January 9, 2008.  The FY 2008 appropriations for BES (H.R. 2764, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, signed into law by the President on December 26, 2007) included no funding for this solicitation.  All of the proposals are now declined due to lack of funds. Principal investigators will receive written notification of the declination and anonymous reviews of their proposals.

The President's 2007 Budget Request included an increase of approximately $20 million for Mid-Scale Instrumentation funding in the Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program.  Scientific progress is predicated on observations of new phenomena, which often involve the development and implementation of advanced instrumentation and tools. The Mid-Scale Instrumentation solicitation was developed in recognition of the significant national need for mid-scale instruments that serve multiple users who are engaged in performing basic research in support of the nation’s energy mission.  Two broad categories of instrumentation are considered for funding: 1) x-ray and neutron scattering instrumentation including the development of new instrument concepts (~$10M) and 2) other mid-scale instrumentation (~$10M) including, but not limited to, electron microcharacterization and scanning probe microscopy, laser-based systems for ultrafast science, table-top x-ray sources, and diagnostic applications, high field NMR's, ESR's, specialized mass spectrometers, high field magnets, crystal growth facilities, and computer clusters or midrange servers in the 1-2 Teraflop range capable of supporting local production computing for a group effort.

The deadline for mandatory pre-applications and pre-proposals in response to Office of Science Notice 06-13 and DOE Laboratory Program Announcement 06-13, Mid-Scale Instrumentation, was May 17, 2006.  Of the 106 pre-proposals received, 59 were encouraged for full applications.  BES received 58 full proposals by the deadline of August 30, 2006.  The formal proposals are currently undergoing external peer review according to well-established guidelines.

The joint Congressional resolution (H.J.R. 20) funding BES in FY 2007 does not provide funding for Notice 06-13, Mid-Scale Instrumentation.  No awards were made in Mid-Scale Instrumentation in FY 2007.  The proposed FY2008 budget contained full funding for this initiative (approximately $20M).  Accordingly, all full applications submitted in response to Notice 06-13 were held in consideration for funding in FY 2008.  However, the FY 2008 appropriations for BES (H.R. 2764, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, signed into law by the President on December 26, 2007) included no funding for this solicitation.  All of the proposals are now declined due to lack of funds.  Principal investigators will receive written notification of the declination and anonymous reviews of their proposals.