Particle accelerators provide unique sources of light and particles that support the research of thousands of scientists worldwide, play a direct role in the production of more than $500 billion in goods annually, and treat more than 5 million cancer patients each year.
The DOE Office of Science Accelerator Stewardship and Accelerator Development programs support use-inspired basic R&D to expand the capabilities and applications of accelerator technology.
The selected projects bring together scientists at 29 U.S. institutions
This includes 14 universities, 8 National Laboratories, and 7 companies, who seek to address critical challenges across the medical, industrial, environmental, and security sectors.
The projects will seek to accelerate cancer treatments; develop automated accelerator systems for security applications; advance ultrafast laser technology, beam physics, and novel superconductors; and strengthen domestic suppliers of superconductor wire, cable, and RF cavities through public-private collaboration.
Projects were selected through competitive peer review under the DOE Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for FY2026 Research Opportunities in Accelerator Stewardship and Accelerator Development.
Selected projects
| Principle Investigator | Title | Institution |
| Karl Krushelnick | High Rep Rate Renewable Plasma Mirrors and Optics for Intense Laser Systems | Regents of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI |
| Cameron Geddes | A Novel Coherent Combining Approach Towards High Peak and High Average Power Ultrafast Lasers Phase V | Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA |
| Jorge Rocca | Innovative solutions for scaling ultrafast diode pumped cryogenically cooled Yb lasers to multi-kilowatt average power for compact accelerators and applications | Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO |
| Sami Tantawi | The Ultimate Distributed Copling Linac (U-DisCo-Linac): A new paradigm for Medical Radiotherapy and Security Applications | Arizona Board of Regents for Arizona State University, Scottsdale, AZ |
| James Rosenzweig | Theoretical and experimental studies in accelerator physics | Regents of the University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA |
| Navid Vafaei-Najafabadi | Transverse Beam Stability with Ion Motion in High-Efficiency Laser Wakefield Acceleration | Research Foundation for the State University of New York d/b/a RFSUNY – Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY |
| Siddarth Karkare | On-Chip Integrated Photonics based Photocathodes | Arizona Board of Regents for Arizona State University, Scottsdale, AZ |
| Matthias Liepe | Advancing Niobium SRF Cavities via Metal Coating, Doping, and/or Alloying | Cornell University, Ithaca, NY |
| Boyd Panton | Multi-physics driven fabrication of next generation SRF structures | The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH |
| Shreyas Balachandran | The Impact of Grain Boundaries and Dislocation Substructures on Functional Properties of Nb for SRF Cavities: Microstructural, Microchemical, and Electromagnetic Characterization | Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL |
| Drew Packard | Superconducting Radiofrequency Cavity Manufacturing (GACP 20023713) | General Atomics, San Diego, CA |
| Danko van der Laan | Development of domestic supply chain for high-temperature superconducting Conductor on Round Core cables wound from REBCO coated conductors for particle accelerators | Advanced Conductor Technologies LLC, Boulder, CO |
| Michael Field | Cost Reduction of Nb3Sn Conductors | Bruker OST LLC, Carteret, NJ |
| Jithin sai Sandra | Accelerator Technology Partnership to Boost Domestic Manufacturing of REBCO Superconductors | AMPEERS LLC, Houston, TX |
Total funding is $15 million for projects lasting up to three years, with awards being fully forward funded. The list of projects and more information can be found on the High Energy Physics program awards page.
