The goal of the program, now in its 29th year, is to advance new ideas in coal research and provide coal research exposure to a new generation of scientists and engineers.

The program requires professors in technical fields such as chemistry and engineering to initiate advanced research with graduate students, officials said. Since its inception in 1979, more than 716 research projects have been funded, involving more than 1,760 students.

The new project grants went to Stanford University and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

The Stanford investigators will determine the ability of simulation to capture fuel variability effects on turbines. Currently, combustor simulations are unable to predict such key features as flame stability and pollutant emissions. Energy Department officials said such simulations are critical for optimizing turbine efficiency and minimizing emissions. The university received an award of $276,264 for the project.

The Blacksburg, Va., school received an Energy Department grant of $276,256 to determine the sensitivity of transient thermo-acoustic computational fluid dynamics simulations to poorly defined or misrepresented acoustic boundary conditions.