The Defense Department announced in a news release today that 176 university researchers at 96 academic institutions have been selected to receive research instrumentation awards.
The awards will total $50.1 million and will be made under the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program, according to the release.
The program supports the purchase of state‑of‑the‑art equipment that augments current university capabilities or develops new capabilities to perform cutting‑edge defense research and associated graduate student research training.
Merit Competition
The awards announced today are the result of a merit competition jointly conducted by three DoD research offices: the Army Research Office, Office of Naval Research, and Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Those offices will make the awards, which are subject to the successful completion of negotiations with the academic institutions.
The program is highly competitive. The three DOD research offices solicited proposals from university investigators conducting science and engineering research of importance to national defense.
This includes research that underpins advances in materials, structures, and manufacturing science; quantum and nanosciences; computing and networks; electronics, electromagnetics, electro‑optics; acoustics; neuroscience; fluid dynamics; robotics and autonomous systems; and ocean, environmental, and life sciences and engineering.
In response to the requests, the three research offices collectively received 622 proposals requesting $209 million in support for research equipment. The most meritorious proposals were selected to receive support.
The Defense University Research Instrumentation Program awards will range from $53,000 to $1.4 million, and average approximately $300,000 per award.