest from corporate partner(s) that will highlight the nature of the collaboration, interest, and/or financial commitment, if applicable.
• If desired, a list of one or more potential reviewers, internal to Princeton, who you feel might be particularly well-qualified to evaluate the technical and intellectual merit of the proposal.

Technical reports will be due annually and/or at the completion of the project. The awardee may be asked to present highlights of the project at future Andlinger Center meetings or events.

A faculty selection committee will review the proposals and decisions will be announced in March 2023. The start date may be as soon as July 1, 2023.

Questions regarding the call should be directed to csharpless@princeton.edu.