NOI: PROSPECT Program: Providing Opportunities for Specialized Education in Critical Technologies

The U.S. Department of Energy, through the Golden Field Office and the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, has issued a Notice of Intent concerning the planned PROSPECT Program, Providing Opportunities for Specialized Education in Critical Technologies. The Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation intends to establish the program on behalf of the Analysis and Strategy Office. The planned federal initiative is intended to strengthen the nation's educational capacity in critical minerals and materials and to help ensure that the United States develops the highly skilled workforce needed to support innovation and growth across the domestic critical minerals and materials supply chain. The notice states that the Department of Energy anticipates investing up to $100 million in the program, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The planned PROSPECT Program is expected to support collaborative approaches that strengthen educational pathways throughout the critical minerals and materials value chain. The scope described by the Department of Energy extends from mineral resource development and extraction through processing, manufacturing, recycling, and related supply chain activities. The program is intended to build on existing investments in critical minerals and materials research, development, demonstration, and deployment. Through collaboration among academia, industry, national laboratories, and other partners, the program is expected to develop a durable talent pipeline that contributes to U.S. economic competitiveness, energy security, and national security. The notice does not establish specific allowable or prohibited project costs, individual award amounts, award periods, indirect cost limitations, or subaward restrictions. Although the Grants.gov record displays an estimated total program funding amount of zero and award floor and ceiling values of $1, those values are not treated as actual funding parameters because the narrative instead states that the Department of Energy anticipates investing up to $100 million in the planned program. The anticipated investment remains subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The Grants.gov record states that there is no cost sharing or matching requirement. The Grants.gov eligibility field identifies eligible applicants as unrestricted, subject to any clarification in the additional eligibility information field, and no additional eligibility restrictions are provided in the supplied record. The notice specifically anticipates collaboration among academia, industry, national laboratories, and other partners, but it does not provide a definitive future solicitation-specific eligibility framework beyond the unrestricted Grants.gov designation. No state-specific or sub-state geographic eligibility restrictions are stated. The program is described in terms of strengthening the United States educational and workforce capacity and the domestic critical minerals and materials supply chain. This document is a Notice of Intent rather than the complete future PROSPECT funding solicitation. Its purpose is to make interested parties aware that the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation intends to establish the PROSPECT Program in the near term. The Department of Energy expressly states that all information contained in the notice is subject to change. The supplied material does not identify application questions, required proposal narratives, required uploads, evaluation criteria, scoring criteria, pre-application requirements, or other substantive application components for the anticipated program. Complete Notice of Intent information is directed to the Department of Energy Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation Funding Opportunities website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/. The Grants.gov record was posted and last updated on August 7, 2026. It lists January 15, 2027 as both the original and current closing date and February 14, 2027 as the archive date. Because this is a Notice of Intent announcing a program that the Department of Energy intends to establish in the near term, the supplied material does not establish an application opening date for the future PROSPECT funding opportunity, an award or notification date, a performance period, or a recurring application cycle. The Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation states that it will not respond to questions concerning this Notice of Intent. For difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, the listed contact is the CMEI Exchange Helpdesk at eere-exchangesupport@hq.doe.gov.

Align proposed efforts with the stated goal of strengthening educational pathways across the critical minerals and materials value chain; emphasize development of a highly skilled workforce and durable talent pipeline; where applicable reflect the program's stated collaborative approach among academia industry national laboratories and other partners and its goals for U.S. economic competitiveness energy security and national security.