ARPA-E Funding Opportunities

The Quantum Computing for Computational Chemistry program (QC³) aims to harness the transformative power of quantum computing to accelerate energy innovation. Computation plays an essential role in modern R&D, but classical computers struggle to simulate quantum systems with the speed, scale, and accuracy necessary to advance many commercial energy applications. This program will support the R&D of scalable, generalizable quantum computing approaches to computational chemistry and materials science. These approaches will be exponentially faster than the classical computing state-of-the-art (SoA), improving speed, accuracy, or problem size by 100 times (100x). This could result in a cumulative energy impact of 1 quadrillion British thermal units (1 quad), which is equal to a reduction of roughly 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions from energy-related activities.

The QC³ program focuses on developing and applying quantum algorithms in key energy research areas where classical methods are insufficient. This includes the development of quantum chemistry algorithms, their translation into quantum circuits or analog programs, and rigorous validation against classical benchmarks and experiments. The goal is to validate these algorithms on a quantum computer with approximately 100 logical qubits to show scalability and practical advantages over classical computation for energy applications.

Projects under this program must complete the following program objectives:

1. Identify a specific problem in chemistry or materials science where a quantum solution, if scalable and generalizable, can lead to cumulative quad-scale energy impact or gigaton-scale reduction in energy-related CO₂e emissions.
2. Develop solutions which are optimized through the full quantum computational stack (applications, software/algorithms, and hardware). The solution must have a provable ability to scale effectively as quantum hardware improves.
3. Have access to and validate on quantum hardware.
4. Complete one of the following:
   1. Achieve a scalable 100x improvement over the classical SoA in speed, accuracy, problem size, or some other relevant capability on the identified energy-relevant problem; or
   2. Prove scalability using hardware resource estimation and running smaller dimensional problems on available quantum hardware if 100x improvement cannot be realized on the identified energy-relevant problem by the end of the performance period.

PLEASE NOTE: The Budget Justification Workbook / SF-424A template was updated on January 16, 2025. Please use the version labeled June 2024.

The Quantum Computing for Computational Chemistry program (QC³) aims to harness the transformative power of quantum computing to accelerate energy innovation. Computation plays an essential role in modern R&D, but classical computers struggle to simulate quantum systems with the speed, scale, and accuracy necessary to advance many commercial energy applications. This program will support the R&D of scalable, generalizable quantum computing approaches to computational chemistry and materials science. These approaches will be exponentially faster than the classical computing state-of-the-art (SoA), improving speed, accuracy, or problem size by 100 times (100x). This could result in a cumulative energy impact of 1 quadrillion British thermal units (1 quad), which is equal to a reduction of roughly 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions from energy-related activities.

The QC³ program focuses on developing and applying quantum algorithms in key energy research areas where classical methods are insufficient. This includes the development of quantum chemistry algorithms, their translation into quantum circuits or analog programs, and rigorous validation against classical benchmarks and experiments. The goal is to validate these algorithms on a quantum computer with approximately 100 logical qubits to show scalability and practical advantages over classical computation for energy applications.

Projects under this program must complete the following program objectives:

1. Identify a specific problem in chemistry or materials science where a quantum solution, if scalable and generalizable, can lead to cumulative quad-scale energy impact or gigaton-scale reduction in energy-related CO₂e emissions.
2. Develop solutions which are optimized through the full quantum computational stack (applications, software/algorithms, and hardware). The solution must have a provable ability to scale effectively as quantum hardware improves.
3. Have access to and validate on quantum hardware.
4. Complete one of the following:
   1. Achieve a scalable 100x improvement over the classical SoA in speed, accuracy, problem size, or some other relevant capability on the identified energy-relevant problem; or
   2. Prove scalability using hardware resource estimation and running smaller dimensional problems on available quantum hardware if 100x improvement cannot be realized on the identified energy-relevant problem by the end of the performance period.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) intends to issue a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) in November 2019 to solicit applications for financial assistance to develop lower-cost fusion-energy concepts.¹ Based on numerous studies examining the cost challenges facing advanced nuclear energy,² which shares some attributes with fusion such as unit size and capital cost, ARPA-E believes that a commercial fusion power plant should target an overnight capital cost (OCC) of <US$2B and <$5/W. Furthermore, if fusion energy can be commercialized in about 20 years, then, as a firm low-carbon energy source, it can contribute to meeting global, growing low-carbon energy demand and cost-effective deep decarbonization³ in the latter half of the century.

As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to the planned FOA. The FOA will provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria, and the FOA terms are controlling. For the purposes of the Teaming Partner List, the following summarizes current planning for the FOA.

Building on the ALPHA program⁴ and synergies with the growing private fusion industry,⁵ the key objective of this program will be to increase the number and performance levels of lower-cost fusion concepts. Presently, ARPA–E anticipates that this program may have three research categories:

A. Concept Development: projects will develop lower-cost fusion concepts as measured against specific milestones (to be detailed in the FOA), from theoretical/numerical assessment of net-energy-gain potential to experimental demonstration of fusion-triple-product⁶ increases toward the notional energy-breakeven requirement of ~3x10²¹ keV·s/m³.Concepts that have already demonstrated triple products >10¹⁹ keV·s/m³ are not eligible for this category but may be eligible for Component Technology Development (Category B) below.ARPA-E may support multiple concepts in this category at a range of entry and exit milestones.Concepts from the full range of thermonuclear parameter space⁷ (i.e., from lower-density magnetically confined to higher-density inertially confined systems) will be eligible.Proposers will be required to fill in a spreadsheet (to be included with the FOA) to estimate the cost of a short-pulse or single-shot, net-gain experiment based on their concept.Proposals will be evaluated, in part, based on whether the estimated cost for the net-gain experiment is less than ~$100M.

B. Component Technology Development: projects will develop a component technology with the potential to reduce the capital cost of costlier, more mature fusion concepts, such as the tokamak, stellarator, or inertial confinement fusion (ICF).Proposers will be asked to make a quantitative argument (e.g., relative to relevant past reactor studies) that a grid-ready demonstration power plant enabled by the new component technology could satisfy the metrics of OCC <$2B and $5/W.

C. Capability Teams: projects will improve/adapt and apply an existing capability to support multiple Concept Development projects (Category A). Priority needs include (but are not limited to) (i) theory, modeling, and validation for a range of lower-cost fusion concepts, including pulsed, intermediate-density fusion concepts (e.g., magneto-inertial fusion and Z pinches) and magnetic-confinement concepts with reduced magnetic-field strength/complexity and/or linear geometry; (ii) creative application of machine learning to accelerate the development of lower-cost fusion concepts; and (iii) expert engineering design, fabrication, or other support to accelerate progress for multiple projects and lower the overall costs for the program.

In order to realize the goals of this ARPA-E program, expertise in the following areas may be useful: (i) fusion plasma physics; (ii) multi-physics modeling and simulations of fusion plasmas; (iii) design, construction, and/or operation of plasma/fusion experiments; (iv) machine learning; (v) pulsed-power systems; (vi) high-temperature superconducting magnets; (vii) high-field permanent magnets; (viii) plasma-heating systems; (ix) high-efficiency, high-bandwidth, high-average-power lasers for ICF; (x) enabling the use of advanced fusion fuels; and (xi) advanced manufacturing. As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E eXCHANGE (https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov), ARPA–E’s online application portal, starting in October 2019. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect the addition of new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name; Contact Name; Contact Address; Contact Email; Contact Phone; Organization Type; Area of Technical Expertise; and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA–E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted via email or other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued in November 2019, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

1 https://arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=workshop/enabling-timely-and-commercially-viable-fusion-energy; this workshop discussed both “lower-cost fusion concept development” and “fusion enabling technologies.” This Teaming Partner List and planned FOA are only for the former.

2 e.g., The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World, An Interdisciplinary MIT Study, MIT Energy Initiative (2018).

3 N. A. Sepulveda et al., “The Role of Firm Low-Carbon Electricity Resources in Deep Decarbonization of Power Generation,” Joule 2, 2403 (2018).

4 Accelerating Low-cost Plasma Heating and Assembly; C. L. Nehl et al., “Retrospective of the ARPA-E ALPHA Fusion Program,” J. Fusion Energy, published online Oct. 8, 2019.

5 See, e.g., member companies of the Fusion Industry Association.

6 The “Lawson” fusion triple product is a metric for comparing the rate of fusion energy production to the rate of energy lost from the fusion fuel. Above a threshold value of the triple product, fusion energy exceeds the energy lost. This is typically required in a practical fusion power plant.

7 I. R. Lindemuth and R. E. Siemon, “The fundamental parameter space of controlled thermonuclear fusion,” Amer. J. Phys. 77, 407 (2009).

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to support research and development of technologies that would enable a scaled, offshore seaweed industry, creating a gigaton-scale supply of sustainable hydrocarbons without significant disruption of existing industries and no additional requirements for land, fresh water, or artificial fertilizer. Specifically, this NOFO would fund the development of new sensor, ocean engineering, and market-enabling technologies.

The purpose of this Teaming Partner List announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to the potential NOFO. Any NOFO issued in the future would provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria. If there are any inconsistencies between this announcement and the potential NOFO, the NOFO language would be controlling.

The anticipated goals of the program are:

• To reduce the cost of seaweed biomass cultivation by a factor of four when scaled, from the low thousands today to $120-275 per Dry Metric Ton (DMT, 10% moisture) depending on the cultivated species;
• To develop new, energy-centric, million-ton-scale markets in the United States; and
• To increase the scale of the U.S.-based seaweed cultivation industry by three orders of magnitude, from one thousand to one million tons per year wet harvest through these new markets.
  

The NOFO would focus on technology development in three categories to achieve these objectives:

1. Pioneering Smart Aqua Farms: New sensors and models to enable a complete, real-time, remote, and persistent understanding of farm state offshore. Parameters of interest include in-situ quantification of biomass growth rates and absolute quantities, nitrate and sugar content/type, biofouling and herbivory impacts, and structural loading. Such sensing capabilities will inform both dynamically updated structural and biological models that will curtail manual inspection, enable autonomy, enhance yield, enhance worker safety, and protect operational assets.
2. Creating Offshore Scale:
   1. Depth cycling: Hardware and control systems to enable the crop to periodically access optimal environments below nutriclines and thermoclines; and
   2. Dewatering: Methods of seaweed dewatering at sea to improve the economics of biomass transport and extend shelf life.
3. Enabling Megaton Markets:
   1. Biostimulant characterization: The discovery of biostimulant formulations and mechanisms, and investigation of their applicability to bioenergy row crops as a direct product line; and
   2. Other new and innovative approaches that harness the potential of a scaled seaweed production process to address U.S. energy needs.

Expertise in the following areas may be useful in responding to the potential NOFO:

• Deep water engineering, modeling, energy harvesting
• Automation and offshore robotic systems
• Seaweed cultivation, optimization, and processing
• Analytical biochemistry
• Biological/biochemical sensing
• Optical, electromagnetic, and acoustic sensing of biological phenomena
• Agricultural biochemistry
• Plant and microbial biology
• Uncrewed ocean surface vehicles and platforms
• Thermal and non-thermal water removal
• Technoeconomic and life-cycle analysis

ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to submit their information to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible. Furthermore, teaming arrangements with researchers from the Republic of Korea may be strongly encouraged under this program.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting in December 2024. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically until the close of the Full Application period to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following form: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting your information to this Teaming Partner List, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to email addresses or by other means will not be considered. Participation in and utilization of this list is completely voluntary. ARPA-E will not identify or facilitate connections through the Teaming Partner List and participation in the list has no bearing whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the potential funding opportunity.

This list does not constitute a NOFO. A NOFO does not exist at this time. Applicants must refer to the NOFO, expected to be issued by December 2024, for instructions on applying and for details on how projects will be funded.

ALPHA seeks to develop and demonstrate low-cost tools to aid in the development of fusion power, with a focus on approaches to produce plasmas in the final density range of 10¹⁸-10²³ ions/cm³ (at Lawson conditions). The program goal is to create a toolset that will allow a significant reduction in facilities costs for fusion development and to enable rapid learning through a high shot rate at a low cost-per-shot, enabling rapid progress along new learning curves towards economical fusion power

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy (ARPA-E) intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled Accelerating Low-cost Plasma Heating and Assembly (ALPHA), to solicit applications to pursue innovative research to significantly reduce the “cost of entry” into fusion R&D. As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to the upcoming ALPHA FOA. The FOA will provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria. The FOA terms will be controlling.  For purposes of the Teaming Partner List, the following summarizes current planning for the FOA:

The focus of ALPHA is to develop research tools to explore the intermediate ion density regime of 10¹⁸-10²³ ions/cm³ (at Lawson conditions).  This intermediate density space falls outside of the major research programs in magnetic confinement and inertial confinement fusion, and represents a high risk, high reward opportunity to identify new pathways to fusion power that may offer relatively inexpensive development cycles.  ARPA-E's goal is to develop a set of low-cost technologies in fusion drivers and plasma formation that will achieve high experimental shot rates for rapid learning, and create new low-cost paths to fusion power beyond the ARPA-E program.  Currently, ARPA-E anticipates that the FOA will focus on research in: (1) Targets, plasma formation technologies to produce plasmas with sufficient lifetime, transport properties, and geometry to pair with a driver and achieve Lawson conditions at a final density of 10¹⁸-10²³ ions/cm³; and (2) Drivers, systems to deliver energy to plasma targets with sufficient power density, symmetry, and mitigation of instabilities to achieve Lawson conditions at a final density of 10¹⁸-10²³ ions/cm³. There may be areas of overlap where a single system can both form a plasma target and drive it to fusion conditions, and such a system is also within the scope of this planned FOA.

ARPA-E anticipates that expertise including, but not limited to, the following Technical Areas may be useful in responding to the FOA: thermonuclear fusion, plasma physics, pulsed power, plasma guns, rail and coil guns, particle accelerators, laser accelerators, MEMS, plasma compression (e.g. solid liners, liquid liners, plasma liners, magnetic compression), compact toroids (field reversed configuration, spheromaks), standoff plasma magnetization, plasma pinches, power plant design, magnetohydrodynamics, plasma codes, fusion energy, fusion propulsion.

As a general matter, ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting in August 2014. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued in August or September 2014, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.