ARPA-E Archived Funding Opportunities

Update: This Teaming List is associated with the ROCKS program, published on August 25, 2025 (DE-FOA-0003592 and DE-FOA-0003593).

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to accelerate U.S. mineral independence by increasing domestic supplies of rare earth elements (REEs) and other critical minerals. 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.

This program would seek innovative and transformational technologies that will enable rapid assessment of ore resources within a 5 kilometer x 5 kilometer area. All resource types, such as hard rock, REE-enriched clays, and seafloor deposits, are of interest. Technologies of interest include, but are not limited to, drilling and coring technology; improved sensors (both geochemical and geophysical); and rapid, quantitative analysis tools. High-risk, high-reward ideas are encouraged.

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

• Mining
• Drilling
• Geoscience
• Sensors
• Signal processing
• Ocean engineering

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 scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.

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 2025. 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 August 2025, for instructions on applying and for details on how projects will be funded.