Analytical Study to Support the Preparation of the Connectivity and Logistics Programme for the Commonwealth of Dominica

Monitoring and Evaluating Specialist

The United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ Office of International Visitors (ECA/PE/V) announces an open competition for approximately five cooperative agreements to support the staff expenses and overhead costs of the FY 2027 International Visitor Leadership Program’s (IVLP) National Program Agencies (NPAs). Launched in 1940, the IVLP is the Department of State’s foundational professional exchange program. The IVLP advances America First national security priorities and builds long-term relationships between Americans and international leaders in government, business, academia, and other fields. Recipients design and implement customized short-term visits to the United States for current and emerging leaders from around the world. These visits support U.S. foreign policy goals and reflect the participants’ professional interests. Eligible recipients will have expertise in foreign policy, experience in professional exchange programming, and the ability to provide tailored projects for participants from all countries. Please see the Notice of Funding Opportunity for additional information.

The Fulbright U.S. and Visiting Scholar Programs annually provide approximately 970 awards to U.S. scholars and professionals to lecture and/or conduct research overseas and approximately 1,025 awards to visiting (non-U.S.) scholars to lecture and/or conduct research in the United States. In addition to the core U.S. and Visiting Scholar Program components, the agreement also includes, but is not limited to, the Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program (S-I-R); Global Scholars Program; International Education Administrator Seminars (IEA) seminars; Fulbright Outreach Lecturing Fund (OLF); research-based, cohort programs to address priority policy areas; and other special awards that align with U.S. government priorities. Please read the Notice of Funding Opportunity and POGI for additional details.

This is Modification 01 to the NOFO: • Inserted certain deadlines and updated dates, including the deadlines for submitting questions and Full Applications (Basic Information, Section IV.C). NOFO Number: DE-FOA-0003623 – High-performance Optimized Recycled Nuclear Isotopes for Gen IV reactors (HORNIG) Agency Overview: The Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (Public Law 110–69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–358), as further amended by the Energy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–260). ARPA-E issues this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) under its authorizing statute codified at 42 U.S.C. § 16538. The NOFO and any cooperative agreements or grants made under this NOFO are subject to 2 C.F.R. Part 200 as supplemented by 2 C.F.R. Part 910. ARPA-E funds research on, and the development of, transformative science and technology solutions to address the energy and environmental missions of the Department. The agency focuses on technologies that can be meaningfully advanced with a modest investment over a defined period of time in order to catalyze the translation from scientific discovery into early-stage technology. For the latest news and information about ARPA-E, its programs and the research projects currently supported, see: http://arpa-e.energy.gov/. ARPA-E funds transformational research. Existing energy technologies generally progress on established “learning curves” where refinements to a technology and the economies of scale that accrue as manufacturing and distribution develop drive improvements to the cost/performance metric in a gradual fashion. This continual improvement of a technology is important to its increased commercial deployment and is appropriately the focus of the private sector or the applied technology offices within DOE. In contrast, ARPA-E supports transformative research that has the potential to create fundamentally new learning curves. ARPA-E technology projects typically start with cost/performance estimates well above the level of an incumbent technology. Given the high risk inherent in these projects, many will fail to progress, but some may succeed in generating a new learning curve with a projected cost/performance metric that is significantly better than that of the incumbent technology. ARPA-E will provide support at the highest funding level only for submissions with significant technology risk, aggressive timetables, and careful management of associated risk. ARPA-E funds technology with the potential to be disruptive in the marketplace. The mere creation of a new learning curve does not ensure market penetration. Rather, the ultimate value of a technology is determined by the marketplace, and impactful technologies ultimately become disruptive—that is, they are widely adopted and displace existing technologies from the marketplace or create entirely new markets. ARPA-E understands that definitive proof of market disruption takes time, particularly for energy technologies. Therefore, ARPA-E funds the development of technologies that, if technically successful, have clear disruptive potential, e.g., by demonstrating capability for manufacturing at competitive cost and deployment at scale. ARPA-E funds applied research and development (R&D). The Office of Management and Budget defines “applied research” as an “original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge…directed primarily toward a specific practical aim or objective” and defines “experimental development” as “creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience, which is directed at producing new products or processes or improving existing products or processes.” Applicants interested in receiving financial assistance for basic research (defined by the Office of Management and Budget as “experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts”) should contact the DOE’s Office of Science. Office of Science national scientific user facilities (http://science.energy.gov/user-facilities/) are open to all researchers, including ARPA-E applicants and awardees. These facilities provide advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nanoworld, the environment, and the atmosphere. Projects focused on early-stage R&D for the improvement of technology along defined roadmaps may be more appropriate for support through the DOE applied energy offices including: the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI), the Office of Hydrocarbon and Geothermal Energy, the Office of Nuclear Energy, and the Office of Electricity. ARPA-E encourages submissions stemming from ideas that still require proof-of-concept R&D efforts as well as those for which some proof-of-concept demonstration already exists. Submissions can propose a project with the end deliverable being an extremely creative, but partial solution. Program Overview: Transuranic (TRU) elements—such as plutonium (Pu), neptunium (Np), and americium (Am)—are a significant source of fissile materials that are available across existing nuclear inventories and strategic reserves and have the potential to drive advanced reactor deployment. , The technical feasibility of recycling TRU elements into new fuels has been proven at the experimental scale. Advances in fabrication, safeguards, equipment design, and modeling will create the opportunity to transition from experimental success to commercial-scale deployment, enabling higher-throughput and lower-cost fuel production with real-time materials accountancy. The High-performance Optimized Recycled Nuclear Isotopes for Gen IV reactors (HORNIG) program will support research and development projects that deliver commercially deployable TRU fuel technologies, thereby strengthening U.S. energy security, reducing nuclear waste, and enabling long-term energy deployment for public benefit. The HORNIG program seeks to overcome key technical and economic barriers that have historically prevented using TRU fuels in commercial reactors and to create a clear path to domestic nuclear fuel security by supporting the design, fabrication, and qualification of TRU fuels. The program will fund coordinated, multidisciplinary efforts to deliver transformative advances in fuel performance, manufacturability, cost, and regulatory readiness. Technologies developed under this program must have the potential to enable the following program metrics: • A domestic TRU fuel supply chain • A levelized cost of fuel (LCOF) = 1¢/kWh • TRU fuel qualification and regulatory acceptance within seven years By enabling production of advanced reactor fuels from domestically sourced fissile materials, the program will reduce dependence on imported uranium and enrichment services, expand U.S. fuel supply options, and support establishment of a closed fuel cycle. These objectives support ARPA-E’s statutory goals of improving energy security and resilience, improving the management of radiological waste, and maintaining U.S. technological leadership in energy technologies. If successful, HORNIG will strengthen U.S. energy security and infrastructure resilience and deliver lasting public benefit through reliable nuclear power. To view the NOFO in its entirety, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov

The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) anticipates announcing the availability of funds and requesting applications for the AI3 Action Institute – Artificial Intelligence for American Indians. The successful applicant will establish the AI3 Action Institute, which will monitor the pace of AI change, identify responsible and practical opportunities to apply this technology to socioeconomic domains in Native communities, and support its thoughtful integration across Indian Country. Consistent with the Administration for Children and Families" (ACF) mission to strengthen families and promote work as the pathway to self-sufficiency, the Institute will leverage AI applications to accelerate economic development, workforce participation, community governance, and efficient service delivery. The primary goals are to (1) reduce the immense learning curve on behalf of hundreds of Native communities; (2) establish a bird"s-eye view to identify opportunities aligned with Tribal priorities and local leadership; (3) optimize deployment of this technology; (4) establish a knowledge manager to accumulate lessons learned and develop expertise and intuition; and (5) strengthen Tribal governance, while maximizing community capacity. Through this approach, the AI3 Action Institute will help ensure AI investments advance strong economies, strong families, and resilient Native communities.

Treasury is publishing multiple funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) for its RESTORE Act grant programs. This announcement applies only to the Direct Component and is only for applications for eligible non-construction activities, including projects with or without a non-federal cost-share for another federally funded project or program. This announcement also includes planning assistance needed to prepare the Multiyear Implementation Plan (Multiyear Plan) required by the RESTORE Act. To apply for eligible activities involving construction and/or acquisition of real property or any other activity that requires a permit from a federal or state agency, including natural resource restoration projects, applicants should use the construction and real property acquisition funding opportunity announcement (GR-RDC-25-002).Trust Fund amounts are available to carry out eligible activities described in the RESTORE Act and Treasury’s implementing regulations at 31 CFR 34.201. These are: 1) Restoration and protection of the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches and coastal wetlands of the Gulf Coast region. 2) Mitigation of damage to fish, wildlife, and natural resources. 3) Implementation of a Federally- approved marine, coastal, or comprehensive conservation management plan, including fisheries monitoring. 4) Workforce development and job creation. 5) Improvements to or on State parks located in coastal areas affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. 6) Infrastructure projects benefitting the economy or ecological resources, including port infrastructure. 7) Coastal flood protection and related infrastructure.8) Promotion of tourism in the Gulf Coast region, including promotion of recreational fishing. 9) Promotion of the consumption of seafood harvested from the Gulf Coast region. 10) Planning assistance. 11) Administrative costs. Eligible activities 1 through 7 listed above must be carried out in the Gulf Coast region.