The Critical Materials Institute (CMI) is a Department of Energy (DOE) Innovation Hub with a mission to advance research and development (R&D) targeting materials and processes that provide better assurance to U.S. industry reliant on critical materials. CMI is funded and managed by the Office of Energy Efficiency’s Advanced Manufacturing Office.
The intent of this Call for Proposals is to seek out new opportunities to accelerate the transformational advances in science and engineering necessary to reduce material criticality for energy innovation, with specific emphasis on industrial relevance, participation, and adoption. These topics are focused on challenges that currently limit the establishment of domestic supply chains for critical materials. Innovation generated from projects selected in response to this Call for Proposals will be leveraged to improve and/or transform current practices and solve industry-relevant challenges. Industrial institutions are invited to propose new ideas, with the intent to allow for the evolution of the CMI research and development portfolio to address scientific and technical challenges of industry relevance.
It is intended that work funded by this Call will be applied research. Applied research is defined as systematic study to gain knowledge or understanding necessary to determine the means by which a recognized and specific need may be met. It is expected the applied research will address scientific and technical challenges necessary to transition innovation. This call will not directly fund demonstration and pilot projects; however, we encourage such activities as part of a cost share contribution to the total project scope.