Urban Integrated Field Labs (IFL) | DE FOA 0002581

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002581

The Urban Integrated Field Labs (IFL) opportunity (DOE Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research program, Earth and Environmental System Sciences Division) is a research grant solicitation focused on strengthening the basic science needed to predict climate and environmental conditions in cities. The core idea is to build Urban Integrated Field Laboratories, meaning coordinated, place-based research efforts that treat an urban region as a complex system where the atmosphere, land surface, water, ecosystems, infrastructure, and human activity constantly interact. DOE is looking for projects that push fundamental understanding of how these coupled natural-human systems behave, how predictable they are under climate variability and extremes, and how improved science can ultimately support resilience-focused decisions.

A central emphasis is on urban heterogeneity and climate sensitivity. For this funding call, an urban region is not just a dense population center; it includes interdependent environmental, ecological, infrastructure, and human components. DOE is specifically interested in cities located in climate-sensitive settings, and in places where conditions vary sharply across neighborhoods because of differences in landforms, vegetation, built infrastructure, local environmental processes, population density, and socioeconomic patterns. The notice highlights that this unevenness matters most when it shapes unequal impacts, especially for disadvantaged communities. In practice, the funded IFLs are expected to generate scientific insight and improved predictive capability that recognizes the real patchwork nature of cities, rather than relying on over-smoothed regional averages.

The research approach expected under an Urban IFL is explicitly multidisciplinary and integrated. DOE anticipates comprehensive projects that combine field observations (on-the-ground and in-situ measurements), data assimilation (methods to ingest observations into models), modeling across relevant scales, and model-data fusion (tight coupling of measurement and simulation to improve understanding and prediction). The solicitation also points to modern uncertainty quantification and advanced data analytics as required elements, signaling that proposals should not only produce predictions but also clearly characterize confidence, error sources, and limitations. Another recurring theme is that the science should be positioned to inform equitable solutions, meaning the work should be designed in a way that can illuminate uneven risks and benefits across different communities within the urban landscape.

Structurally, applications must be multi-institutional and must center on developing a single IFL. DOE may fund multiple IFLs under this call, but it intends the overall portfolio to span different types of urban systems and stressors. That diversity could include differences in demographics, the kinds of climate-driven pressures affecting people and infrastructure, and contrasting geographic contexts such as coastal environments, arid regions, mountainous terrain, plains settings, or Great Lakes-adjacent cities. In other words, each selected IFL is expected to contribute a distinct angle on urban system predictability so that, taken together, the awards broaden national understanding across multiple urban archetypes.

Eligibility is broad for domestic applicants, with one notable exclusion: 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations that have engaged in lobbying activities after December 31, 1995 are not eligible. The funding call also spells out special participation rules for federally affiliated entities. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories can apply as leads or be included as subrecipients; however, if funded, their work is handled through DOE mechanisms (the DOE Field-Work Proposal System) under their existing lab contracts, rather than through the standard administrative terms applied to typical grantees. Non-DOE/NNSA Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and other federal agencies can participate, but they generally cannot serve as the lead institution or be treated as subrecipients under another organization; instead, they must join as team members and submit their own applications as part of a multi-institutional team led by an eligible non-federal institution, with funding typically routed via interagency agreements.

From the opportunity record, this is a discretionary grant under the DOE Office of Science, with CFDA number 81.049, posted March 23, 2022, and an original application deadline of June 16, 2022. The listed award ceiling is $25,000,000. Overall, the program is aiming to create a set of deeply instrumented, model-connected urban research testbeds that advance foundational Earth system science in cities, while directly grappling with the uneven exposures and vulnerabilities that urban residents experience under climate trends and extreme events.

• The Office of Science in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Urban Integrated Field Labs (IFL)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.049.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-03-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-06-16. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $25,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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