Grand Challenges

The 2007 Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC) report, Directing Matter and Energy: Five Challenges for Science and the Imagination was the culmination of a series of BES-sponsored workshops that began in 2001. Over and over, the recommendations from these workshops described similar themes that in this new era of science, we would design, discover, and synthesize new materials and molecular assemblies through atomic scale control; probe and control photon, phonon, electron, and ion interactions with matter; perform multi-scale modeling that bridges the multiple length and time scales; and use the collective efforts of condensed matter and materials physicists, chemists, biologists, molecular engineers, and those skilled in applied mathematics and computer science. The roadblocks to progress, and the opportunities for truly transformational new understanding were distilled into five inter-related grand challenges. Each Energy Frontier Research Center addresses one or more of these grand challenges.

Grand Challenge #1: How do we control materials processes at the level of electrons?
- Bioinspired Light-Escalated Chemistry (BioLEC)
- Center for Actinide Science & Technology (CAST)
- Center for Alkaline-Based Energy Solutions (CABES)
- Center for Hybrid Organic Inorganic Semiconductors for Energy (CHOISE)
- Center for Mechanistic Control of Water-Hydrocarbon-Rock Interactions in Unconventional and Tight Oil Formations (CMC-UF)
- Center for Mesoscale Transport Properties (m2mt)
- Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME)
- Center for Molecular Magnetic Quantum Materials (M2QM)
- Center for Molecular Quantum Transduction (CMQT)
- Center for Novel Pathways to Quantum Coherence in Materials (NPQC)
- Center for Synthetic Control Across Length-scales for Advancing Rechargeables (SCALAR)
- Center for the Advancement of Topological Semimetals (CATS)
- Center for Thermal Energy Transport under Irradiation (TETI)
- Quantum Sensing and Quantum Materials (QSQM)
- Inorganometallic Catalyst Design Center (ICDC)
- Institute for Quantum Matter (IQM)
- Molten Salts in Extreme Environments (MSEE)
- Photonics at Thermodynamic Limits (PTL)
- Programmable Quantum Materials (Pro-QM)
- Quantum Materials for Energy Efficient Neuromorphic Computing (Q-MEEN-C)
- Ultra Materials for a Resilient, Smart Electricity Grid (ULTRA)

Grand Challenge #2: How do we design and perfect atom- and energy-efficient synthesis of revolutionary new forms of matter with tailored properties?
- A Next Generation Synthesis Center (GENESIS)
- Advanced Materials for Energy-Water Systems (AMEWS)
- Bioinspired Light-Escalated Chemistry (BioLEC)
- Breakthrough Electrolytes for Energy Storage (BEES)
- Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation (CCEI)
- Center for 3D Ferroelectric Microelectronics (3DFeM)
- Center for Actinide Science & Technology (CAST)
- Center for Alkaline-Based Energy Solutions (CABES)
- Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science (CBES)
- Center for Hierarchical Waste Form Materials (CHWM)
- Center for Hybrid Organic Inorganic Semiconductors for Energy (CHOISE)
- Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation (CLSF)
- Center for Materials for Water and Energy Systems (M-WET)
- Center for Mesoscale Transport Properties (m2mt)
- Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME)
- Center for Molecular Magnetic Quantum Materials (M2QM)
- Center for Performance and Design of Nuclear Waste Forms and Containers (WastePD)
- Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI)
- Center for Synthetic Control Across Length-scales for Advancing Rechargeables (SCALAR)
- Center for the Advancement of Topological Semimetals (CATS)
- Center for the Science of Synthesis Across Scales (CSSAS)
- Center for Understanding and Control of Acid Gas-Induced Evolution of Materials for Energy (UNCAGE-ME)
- Quantum Sensing and Quantum Materials (QSQM)
- Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures and Transport Center (FIRST)
- Inorganometallic Catalyst Design Center (ICDC)
- Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics (iCOUP)
- Institute for Quantum Matter (IQM)
- Integrated Mesoscale Architectures For Sustainable Catalysis (IMASC)
- Multi-Scale Fluid-Solid Interactions in Architected and Natural Materials (MUSE)
- Programmable Quantum Materials (Pro-QM)
- Quantum Materials for Energy Efficient Neuromorphic Computing (Q-MEEN-C)

Grand Challenge #3: How do remarkable properties of matter emerge from complex correlations of the atomic or electronic constituents and how can we control these properties?
- Breakthrough Electrolytes for Energy Storage (BEES)
- Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation (CCEI)
- Center for 3D Ferroelectric Microelectronics (3DFeM)
- Center for Actinide Science & Technology (CAST)
- Center for Alkaline-Based Energy Solutions (CABES)
- Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science (CBES)
- Center for Enhanced Nanofluidic Transport (CENT)
- Center for Hybrid Organic Inorganic Semiconductors for Energy (CHOISE)
- Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation (CLSF)
- Center for Materials for Water and Energy Systems (M-WET)
- Center for Mechanistic Control of Water-Hydrocarbon-Rock Interactions in Unconventional and Tight Oil Formations (CMC-UF)
- Center for Molecular Magnetic Quantum Materials (M2QM)
- Center for Molecular Quantum Transduction (CMQT)
- Center for Novel Pathways to Quantum Coherence in Materials (NPQC)
- Center for Performance and Design of Nuclear Waste Forms and Containers (WastePD)
- Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI)
- Center for the Advancement of Topological Semimetals (CATS)
- Center for the Science of Synthesis Across Scales (CSSAS)
- Center for Understanding and Control of Acid Gas-Induced Evolution of Materials for Energy (UNCAGE-ME)
- Quantum Sensing and Quantum Materials (QSQM)
- Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures and Transport Center (FIRST)
- Fundamental Understanding of Transport Under Reactor Extremes (FUTURE)
- Institute for Quantum Matter (IQM)
- Molten Salts in Extreme Environments (MSEE)
- Multi-Scale Fluid-Solid Interactions in Architected and Natural Materials (MUSE)
- Programmable Quantum Materials (Pro-QM)
- Quantum Materials for Energy Efficient Neuromorphic Computing (Q-MEEN-C)

Grand Challenge #4: How can we master energy and information on the nanoscale to create new technologies with capabilities rivaling those of living things?
- Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation (CCEI)
- Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science (CBES)
- Center for Enhanced Nanofluidic Transport (CENT)
- Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation (CLSF)
- Center for Materials for Water and Energy Systems (M-WET)
- Center for Novel Pathways to Quantum Coherence in Materials (NPQC)
- Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI)
- Center for the Science of Synthesis Across Scales (CSSAS)
- Quantum Sensing and Quantum Materials (QSQM)
- Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics (iCOUP)
- Multi-Scale Fluid-Solid Interactions in Architected and Natural Materials (MUSE)
- Photonics at Thermodynamic Limits (PTL)
- Quantum Materials for Energy Efficient Neuromorphic Computing (Q-MEEN-C)

Grand Challenge #5: How do we characterize and control matter away - especially very far away - from equilibrium?
- A Next Generation Synthesis Center (GENESIS)
- Advanced Materials for Energy-Water Systems (AMEWS)
- Bioinspired Light-Escalated Chemistry (BioLEC)
- Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation (CCEI)
- Center for 3D Ferroelectric Microelectronics (3DFeM)
- Center for Actinide Science & Technology (CAST)
- Center for Alkaline-Based Energy Solutions (CABES)
- Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science (CBES)
- Center for Hierarchical Waste Form Materials (CHWM)
- Center for Hybrid Organic Inorganic Semiconductors for Energy (CHOISE)
- Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation (CLSF)
- Center for Materials for Water and Energy Systems (M-WET)
- Center for Mechanistic Control of Water-Hydrocarbon-Rock Interactions in Unconventional and Tight Oil Formations (CMC-UF)
- Center for Mesoscale Transport Properties (m2mt)
- Center for Molecular Magnetic Quantum Materials (M2QM)
- Center for Molecular Quantum Transduction (CMQT)
- Center for Novel Pathways to Quantum Coherence in Materials (NPQC)
- Center for Performance and Design of Nuclear Waste Forms and Containers (WastePD)
- Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI)
- Center for the Advancement of Topological Semimetals (CATS)
- Center for Thermal Energy Transport under Irradiation (TETI)
- Center for Understanding and Control of Acid Gas-Induced Evolution of Materials for Energy (UNCAGE-ME)
- Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures and Transport Center (FIRST)
- Fundamental Understanding of Transport Under Reactor Extremes (FUTURE)
- Interfacial Dynamics in Radioactive Environments and Materials (IDREAM)
- Molten Salts in Extreme Environments (MSEE)
- Multi-Scale Fluid-Solid Interactions in Architected and Natural Materials (MUSE)
- Quantum Materials for Energy Efficient Neuromorphic Computing (Q-MEEN-C)
- Ultra Materials for a Resilient, Smart Electricity Grid (ULTRA)