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DOE BER, the Department of Energy’s Biological and Environmental Research program, is the Office of Science program that funds research on biological, Earth and environmental systems. Since fiscal year 2026 most of its research areas are solicited through a single “Open Call” rather than a string of separate targeted announcements, which changes how applicants find and enter the program. Everything below is as described on the official BER pages on 2026-10-29.
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What DOE BER is and who runs it
BER is a program of the DOE Office of Science. Its stated mission is to “achieve a predictive understanding of complex biological, earth, and environmental systems.” The Office of Science has several program offices; BER sits alongside DOE ASCR (advanced scientific computing) and DOE BES (basic energy sciences), among others.
The BER page describes three broad areas of scope:
- genetics, proteins and metabolic networks in plants and microbes, including work relevant to bioproducts and biofuels;
- biogeochemical and physical processes, from the molecular scale to the global scale;
- Earth system models covering the atmosphere, land, oceans, sea ice and subsurface.
The program is organised into two subprograms, according to the energy.gov BER page: Biological Systems Science, described as “research to understand complex interactions that determine the function of biological systems” from single cells to plants, and Earth and Environmental System Sciences, described as “research on atmosphere, land, and water components and interactions.” Readers new to the underlying science may find systems biology and genomics useful background.
The Open Call: how BER solicits proposals from FY2026
The BER page states that starting in FY2026 (October 1, 2025), BER requests proposals for most program areas through the “Open Call”, formally the Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program. The BER Funding Opportunities page lists the FY 2027 continuation as DE-FOA-0003665 and says the notice “will remain open until September 30, 2027.” The research areas BER supports “will be described within the BER section of the Open Call.”
In practice this means the first thing to read is the BER section of the current Open Call, not an older program-specific announcement. Older targeted announcements and university summaries written before FY2026 may describe a process that no longer applies. Background on the announcement type itself is in funding opportunity announcement (FOA).
Eligibility (summary, with the official source)
The BER Funding Opportunities page says announcements “may be open to one or more institution types,” so eligibility is set by each announcement and not by the program as a whole. Some announcements are marked “Open only to DOE Laboratories.” Check the eligibility section of the specific notice before investing in a proposal. Source: science.osti.gov/ber/Funding-Opportunities, checked 2026-10-29.
What BER funds and which route fits
The table maps the sourced pieces of the program to the way a researcher typically enters it. It is a reading aid built from the official pages, not a ranking.
| Piece of BER | What the official pages say | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Research grants in most program areas | Requested through the Open Call (DE-FOA-0003665 for FY 2027) | BER section of the Open Call |
| DOE Laboratory proposals | Some announcements are open only to DOE Laboratories; lab proposals are subject to formal merit review (peer review) | BER Funding Opportunities page |
| Genesis Mission opportunities | Listing gives Grants.gov for some application steps and PAMS for letters of intent | BER Funding Opportunities page |
| Early career researchers | The Early Career Research Program is linked from the BER page | science.osti.gov/ber |
BER user facilities and research centers
Beyond grants, BER supports shared scientific infrastructure. The energy.gov BER page names three user facilities and a set of research centers:
- the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility, an “observation network for understanding cloud and aerosol interactions with the Earth’s surface”;
- the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), with “more than 50 premier instruments and modeling resources”;
- the Joint Genome Institute (JGI), providing “high throughput DNA sequencing”;
- four DOE Bioenergy Research Centers, focused on early-stage research on converting renewable plant biomass to biofuels and bioproducts.
Application steps
- Find the current notice. Open the BER Funding Opportunities page and locate the BER section of the Open Call for the fiscal year you are targeting.
- Confirm eligibility. Read who the announcement is open to; lab-only announcements exclude other institutions.
- Check whether a pre-application is required. The page states that “a pre-application is required for consideration by certain review panels,” and optional otherwise. Letters of intent, pre-applications and some applications go through DOE’s Portfolio Analysis and Management System (PAMS).
- Submit through the named system. PAMS for the items it handles; Grants.gov where a listing names it, as for the Genesis Mission opportunities listed on the page.
- Plan the narrative. Office of Science proposals follow their own conventions; see the guide to writing a DOE Office of Science proposal narrative, and the comparisons of NSF and DOE requirements and NIH and DOE requirements if you are adapting an existing proposal.
Typical timeline phases
The official pages give panel-driven phases and no fixed calendar that applies to every BER submission, so treat dates as specific to each announcement. The phases the pages describe are, in order: a pre-application or letter of intent where required; panel acceptance dates; formal merit review (peer review) for lab proposals; and, for submissions that miss a panel’s acceptance date, consideration at the next panel. The page notes that late submissions after a panel’s acceptance date may move to the next panel. Time-bound listings, such as the Genesis Mission Graduate Fellowship Pilot (DE-FOA-0003673) shown on the page on 2026-10-29, carry their own letter-of-intent and application dates in the notice.
Common mistakes
- Working from an outdated announcement. From FY2026 most areas run through the Open Call; the current notice number and the BER section control.
- Skipping a required pre-application. If the panel you are targeting requires one, a proposal without it is not considered by that panel.
- Assuming your institution type is eligible. Eligibility is set per announcement, and some are open only to DOE Laboratories.
- Missing the panel acceptance date. A late submission may roll to the next panel, which delays review.
- Confusing the offices. BER, ASCR and BES are different Office of Science program offices with different scopes.
Related programs
| Program | Relation to BER | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| DOE ASCR | Another Office of Science program office (advanced scientific computing) | DOE ASCR |
| DOE BES | Another Office of Science program office (basic energy sciences) | DOE BES |
| ARM, EMSL, JGI | BER user facilities named on the energy.gov BER page | energy.gov BER page |
| Early Career Research Program | Linked from the BER page | science.osti.gov/ber |
FAQ
What does DOE BER stand for?
BER stands for Biological and Environmental Research. It is a program of the DOE Office of Science focused on biological, Earth and environmental systems.
Does BER still issue separate funding announcements?
For most program areas, no. Starting in FY2026 BER requests proposals through the Open Call, and the BER Funding Opportunities page lists the FY 2027 continuation as DE-FOA-0003665, open until September 30, 2027. Some opportunities, such as DOE Laboratory announcements, are listed separately.
Is a pre-application required?
Only for certain review panels. The page states a pre-application is required for consideration by those panels and is otherwise optional.
Who is eligible to apply?
It depends on the announcement. Each one states the institution types it is open to, and some are open only to DOE Laboratories.
Where can I contact BER?
The BER page lists the office at SC-33/Germantown Building, Washington, DC, telephone (301) 903-3251.
Sources
- https://science.osti.gov/ber (DOE Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research), checked 2026-10-29.
- https://science.osti.gov/ber/Funding-Opportunities (BER Funding Opportunities), checked 2026-10-29.
- https://www.energy.gov/science/ber/biological-and-environmental-research (energy.gov, Biological and Environmental Research), checked 2026-10-29.
