The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy today announced two new fiscal year (FY) 2012 Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) to support university and college efforts to build or expand their nuclear science and engineering research and education capabilities, in support of the next generation of nuclear scientists and engineers conducting research at colleges and universities across the country. The Department will provide funds to upgrade university level research reactors and purchase general scientific equipment and instrumentation.

Specifically, the Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP) Infrastructure program supports the education and training of nuclear scientists, engineers and policy-makers in graduate and undergraduate study and two-year programs who are conducting research that furthers the goals of the Department and the nuclear energy industry.

Two and four-year U.S. colleges and universities, as well as trade schools, are eligible to apply through www.grants.gov as described in the FOAs. Applications are due Feb. 8, 2012, and must be submitted using the “Apply for Grants” function at www.grants.gov. Awards are scheduled to be announced in summer 2012. To view the FY 2012 Reactor Upgrades and General Scientific Infrastructure Support FOAs, go to www.neup.gov.