StorageX Initiative

2020 StorageX RFP

Request for Proposals from Stanford Faculty

The StorageX Initiative, Precourt Institute for Energy

Issued: January 31, 2020

Proposals Due: Feb 28, 2020

Introduction 

The Precourt Institute for Energy works to build Stanford’s capacity to conduct high-impact research across the full range of energy sourcing, conversion, storage, transmission and uses, as well as improve the financial, legal and regulatory environments that affect deployment of energy technologies. 

The StorageX Initiative is a new initiative launched under the Precourt Institute on Oct. 17, 2019. Energy storage has been recognized as one of the most important technologies in the energy landscape, impacting many types of applications from consumer electronics, electric transportation, buildings, and the electric grid to integration of solar and wind electricity. There are very rich science and engineering problems covering a wide range of disciplines: materials and chemistries, devices, system and economics. The mission of StorageX includes: 1) Building strong partnerships between university, industry and government. 2) Fostering interest in energy storage among students. 3) Enhancing Stanford-internal collaboration to identify and tackle grand challenges. 4) Building multi-PI facilities, including translational capabilities.

The StorageX Initiative invites proposals for seed funding of projects that, if successful, could equip investigators to obtain funding for follow-on research from other sources. Such projects inevitably involve risk; the evaluation of the proposals will attempt to balance the risk and potential impacts of a successful project. This research funding is intended to encourage faculty to move into the energy storage research area.

The seed funding for each project is up to $70,000 per project for one year. We expect to fund a total of five projects, at the directors’ discretion and depending on funding availability and the quality of the proposals.

RFP Scope 

This first request for proposals from StorageX is focused on battery-related areas. Particularly, we are looking for creative ideas in the following areas: 

1) Battery management system 

2) Battery re-use and recycle

3) Circular economics of battery cells and systems 

4) Battery materials discovery via artificial intelligence approaches.

While the above specific areas are currently of most interest to StorageX, we are also open to novel ideas in other areas of battery research. 

If you have a proposal idea and would like a judgment on how well it fits within this solicitation’s goals, please contact the two Co-Directors of StorageX: Yi Cui (yicui@stanford.edu) or Will Chueh (wchueh@stanford.edu).  

 

Proposal Submission, Review, and Award Process 

Proposal Submission 

The deadline for proposal submission is February 28, 2020. Proposed budgets need not be routed through OSR for this internally funded research. Once the funding has been awarded a budget will need to be routed thru SeRA. Proposals must be self-contained with no links to additional information. 

 

Please submit your proposal online at: http://web.stanford.edu/~jmilne/StorageX_2020.fb

 

Proposal Format 

  • The proposal is subject to a two-page limit with fonts no smaller than 11 point. This includes the text, figures, tables, and references. The PI’s are encouraged to include some preliminary results if there are any.
  • Each Principal Investigator who will be associated with the proposed work should submit a brief background limited to one additional page per PI or Co-PI.
  • No formal budget is required.

Proposal Review 

The objective of the review process is to identify high quality projects that are consistent with the goals of this solicitation. The proposals will be screened for relevance and then reviewed by a committee of faculty with expertise related to the areas of research but who are not involved in the proposed projects. The opinions of additional experts at Stanford or outside of it may be sought, with the requirement that the reviewer maintain the confidentiality of the proposed research. 

Awards 

It is anticipated that awards based on this solicitation will be announced by March 15, 2020, and projects selected for award may begin on or after April 1, 2020. Award decisions do not require further approval. 

Eligibility for Seed Grant Funding

Please note that the primary Principal Investigator (PI) must be a Stanford faculty member and be eligible per Stanford policy.

Project Reporting 

We require PIs of funded projects to participate in the Precourt Institute annual seed project workshop in the Fall Quarter, and the StorageX annual conference. A final report is required after finishing the project.

Project PIs and students will be expected to participate in technical review sessions, workshops in related areas, and other activities that report on the research being performed. In addition, PIs will be expected to respond to information requests from the Precourt Institute regarding any additional publications, patents, follow-on funding and other progress related to the seed project after the end of the funded period. 

Contacts 

For technical issues or questions about topic areas please contact: Yi Cui (yicui@stanford.edu) or Will Chueh (wchueh@stanford.edu).