DE-FOA-0003589: Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator Notice of Funding Opportunity | Research | UW–Madison Skip to main content
University of Wisconsin–Madison

DE-FOA-0003589: Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator Notice of Funding Opportunity

PostedApril 8, 2026
To:Associate Deans for Research; College/School Research Administrators
From:Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research
Date:April 08, 2026
Subject:DE-FOA-0003589: Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator Notice of Funding Opportunity

Deadline

Deadline for Internal Review:April 28, 2026

Project Description

Mandatory letters of intent must for this opportunity must be submitted to the sponsor no later than April 21, 2026, which is prior to the internal competition deadline of April 28, 2026. OVCR will accept applications for internal review only if a letter of intent has been submitted to the sponsor by the April 21 deadline.

The Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI) Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO), in partnership with the Office of Geothermal, announced a “Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator” Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) of up to $69 million. The NOFO will focus investments on American, industry-led partnerships to prototype and pilot innovative critical materials processing technologies that are currently only proven at the bench scale to address challenges in high-impact areas. The program establishes a pipeline that will support technology maturation to ultimately unlock private capital investments. It will also leverage other DOE lab-based investments, such as the Critical Materials Innovation (CMI) Hub and the Minerals to Materials Supply Chain Research Facility (METALLIC).

This NOFO will help ensure a more secure, predictable, and affordable supply of critical minerals and materials that are foundational to American energy dominance, national security, and industrial competitiveness.

The NOFO includes the following topic areas:

  • Topic Area 1: Production and material efficiency for critical materials, including rare earth elements (REEs). Inclusive of the following sub-topics:
    • 1A: Recovery and production from postindustrial manufacturing scrap
    • 1B: Recovery and production from postconsumer scrap (with an emphasis on electronic waste and drivetrains)
    • 1C: Recovery and production from blended feedstocks including mine tailings, postindustrial scrap, and postconsumer scrap

 

  • Topic Area 2: Processes to refine and alloy gallium, gallium nitride, germanium, and silicon carbide.

 

  • Topic Area 3: Cost-competitive direct lithium extraction, separation, and processing. Inclusive of the following sub-topics:
    • 3A: Cost-competitive direct lithium extraction
    • 3B: Advancing pre- and post- treatment and disposal technologies for direct lithium extraction
    • 3C: Exploration and characterization of critical materials and REEs from volcanic-hosted geothermal systems

 

Amount per Award: $1,00,000 – $3,000,000, dependent on Topic Area
Duration of Award: 24 – 36 months, dependent on Topic Area
Estimated Number of Awards: Varies by Topic Area

 

Eligibility

Per the sponsor’s Notice of Funding Opportunity, you must submit a letter of intent to the Department of Energy by April 21, 2026 to be eligible to submit an internal or full application. There is no institutional limit on letter of intent submissions, and letter of intent submissions do not obligate a PI to submit a full application.

 UW-Madison may submit one application as lead institution to Topic Area 1, one application as lead institution to Topic Area 2, and one application as lead institution to each of the Topic Area 3 Subtopics.

Sponsor deadlines vary by Topic Area. Topic Area 1 applications are due to DoE by May 26, 2026. Topic Area 2 applications are due to DoE by June 22, 2026. Topic Area 3 applications are due to DoE by July 20, 2026.

 

Website

The following link contains additional information on the program and specific application instructions:
https://www.energy.gov/cmei/ammto/critical-minerals-and-materials-accelerator-0?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Internal Competition Application Instructions

Applications for Internal Review

To submit your application, attach a single PDF to an email to grants@research.wisc.edu.

Please include the following:

  • Letter of Intent submitted to DoE
  • PI CV
  • Project summary of 1-2 pages that describes how the proposed project meets the goals of the solicitation

 

 

Sponsor Deadlines

Letters of Intent are due to Department of Energy by April 21, 2026. Applications are due to Department of Energy by May 26, 2026.

Questions?

Contact grants@research.wisc.edu.