For the FY26 cycle, the LDRD Call for Proposals cycle received a total response of 170 submissions. At present, 113 LDRD projects are funded at a current total value of $25.7M. In addition, the Lab expects to fund several additional off-cycle projects during the remainder of the year.
View the list of all FY26 LDRD projects and PIs
The Lab’s scientific leadership reviewed each proposal under one of three funding tracks: Multi-Area Topics, Early Career Development, and Area Priorities.
The Multi-Area topics has been expanded to be consistent with all of Berkeley Lab’s Research Themes and are being funded as collaborative projects across Areas.
The Early Career Development (ECD) track, in place since 2017, provides early career scientists a two to three year financial runway to work on ideas they can turn into proposals for either direct DOE programmatic funding or the DOE Early Career Research Program award. The goal is to provide a path for early career scientists to become independent scientists and principal investigators (PIs). In FY26, the Lab is funding eight new PIs, in addition to the continuations that began in FYs 2024 and 2025.
The ECD track has been recognized by the DOE as a successful model; similar programs have sprung up at other locations in the DOE National Lab system.
Finally, Area Priority projects were selected with input from each proposal’s direct Division and Associate Lab Director with focus on topics that were of significant and targeted relevance to their Divisions and Area.
