Seed grants

The aim of Electrifying Society: Towards Resilient Decarbonized Communities (ERDC) is to accelerate and optimize the transition to decarbonized resilient communities. This entails design and integration of proven or new technologies for smart carbon‐neutral buildings, smart and secured grids, energy storage, energy management, integration of distributed renewable energy resources, and electrification of transportation, while emphasizing innovation, affordability, equity and the well‐being of society.

Announced in April, 2023, ERDC is now advancing to its first call for proposals for seed grants. Federal funding for this project extends over seven years and the ERDC anticipates three major calls for grant proposals:

• Seed grants (2023): The goal of the first call is to leverage the proposed research in the ERDC proposal to achieve both early impact and support the preparation of large‐scale initiatives to be funded in the Impact Grant (1) call.
• Impact Grant (1): The goal of the 2024 call for proposals is to support large‐scale initiatives which will become the backbone of the ultimate impact of ERDC and building its legacy. We will be looking for multidisciplinary projects involving a broad variety of partners, public and private, addressing the full array of implications and contingencies attending the electrification of society, including social acceptability and economic viability, to demonstrate real and significant impact.
• Impact Grant (2): The 2026 call will be further defined with the development of the projects. Its aim will be to maximize the impact of previously funded research and leverage new opportunities that arise from that research and the evolution of the market and technology.