Grants / Department of Defense / Air Force Office of Scientific Research

FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2021-0007: FY21 DEFENSE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH (DEPSCoR) – RESEARCH COLLABORATION (RC)

Closed Closed March 1, 2022 Opportunity FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2021-0007 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: FY26 DEFENSE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH (DEPSCoR) – RESEARCH COLLABORATION (RC) (NOFOAFRLAFOSR20260004). Status: Closes April 5, 2027 (149 days left). It is in our archive of Air Force Office of Scientific Research notices from 2021.

• Award ceiling$600,000
• Award floor$200,000
• Total funding$12.6 million
• Expected awards21
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

This funding opportunity aims to create basic research collaborations between a pair of researchers, namely 1) Applicant/Principal Investigator (PI), henceforth referred to as Applicant, a full-time faculty member who has never served as a PI on a prior DoD directly funded research Prime award and 2) Collaborator/co-Principal Investigator (co-PI), henceforth referred to as Collaborator, an investigator who will provide mentorship to the Applicant and has served as a PI on a DoD directly funded research Prime award actively between 1 October 2014 and 30 September 2021. This structure is aimed at introducing potential applicants to the DoD’s unique research challenges and its supportive research ecosystem. Prime award defined in the context of this announcement is the DoD legal instrument (assistance or acquisition) that a Principal Investigator receives directly from a DoD awarding agency and not indirectly from a non-DoD pass-through entity to carry out scientific research. You are eligible to apply as the Applicant under the DEPSCoR-RC FOA as long as you were NOT listed as the Principal Investigator on a previous DoD funded research award, and are a full-time faculty member in a tenured or tenure track position in a DEPSCoR eligible State/Territory. Being a “Co-PI” or “sub PI” on a prior DoD funded award does not count as being a “PI” for the purposes of eligibility of the Applicant for the DEPSCoR-RC FOA.The DEPSCoR-RC white paper package must include prior research award documentation which indicates that the Collaborator was a PI on a previous DoD directly funded research Prime award between 1 October 2014 and 30 September 2021. If the Collaborator is not identified as the PI within the award document, a letter from the awarding agency point of contact should be furnished supporting the assertion within the timeframe identified. The Collaborator must have served as a Principal Investigator on a directly funded DoD research Prime award during the eligibility period and not have been subcontracted by: other PIs, non-DoD entities, or companies as a Co-Principal Investigator. Subawards indirectly funded by the DoD where the Collaborator has served as a Co-Principal Investigator do not count as eligible criteria for the Collaborator for the purposes of this funding opportunity announcement. Tenured or tenure-track faculty members with appointments at IHE, in the following States/Territories are eligible to apply for DEPSCoR opportunities under this announcement: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Basic Scientific Research awards averaged $814,091; this notice allows up to $600,000 per award.
• Most of the program's money (81% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

The Department of Defense (DoD) announces the fiscal year 2021 (FY21) Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) – Research Collaboration (RC). The program is sponsored and managed by the Basic Research Office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD [R&E]), awarded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), and administered through the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The DoD plans to award FY21 DEPSCoR appropriations through this announcement. DEPSCoR's objectives are to: (1) increase the number of university researchers in eligible States/Territories capable of performing S&E research responsive to the needs of the DoD; and (2) enhance the capabilities of institutions of higher education (IHE) in eligible States/Territories to develop, plan, and execute science and engineering (S&E) research that is relevant to the mission of the DoD, and competitive under the peer-review systems used for awarding Federal research assistance; (3) increase the probability of long-term growth in the competitively awarded financial assistance that IHE in eligible States receive from the Federal Government for S&E research. Consistent with these long‑term objectives of building research infrastructure, the DoD intends to competitively make, and fund from fiscal year 2021 appropriations, multiyear awards for S&E research in areas relevant to the DoD’s mission and important to national security. The Basic Research Office anticipates approximately $12.6 million in total funding will be made available for this program to fully fund at award approximately twenty one (21) grants up to $600,000 (total cost) each. Each grant award will be funded up to $200,000 (total cost) per year for three (3) years. Awards are subject to funding availability. There is no guarantee of an award. The FY21 DEPSCoR - Research Collaboration (RC) competition seeks proposals addressing the following topic areas as detailed in the full announcement in the Related Documents folder: Physics of Sensing Space Propulsion and Power Complex Networks Atomic and Molecular Physics Modeling of Complex Systems Biomathematics Solid Mechanics Environmental Chemistry Electronic Sensing Nanoscale Computing Devices and Systems Marine Mammals and Biology Additive Manufacturing Social Networks and Computational Social Science Hypersonic Aerothermodynamics

Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, NOFOAFRLAFOSR20260004, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.