Funding has been available through the government’s FutureGen program. The core program will provide up to $1.6 million for projects that complement ongoing applied research in the department’s Fossil Energy program.

The Innovative Concepts phase I program will offer $400,000 to projects using out-of-the-box ideas that might lead to future breakthroughs; and the Innovative Concepts phase II program could provide up to $600,000 to promising projects that were previously supported with Phase I funding.

Projects proposed in the Core Program will be eligible for grants ranging from $80,000 for a one-year project to $200,000 for a three-year project sponsored by a single university. Universities that team with at least two other academic institutions, or with at least one other university and an industrial partner, will be eligible for larger grants, up to $400,000.

As in prior years, the Core Program requires that a teaching professor team up with at least one student who is working toward a degree in science or engineering. More than 1,600 students have received hands-on research experience in the University Coal Research Program to date.