ORNL LDRD Seed Money Fund Overview

The Seed Money Fund of the ORNL LDRD program supports innovative ideas that have the potential of enhancing the Laboratory’s core scientific and technical disciplines. It complements the Director’s R&D Fund by providing a path for funding new approaches that fall within the distinctive capabilities of ORNL but outside the more focused research priorities of the Laboratory initiatives. Successful Seed Money Fund projects are expected to generate new Department of Energy programmatic or Work-for-Others sponsorship at the Laboratory.

Proposals for Seed Money Fund support are accepted directly from the Laboratory’s scientific and technical staff (with management concurrence) at any time of the year and are reviewed monthly by the Proposal Review Committee (PRC). The PRC consists of 12 scientific and technical staff members representing each of the Laboratory’s research divisions and is chaired by a member of the LDRD program office. To assist the PRC, each proposal is also peer reviewed by 2–3 Laboratory staff members selected by the chair. All Seed Money Fund proposals receiving a favorable recommendation are forwarded to the Deputy Director for Science and Technology for approval and require concurrence from the Department of Energy.

Related Links

• List of currently funded projects