Participant Obligations

SCGSR awardees will have several program obligations, including:

Proof of U.S. Citizenship or Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR)

Once an applicant has been selected for award, the award candidate will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship or Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR). Acceptable forms of proof will be provided to the applicant with the award notification.

Please note: Applicants with a LPR status are encouraged to contact their DOE National Laboratory/facility of interest during the time of application due to the lead time for required processes for foreign national access to the laboratory/facility. Please be aware offers for the program are subject to change based on approval for site access prior to the planned start date.

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Graduate Program Enrollment and SCGSR Research

During the duration of the award period, awardees must be enrolled as full-time students in a qualified graduate program at an accredited college or university in the United States or its territories. Awardees must also remain in good academic standing. DOE will verify enrollment with the host academic institution prior to issuing the award to the recipient, and at the beginning of each academic term during the duration of the research award.

The awardee and their primary graduate thesis advisor are responsible for any tuition or fees that are required by the graduate institution for the awardee to remain enrolled in the graduate program during the award term.

Each awardee is required to carry out the independent SCGSR research project defined in the application proposal with their Collaborating DOE Scientist at the DOE national laboratory/facility. The scope of the proposed SCGSR research should remain part of the overall graduate student’s thesis project required by their graduate program and approved by their primary graduate thesis advisor at the time of applying. Once the award period starts, any significant changes to the approved SCGSR research proposal scope must be reported to and approved by the SCGSR Program Manager.

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Full-time Attendance at Host DOE Laboratory/Facility

Awardees are expected to conduct their research and remain at the host DOE Laboratory/Facility site during the entire award period and avoid obligations that may interrupt their SCGSR research project. Awardees are required to maintain a full-time schedule during normal laboratory business hours and may take the normal holidays recognized by their host DOE laboratory/facility. Awardees must report any expected interruptions to their full-time attendance schedule at the Host DOE Laboratory/Facility to their Collaborating DOE Laboratory Scientist and SCGSR Program Manager.

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Terms of Agreement

Each awardee must agree to the terms contained in the Letter of Appointment and the “Terms of Agreement” from the DOE Office of Science, which outlines the award period, the award benefits, and the conditions for accepting the award, including continuing to meet all of the eligibility requirements and Federal requirements.

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Reporting Concurrent Funding from Other Sources

While conducting research at DOE laboratories/facilities, graduate awardees must remain enrolled full-time in a qualified Ph.D. program at their home academic institutions. The graduate student’s home institution and primary graduate thesis advisor are responsible for ensuring the student’s tuition and other student expenses are provided to maintain full-time graduate enrollment status. As such, awardees may continue to receive funding from sources other than the SCGSR program for tuition payment at home institutions and/or support to meet student’s home residence obligations while staying in temporary accommodations during the award period. Applicants are required to disclose current sources and levels of graduate student support at the time of applying; awardees will be required to update this information at the time of the awards. Awardees will also be required provide a summary of actual expenses incurred during the award period. SCGSR awards are not intended to provide dual compensation for the activities sponsored by other sources.

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Project Reports

Awardees are required to submit an end-of-award report. Reporting templates will be provided and should be submitted through the SCGSR online system. For research awards greater than 6 months in duration, a mid-term progress report will be required in addition to the end-of-award report.

Awardees are also required to respond to requests for information about their experience conducting research at the DOE laboratory/facility.

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Routine Background Assessment for DOE Laboratory/Facility Access

Awardees are subject to a background review to be conducted by their host DOE laboratory/facility in order to be granted the access to enter the site during their award term. These assessments are routine. Awardees will be provided instructions by their host DOE laboratory/facility; the requested information should be provided in a timely manner in order to ensure access can be gained prior to the planned start date for the proposal project term.

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