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What Is the Critical Materials Collaborative?
The Critical Materials Collaborative (CMC) is a mode of connection created by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to improve and increase communication and coordination among DOE, government agencies, and stakeholders working on critical materials projects.
The CMC was launched in summer 2023 and born out of the need for a critical materials convening arm. The CMC serves to align, grow, and coordinate funding for the innovation ecosystem for critical materials research in the United States, with the goal of accelerating commercialization, deployment, and the development of secure domestic critical material supply chains.
Mission
To accelerate DOE’s critical materials applied research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) and achieve domestic energy manufacturing and national security goals by:
Building a robust innovation ecosystem.
Training the critical materials leaders and workforce across multiple sectors.
Enabling industry adoption of novel, cutting-edge technology.
Laying the scientific and techno-logical ground-work needed to address emerging challenges.
Team
Currently, the CMC is made up of several sponsoring program offices and technology offices across the DOE and RD&D awardees funded through CMC-coordinated opportunities but will expand soon to include offices across the federal government.
The CMC also partners with the Critical Materials Innovation Hub, which plays a central role in the CMC as an innovation engine—a convener for shared ideas, best practices, and early-stage science and technology solutions.
The CMC co-chairs are:
- The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
- The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
- The Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains.
Sponsoring offices are (in alphabetical order) the:
- Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy
- Loan Programs Office
- National Nuclear Security Administration
- Office of Electricity
- Office of Indian Energy
- Office of International Affairs
- Office of Nuclear Energy
- Office of Policy
- Office of Science
- Office of Basic Energy Sciences
- Office of Isotope R&D and Production
- Office of Technology Transitions
- Within the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management:
- Office of Carbon Management
- Office of Resource Sustainability
- Within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy:
- Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office
- Geothermal Technologies Office
- Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office
- Solar Energy Technologies Office
- Vehicle Technologies Office
- Wind Energy Technologies Office
- Water Power Technologies Office.
The DOE sponsoring offices connect with other federal agencies, RD&D awardees that join through CMC funding opportunities, and the Critical Materials Innovation Hub.
Get Involved
Others outside of the U.S. government can join the CMC by being funded through a CMC opportunity. This is how the CMC will grow.
The CMC is coordinating RD&D programs and funding opportunities across DOE to form the basis of the membership, convening support across the entire innovation ecosystem.
Funding Opportunities
Office/Program Opportunity Due Date Manufacturing Deployment Office (MDO) Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Programs Letter of Intent Deadline: 3/27/2026 5 p.m. ET
Full Application Submission Deadline: 4/24/2026 5 p.m. ETOffice of Science (SC) Building EPSCoR-State/National Laboratory Partnerships Required pre-application due 3/18/26 at 5 p.m. ET.
Full application due 5/21/2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET.Office of Science (SC) Early Career Research Program Required pre-application due 3/24/26 at 5 p.m. ET.
Full application due 6/2/2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET.Office of Science (SC) Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) Required pre-application due 4/1/26 at 5 p.m. ET.
Full application due 7/1/2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET.Office of Science (SC) Office of Science Financial Assistance Program 9/30/2026 Office/Program Opportunity FECM (FE) Mine of the Future – Proving Ground Initiative FECM (FE) Mines & Metals Capacity Expansion – Piloting By-Product Critical Minerals and Materials Recovery at Domestic Industrial Facilities MESC (CMEI) Rare Earth Element (REE) Demonstration Facility FECM (FE) TRACE ARPA-E MAGNITO WETO (EERE) Improve the Recycling of Wind Energy Technologies Office/Program Opportunity AMMTO (EERE) Smart Manufacturing Technologies for Material & Process Innovation ARPA-E ROCKS EERE (AMMTO) Critical Materials Accelerator EERE (VTO & others) Future of Advanced Batteries (research selections) EERE (VTO) BIL: Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second Life Applications (Selections) EERE (multiple) Electronics Scrap Recycling Advancement Prize (ESRAP) FECM Project Selections for FOA 3105: Critical Material Innovation, Efficiency, and Alternatives FECM / NETL (Lab Call) Lab Call: Critical Materials Supply Chain Research Facility (METALLIC) FECM/NETL CORE-CM Regional Scale Collaboration MESC Advanced Energy Manufacturing & Recycling (AEMR) Grants – Round 2 MESC Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Selections MESC Funding Selections: BIL Battery Recycling, Reprocessing, and Battery Collection Funding Opportunity Office of Electricity (OE) $2.25 Million Silicon Carbide (SiC) Packaging Prize Office of Science (BES) Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) Office of Science (BES/EPSCoR) Building EPSCoR-State/National Laboratory Partnerships Office of Science (SC) Early Career Research Program (ECRP) WETO (EERE) Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize
Resources
Webinars & Videos
- Fortifying the Workforce for America’s Mineral Security: A National Dialogue
View the resource links shared in the webinar. - National Lab Capabilities and Engagement Mechanisms for Critical Minerals and Materials Webinar
View the resource links shared in the webinar. - Domestic Critical Minerals and Materials Supply Chains Workshop
- Critical Materials 101: What’s so Critical about Critical Materials?
- Critical Materials 101: What Is America's Most Critical Material?
Department of Energy Resources:
Critical Minerals Leadership Academy (CMLA)
Secretary Wright Acts to “Unleash Golden Era of American Energy Dominance”
Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production
Other Executive Orders on Critical Minerals
21st Century Energy Workforce Advisory Board (EWAB)
Recommendations of the 21st Century Energy Workforce Advisory Board, July 2025
Critical Materials Innovation Hub (CMI Hub)
Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP)
Battery Workforce Initiative (BWI)
Mine of the Future Proving Ground Initiative
Critical Minerals & Materials Matchmaker (CM3)
Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship (MLEF)
Office of Science Programs (CCI, VFP, SCGSR, SULI)
Office of Science Early Career Research Program
Office of Science User Facilities at a Glance
Upstream Panel:University of Arizona’s Mining Engineering & Mineral Resources – Cu at the Mine
Midstream Panel:Dakota Prairie Apprenticeship Readiness Program
NACTEP Priorities Comments Tribal Consultation
Latest NACTEP Performance Report
Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy Tech Hub led by Missouri S&T
Missouri S&T bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering
Downstream Panel:MIT takes manufacturing education across the country
MIT Initiative for New Manufacturing
Open Learning Brings Online Learning to MIT and the World
Ideas for Designing an Affordable New Education Institution
Initiative for Knowledge and Innovation in Manufacturing
Closing:Opening Remarks
Recent CMM NOFOs:
Department of Energy Office Presentations: Brief Overviews of Critical Mineral and Material (CMM) Lab-Led Programs
Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC):
- Critical mineral/material environmental and permitting data map
- New trade data (HTS code breakouts) will be highlighted in an upcoming MESC release
- Sankey diagrams showing critical mineral/material market sizes and flows by country
- Background and more information on NREL’s LIBRA model
- Background info and preliminary findings from SLAC/STEER roundtable
- DOE U.S. Energy and Employment Report
- DOE/MESC’s MMAC homepage
Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM):
- ClaiMM: Explore and Utilize CMM Data in New Ways
- Process Optimization & Modeling for Minerals Sustainability (PrOMMiS) initiative
- FECM CMM Matchmaker (CM3)
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE):
- High-Performance Computing for Manufacturing
- Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program
- EVALS: Enhanced VALidation of Advanced Battery Supply Chains Consortium Contact
- Processing Science and Engineering Consortium
- Consortia on Next-Generation Cathode Materials
- ElectroCat
- Oceans for Industry
Office of Science (SC):
Critical Materials Innovation (CMI) Hub Presentation
- CMI Hub
- CMI Technology Roadmap
- R&D 100 Award Winners
- CMI Partnering Options
- National Laboratories Expertise and Capabilities
Minerals to Materials Supply Chain Research Facility (METALLIC)
Panel Discussion Focused on Engagement Mechanisms
Latest News
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Contact us with any questions at cmc@hq.doe.gov.
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