Recent Grants

The Minority Education, Workforce, and Training (MEWT) Program is designed to foster collaboration amongst Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs), Department of Energy (DoE) program offices, industry, and government agencies to increase engagement and capabilities of underserved communities within STEM and energy fields. 

The objectives of the MEWT Program are to:

• Build a sustainable pipeline between DOE's sites/national labs and MSIs in STEM disciplines, and bring a heightened awareness of the Department's programs and laboratories to MSIs with a common interest in STEM research fields.
• Provide opportunities for intellectual challenge and collaboration by promoting scientific interactions between the academic community and scientists at the DOE's national laboratories.
• Develop and maintain a diverse recruiting pipeline to the DOE and its national laboratories by increasing the visibility of Department led scientific activities to U.S. academic communities, specifically MSIs.
• Build partnerships that advance minority and tribal participation in community colleges, certificate programs, trade associations, and labor unions that support employment opportunities in the energy industry.
• Increase participation of minority-owned businesses in the energy sector and the emerging technology sector
• Execute Federal place-based initiatives that specifically support minority-owned business opportunities in energy and emerging technologies. 

To that end, proposals will be accepted under the following areas of interest:

• STEM Education:
  • Minority Education: Increasing the participation of students enrolled in MSIs across the nation in STEM disciplines, enhancing the students' academic development, and building core competencies for DOE and its national laboratories.
  • Workforce Development: Providing individuals the opportunity to acquire knowledge, skills and training to improve their opportunities for employment.
• Capacity Building: Strengthening the STEM capabilities of MSIs by collaborating with the Department's national laboratories and scientific facilities, which employ more than 30,000 STEM professionals to engage faculty from MSIs to participate in DOE's Visiting Faculty Program, which supports 10-week research appointments for faculty to collaborate on a research project with scientists at the DOE national laboratories.
• Technical Assistance: to enhance competitiveness through sharing information and expertise, instruction, skills, and working knowledge relative to particular needs and priorities.
• Training: certification, apprenticeship, placement preparation, and partnerships with community colleges to develop and deliver targeted training for regional energy sector employment opportunities.
• Workforce/Pipeline Analysis: DOE/ED recognizes the importance of research on disparities and opportunities for people in minority communities, minority serving institutions (MSIs), and minority business enterprises.