N0001424SF007: Class of 2025 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF)
Closed
This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Department of War Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI) (N0001426SF002). Status: Closes April 9, 2027 (153 days left). It is in our archive of Office of Naval Research notices from 2024.
Office of Naval Research offered grants of up to $3.0 million (at least $1.0 million) to colleges and universities. It expected to make about 10 awards worth $30.0 million in total. Applications closed on March 14, 2025.
From the official notice on Grants.gov, last changed January 16, 2025. Checked November 7, 2026.
- Award ceiling$3.0 million
- Award floor$1.0 million
- Total funding$30.0 million
- Expected awards10
- Cost sharingNot required
- Funding typeGrant
Key dates
| Posted | July 29, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Deadline | March 14, 2025 |
| Archived by Grants.gov | March 16, 2025 |
Who can apply
This opportunity was open to colleges and universities.
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Private institutions of higher education
Is this a realistic fit?
- Past Basic and Applied Scientific Research awards averaged $670,297; this notice allows up to $3.0 million per award.
- Most of the program's money (80% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
- No cost sharing or match is required.
What the grant funds
Background Before World War I, Dr. Vannevar Bush (1890-1974) was a professor and Dean of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and founded a large defense and electronics company. He was a forward-thinking policymaker who, during World War II, went on to serve as the director of the U.S. Defense Department’s Office of Scientific Research and Development, coordinating the work of thousands of scientists in the service of ending the war. In his 1945 report to the President of the United States, Science, “The Endless Frontier”, Bush called for an expansion of government support for science, and he pressed for the creation of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dr. Bush was concerned about how the scientific research supported by the Department of Defense (DoD) during WWII could be sustained with a focus on peacetime goals. He believed that basic research was “the pacemaker of technological progress”. “New products and new processes do not appear full-grown”, Bush wrote. “They are founded on new principles and new conceptions, which in turn are painstakingly developed by research in the purest realms of science”. Dr. Bush’s life work embodies the spirit of this research program, formerly known as the National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship (NSSEFF). Therefore, in his in his honor, the name was changed to the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF) program (https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/955536/dod-debuts-vannevar-bush-faculty-fellowship). Research Objectives The VBFF program is sponsored by the Basic Research Office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD (R&E)). VBFF supports innovative basic research within academia, as well as opportunities intended to develop the next generation of scientists and engineers for the defense workforce. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) manages the VBFF program for USD (R&E). To accomplish this task, ONR is soliciting proposals for the VBFF program through this FOA. This FOA seeks distinguished researchers for the purpose of conducting innovative basic research in areas of interest to the DoD and fostering long-term relationships between the VBFF Fellows and the DoD.
Who has won Basic and Applied Scientific Research grants before
From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Basic and Applied Scientific Research (12.300) awarded $4.1 billion across 6,165 grant awards, an average of $670,297 per award.
| Recipient | State | Awards | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of California San Diego | California | 172 | $191 million |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts | 155 | $153 million |
| University of Washington | Washington | 166 | $123 million |
| Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution | Massachusetts | 88 | $104 million |
| University of Connecticut Health Center | Connecticut | 50 | $96.4 million |
Applying now
This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, N0001426SF002, which is open now.
The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.
Questions people ask
Is N0001424SF007 still open?
No. It closed on March 14, 2025. A newer notice is open: N0001426SF002, closes April 9, 2027 (153 days left).
Who can apply for Class of 2025 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF)?
Office of Naval Research accepted applications from colleges and universities.
What is the deadline for Class of 2025 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF)?
Closed March 14, 2025. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.
How much funding is available?
Awards of up to $3.0 million each. About $30.0 million in total across about 10 awards.
Who has won Basic and Applied Scientific Research grants before?
The largest recipients over five fiscal years were University of California San Diego, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Washington. The program made 6,165 awards worth $4.1 billion in that time.