Energy announces $352M in funding for frontier science

The agency will make funding available to research teams looking to solve the scientific challenges underpinning next-generation energy technologies.

The Department of Energy unveiled a new $352 million funding opportunity for frontier research centers to accelerate emerging energy technologies and systems that will power the U.S. technology landscape. 

Announced on Tuesday, the new funding for Energy Frontier Research Centers follows the Trump administration’s May 2025 executive order instructing agencies to prioritize “Gold Standard Science” and is available for U.S. colleges and universities, researchers based in the national laboratory apparatus and private sector companies. 

The goal is to address fundamental research challenges in materials sciences, chemistry, geosciences and biosciences.

The focus on these fields serves as a means to advance breakthroughs in areas like critical minerals, quantum computing and advanced manufacturing that are slated to be crucial to new energy technologies and systems.

“For over 15 years, the ...