R&D Program Management

Over decades helping lead the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lighting (Solid-State Lighting) R&D Program, SSLS built and managed nearly every part of a national research program — from setting technical direction to running competitions, funding solicitations, expert review, and the project portfolio itself. That same capability can be brought to a new program in lighting, or to R&D in an entirely different field.

What we do

• Technology status & opportunity assessment — identify and document the state of the art and the most promising R&D opportunities, using internal expertise and structured engagement with the expert community (including moderated roundtables that draw out candid input).
• R&D roadmapping — lead the development of consensus roadmaps, priorities, and performance targets that guide investment.
• Workshops & competitions — shape and manage the technical content of R&D workshops, and design and run prize competitions such as the DOE L-Prize.
• Funding solicitations — translate strategy into funding solicitations built on the topical guidance we develop.
• Expert peer review — recruit qualified reviewers and manage the review process and their inputs.
• Portfolio & project management — manage funded projects to maximize results and keep the work aligned with the dynamic state of the art.
• Cross-agency coordination & strategy — coordinate across agencies and national labs, and make high-level strategic decisions within the context and constraints of government operations.

Proven at national scale: the DOE Lighting R&D Program

Operated within DOE EERE’s Building Technologies Office, the program has spanned six presidential administrations and is widely regarded as one of the most successful energy-efficiency programs in DOE’s history. Its funded R&D reached nearly every R1 research university, most of the national labs, and many small and large businesses.

Within that program, SSLS led the development of the national R&D roadmaps and built out entirely new research areas — human physiological (circadian and non-visual) responses to light, wildlife and domesticated-animal responses to light, and horticultural lighting. We led the LED System Reliability Consortium, the Light & Physiology Interest Group, and the horticultural lighting energy analyses.

Agencies & national labs we’ve worked with

Agencies: NIH, DOD, USDA, FAA, DOT-FHWA, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, NIST, ARPA-E, and DOE Basic Energy Sciences.

National labs: PNNL, Sandia, LBNL, LLNL, ORNL, ANL, and LANL.

Bring this to your program

If your agency or organization is standing up a new R&D program — in lighting or another technology — or wants to strengthen an existing one, SSLS can help set the strategy, engage the expert community, run solicitations and review, and manage the portfolio to real, measurable results. Get in touch to talk it through.

Further reading: DOE Solid-State Lighting program · Technology roadmap archives.