Plug Into CAES

Director’s Colloquium

The annual CAES Director’s Colloquium is designed to promote open dialogue between world-class speakers and the public in a community setting that provides insight into research activities, current events, best practices, and career and life journeys.

CAES Currents

An engaging panel discussion held in response to global events, CAES Currents provides a forum for students, researchers, and the public to gain insight into the event, discover opportunities, and increase dialogue among CAES affiliates leading to further collaboration and education. The panel is comprised of experts from the CAES entities who boast experience relevant to the topic. Open to the public, audience participation is key.

CAES Energy Efficiency Research Institute (CEERI)

The mission of CEERI is to promote the effective and efficient use of energy resource through cutting-edge research, effective outreach, and accessible education.

Energy Policy Institute (EPI)

EPI informs on all aspects of energy system change with timely and impactful analysis, advising, convening and neutral facilitation, as well as training to advance policy-relevant decision-making.

CAES Summer Visiting Faculty Program

Offered annually, this program fosters collaboration between university faculty and INL researchers with the goal of developing a joint-funded research proposal of value to both parties. The approach is intended to help build and sustain a research collaboration ecosystem, which is a critical outcome of the refreshed CAES Strategy, by building a platform for capability and expertise matchmaking, creating new short- and long-term collaborative opportunities, and providing proposal-writing resources.

CAES Fellows

Launched in early 2020, this initiative provides recognition, resources, and opportunities to a diverse cohort of INL researchers, staff, and academic faculty who are engaged and recognized leaders in the CAES community, active in a CAES focus area, and share the collaborative spirit that embodies CAES. The CAES Fellows designation is a two-year appointment that is designed to drive further collaboration.

Roundtables

CAES roundtables are held throughout the year, organized by the CAES Associate Directors to envision research awards, which are defined as multi-institution, multi-investigator awards of $2M to $4M annually for a 4- to 5-year period of performance. The approach is to gather thought leaders from the CAES institutions for small group meetings at which attendees develop a white paper outlining a pitch to a federal partner for a workshop hosted by CAES. A successful roundtable results in justification for a center proposal to a federal funding agency. Topics of recent roundtables include Nuclear Energy, Cybersecurity, and Advanced Manufacturing.

Joint Appointments

The Joint Appointment program provides a unique opportunity for collaboration between university faculty and INL staff by bridging academic and government projects in a peer-to-peer group research environment.

INL Internships

Growing the talent pipeline involves providing high school students, undergraduate, and graduate students paid internship opportunities to work on specific projects and apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education concepts in a real-world setting.

INL Graduate Fellowships

The INL Graduate Fellowship program, a collaboration between INL and universities, provides access to unique and state-of-the-art facilities and capabilities. INL is committed to integrating students with projects at the laboratory to fulfill their thesis research requirements.

My Amazing Future

Held annually, My Amazing Future is an INL program that offers eighth-grade young women a day long glimpse into potential careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). CAES hosts hands-on experiences in our laboratories.

Around the World Tours

These annual tours allow faculty, students, and researchers the opportunity to visit CAES consortium locations, tour facilities, and make connections with other consortium members.

Working Groups

These groups catalyze a community of researchers in each strategic focus area (Nuclear Energy; Energy-Water Nexus; Cybersecurity; Advanced Manufacturing; Innovative Energy Systems; Energy Policy; and Computing, Data, and Visualization), leading to new collaborations, external funding opportunities, and ultimate impact in research, education, and innovation for the CAES community. Note that working groups have access to funds to accelerate these outcomes. Email your CAES Associate Director to join a working group.

CO*STAR

This annual training is designed to help participants learn practices that are proven to help develop new ideas, create winning proposals, and ensure research being conducted at the CAES entities has a tangible, positive impact in alignment with the innovation pillar outlined in the CAES Strategy.

CAES Collaboration Fund

The annual collaboration fund is designed to provide funding to selected proposals by Idaho National Laboratory researchers that would enhance collaborative relationships with CAES universities, in line with the CAES strategic plan. The CAES leadership team selects the winning proposals.

Codebreaker Seminar Series

This monthly seminar provides a forum for students and researchers to address their work, communicate opportunities and challenges to a receptive audience, and increase dialogue among CAES affiliates leading to further interdisciplinary collaborations and new ground-breaking research. Codebreaker is an engaging presentation and Q&A forum that covers a range of topics in energy science, engineering, business, and policy.

Proposal Writing Support

The CAES team provides assistance to researchers – from identifying calls for proposals, interpreting expectations, writing the proposal, to submission. Coordination with your home institution is also available.

CAES Technical Assistance Program (C-TAP)

C-TAP is a business portal that provides fast, innovative solutions to complex technical problems facing local and regional businesses. A key component is the engagement of students, who work closely with faculty and staff in the problem-solving process, gaining real-world work experience.