The Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment (“Andlinger Center”) is pleased to announce a call for proposals to 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.

Proposals can be submitted for one of two funding 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. Collaborative, interdisciplinary, forward-looking projects involving multiple faculty and highly engaged corporate partners are encouraged in this category. The successful proposals will have a minimum of 25% corporate contribution of the total project budget. A letter of intent from at least one corporate partner is required (see “Proposal Submission Guidelines” for additional detail).

Consideration will be given to proposals that are responsive to topics where energy research intersects with key areas such as decarbonization, infrastructure, data and information, materials, devices, systems, storage, or others, with clear connections to energy conversion, use, and management. Proposals will be evaluated based on intellectual merit, relevance to energy issues, quality of corporate engagement, and potential for industry impact or innovation.

Eligibility

Principal investigators (and co-PIs) must be full-time Princeton University faculty or research scholars. External collaborators are welcome but cannot receive funding from these awards. Researchers who have received a Research-tier award from the previous two cycles of this program are ineligible to serve as PI but may serve as a co-PI. Investigators who have previously received grants from the Andlinger Center must be up-to-date with report submissions before submitting a proposal in response to this call.

For both Seed- and Research-tier awards, preference will be given to researchers who have not received funding in previous rounds of this competition. An exception to this rule is that applications to the Research-tier from researchers previously funded at the Seed-tier will be given full consideration.

All things being equal, preference will be given to proposals submitted by PIs who are not currently receiving funding from either the Andlinger Center’s Grants for Innovative Research in Energy and the Environment or the Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellows Programs.

Disallowance of Financial Conflict

Funding from a company in which a PI has a significant financial interest is not allowed. For the purpose of this call, a PI has a significant financial interest in a company if they have received $5,000 or more in cumulative salary or payment for services during the previous 12 months, or if the combined value of any equity interest possessed by a PI in the company plus cumulative salary and payment for services during the past 12 months equals or exceeds $5,000. At the time of submission, the person submitting the proposal will be required to confirm that all PIs who would receive funding from an award have no financial conflicts.

Advice on Corporate Contributions for Research-Tier Proposals

Ahead of proposal submission, prospective PIs for Research-tier awards should discuss with their partner(s) whether the 25% corporate portion of the total project budget will be provided as a gift or through a sponsored research agreement. Should the corporate portion be provided as a gift, the Andlinger Center will require a gift letter to memorialize the contribution. If the corporation choses to fund their portion as a sponsored project, the funding is subject to the federally-approved 64% indirect cost charge and must be approved by the Office of Research and Project Administration. If you have questions about this, please consult the Andlinger Center’s Senior Grants and Finance Manager, Ashlee Prewitt-Crosby, ashleep@princeton.edu. In-kind contributions from the corporate partner(s) are not allowable to satisfy the 25% corporate portion; 100% of the corporate contribution must be in the form of either a gift or through a sponsored project, but not both.

Proposal Submission Guidelines

To facilitate the review process, prospective PIs are encouraged to send an email of intent by February 24, 2025 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, and name the potential corporate partner(s).

Proposals are due Monday, March 10, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. 

Required elements of the proposal are:

• 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 four 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, submitted as a single pdf file.
• Current and pending support from all sources: for PI and team members, including the submitted proposal, noting for each project whether there is overlap between this proposal and existing funded research. If overlap exists, a brief statement describing such is required. This must be submitted as a single pdf file.
• Budget and justification (pdf document): 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. Ineligible expenses include faculty summer salaries.
• For Research-tier awards, the total project budget must detail Princeton expenses and corporate partner expenses; corporate partner budgets do not include corporate partner salaries and overhead. No university overhead will be charged to this grant, although overhead will be charged to corporate funds received under a sponsored research grant (see above, “Advice on Corporate Contributions for Research-Tier Proposals”). In-kind contributions from the corporate partner(s) are not allowable to satisfy the 25% corporate portion.
• Letter(s) of interest from corporate partner(s) that will highlight their interest and describe the nature of the collaboration. For Research-tier awards, letters must include a commitment to the 25% corporate contribution of the total project budget in cash.
• 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.
• Acknowledgement of no financial conflict: During submission, a pdf form will be provided for the PIs to download, sign, and upload, acknowledging their adherence to the “disallowance of financial conflict” statement noted previously in this announcement.

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.

Proposal Submission and Evaluation

Proposal submission will occur through InfoReady per details posted on the Andlinger Center’s webpage for this announcement. Questions regarding the call should be directed to csharpless@princeton.edu.

A faculty selection committee will review the proposals and decisions will be announced in May 2025. The start date may be as soon as August 1, 2025.

Reviewers will be asked to evaluate proposals in four areas:

1. Intellectual merit (the extent to which the research demonstrates potential to advance knowledge in its field, explores creative, original, or potentially transformative concepts, is well-reasoned, and has measurable criteria for success).
2. Relevance to key topic areas, as noted in the call for proposals, and clarity of connection to energy conversion, use, and management
3. Potential for industry impact on industry
4. Evidence of substantive engagement with industry partner(s)