November 22, 1996

Dear Colleagues:

During the past year, at the behest of Congress, the U.S. Department of

Energy (DOE) initiated a $110M new program to fund research over a

three-year period at universities and federal laboratories to address the

science underlying environmental restoration at DOE sites. For FY 1996,

this program, the Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP), was

managed by the DOE's Office of Energy Research (ER) and funded through the

Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM). Initial proposals

were selected by a two-part review--scientific peer review for quality,

conducted by ER, and EM screening for relevance to DOE sites. Although not

much time was allotted for responses to the DOE's Request for Proposals, the

University of California and the three DOE laboratories it manages did very

well in the competition, garnering about one quarter of the awards.

Although the University did well in the initial round, I believe that we

have a significant opportunity to enhance our participation in this program

in the next round of proposal requests, which is anticipated to be announced

shortly. To that end, I should like to invite you to participate in a 2-day

workshop at Berkeley sponsored by the Office of Research. The workshop

will bring together researchers from the campuses and laboratories in order

to accomplish the following:

• Make UC researchers aware of the nature of the environmental
  problems faced by DOE.
  
• Provide an opportunity for UC researchers to learn about relevant
  research being conducted at our campuses and laboratories.
  

• Open up the possibility for new or enhanced collaborations between the
  campuses and the campuses and laboratories.
  

• Provide guidance for UC researchers who would like to submit proposals
  for the next funding round--this would include insights gained from those
  who were successful during the first round as well as the most up-to-date
  information from the DOE.
  

• Look ahead to other opportunities where UC research strengths can have a
  significant impact on environmental problems.
  

The workshop is planned for March 12-13, 1997 at the Clark Kerr Campus of

UC Berkeley. A preliminary agenda and details about registration, etc. are

attached. I must apologize for the short notice, but because the DOE's next

call for proposals is anticipated shortly, the workshop steering committee

believed it important to move as quickly as possible. In order to give as

much assistance as possible in advance of the workshop to those planning to

submit proposals, we have instituted a web site at:

on the Internet. This site contains the most up-to-date information that we have obtained from the DOE about the next call for proposals and will contain more details about the workshop. The web site will be a living document, being updated regularly as we get new information.

Please respond to Ms. Linda Wuy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

(510-486-7071 phone, 510-486-7714 fax, or e-mail ldwuy@lbl.gov) as soon as possible, if you are able to attend.

Questions may also be directed to Ms. Wuy, or to my office (510-987-9405).

Limited Office of Research funds are available to assist campus researchers

needing travel assistance to attend this workshop.

I hope you will plan to attend the workshop. I believe it will provide a

significant opportunity for the University of California to make an impact

on the DOE's environmental problems and to establish ourselves as a major

research entity in this important arena.

Sincerely,

Carl H. Poppe

Associate Vice Provost for Research and Laboratory Programs

enc.